Revolution - The Tube and Stuff

It is so hard to believe that a tube of paint would be a revolution. But these tubes of oil in the 1800's did not exist. In 1840 an English man came up with a lead tube and lid with premixed pigment.

Before this each artist became his own chemist. Mixing and blending, crushing stones of ultramarine blue and cobalt blue and so many others.

With this revolution came the freedom to go out side (Plein aire) more regularly, and then another new invention.

The Travel easel, easel for you to say. Most of us have one of these great little easels. I use mine in the studio and outside all the time and you have seen it in many of the post I have put out there.

But  that was not all of the Revolutionary items invented in the mid 1800's with tin and lead sweeping the known world, Bamb! The metal "feral"a thing to hold the hair and bristles to the handle of the paint brush. look at your paint brushes, see that piece of metal? Before this time all brushes were round and boring. with cat gut or wire or a piece of leather wrapped around the hair and handle to keep it together.

So Monet, Van Gogh, And some of the other great and not so great painters are no longer tied to the studio and "lab" that was considered posh and standard.

So as I always say, wipe you feral and keep your brushes wet!