Have you tried the Gerstaecker Vernissage oils? Collaborative artists Keelertornero recently combined them with Gerstaecker Portrait canvases for a KT-Lab painting project!
Introducing the Vernissage range of oil colours
“Gerstaecker Vernissage Fine Oil Colours are high-quality paints but priced very affordably, which means they are great for both students and professional painters.”
“The paints only come in 200ml tubes, but the price tag, which is considerably less than most other oil paints on offer, means that they are a must if you are working within a tight budget. Particularly if you want to cover large surfaces, but not have to worry about the cost.
This is great for us because we are doing a lot of experimentation as part of our KT-LAB project, which means we can use all the paint we need and keep layering to create interesting textures. It may not be the number one choice for high-end precise oil painters, but for artists who want to cover big areas and be expressive, this is the perfect value paint for the job.”
What did KEELERTORNERO think of the Vernissage oils?
“The paint has a free-flowing creamy texture which allows for easy application. The consistency makes it possible for a variety of approaches and techniques. If you want to start with washes for blocking in shapes, the paint retains it’s colour vibrancy when thinned with spirit. If you’re using pure colour to create flat surfaces, the paint keeps its textural integrity. The Vernissage oils are also suitable for applying thickly for impasto painting and in areas where you really want to see your brush strokes.”
“The use of quality pigments means the colour range has excellent luminosity and good lightfastness. Here we’ve highlighted some of the colours we used and the qualities we enjoyed:
Medium Red – This was transparent, and vibrant
Madder Lake Deep – A good colour for mixing with the medium red for creating deep, rich tones.
Burnt Umber – An opaque tone that covers well, good for mixing with Ultramarine to create warm blacks.
Lemon Yellow – A very good bright, transparent hue
Ivory Black – Very opaque, with a good flow
Light Yellow – Good for mixing with Burnt umber and medium red to create rich oranges and browns
Cerulean Blue – Another very good bright tone, that is transparent
Ultramarine – A good deep tone that makes good black when mixed.
Titanium White – This provides good coverage
Combining Vernissage Oils with Portrait Canvases
“Alongside the Vernissage Fine Oils we also tried out the Gerstaecker Portrait canvases. These come in a variety of sizes from 20 to 100cm and are made with 100% acid-free, heavyweight linen, stretched by hand. The canvases proved to be very versatile and as with many of the Gerstaecker products, they are very reasonably priced.
They are presented as the perfect canvases for portrait painting because of their uniform grain which is achieved with the use of extra fine pure linen, but they can be used for any oil or acrylic painting. It is possible to create very fine detail and the extra smooth surface means there’s very little drag. This is great if you want to produce very detailed oil painting.
This consistent surface makes it very easy to build up colour plains with glazes and washes to achieve a very even tone. Another thing to say about the general feel and appearance of these canvases is that when you hold them on your hands they feel tight, solid and well made compared to some of the other pre-stretched canvases we have been using recently. This gave us added confidence in our work because there’s nothing worse than having spent hours on a painting, for the poorly made stretcher to bow and distort. “
KEELERTORNERO used the Vernissage Oils and Portrait canvases on one of their latest projects from the KT-Lab experiment, find out more about their work with this in our online magazine.
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