Diego Velazquez Painting Techniques and Tips

Diego Velazquez is one of the most well respected painters of all time. He has been revered and looked up to for hundreds of years. So naturally there is an innate curiosity to to reach back and understand more about about the mysteries surrounding Velazquez’s painting techniques and process.

Although the painting techniques of Velazquez will never be fully revealed. Thanks to modern technology, as well as our knowledge of the time period, we can find out quite a bit.

Moreover, we don’t just have the ability to learn about his techniques but can apply them to our own painting process. For centuries, artists have been studying Velazquez’s painting techniques and the way he painted. In a way, you can take lessons from Velazquez himself. To get a well rounded idea of an artist’s technique it is important to understand the materials they used.

Painting Surfaces and Grounds Used by Velazquez

Velazquez habitually painted on cloth. Since the early sixteenth century, painting on cloth was becoming more and more popular in comparison to painting on wood panels. The cloth surface allowed for larger paintings as well as different techniques.

From studying the fiber of his painting surface we can know that he preferred to paint on linen and hemp. He would use linen and hemp equally in his early and later years, while using primarily linen in his middle years.

Attention to Different Fabric Weaves

Like many artists, he would choose the weave of his cloth carefully in terms of how the different textures of the fabric would affect the overall quality of his painting. In his early Seville years, Velazquez used a Venetian style “criss cross” weave pattern fabric known as Mantellilo. Later on he would experiment with more tightly woven fabrics in addition to open weave surfaces.

When taking close up views of his paintings you can tell how the texture of the canvas is an integral part of the painting. As he often leaves the texture of the canvas exposed with thin layers of paint. His paintings would be very different if he chose less textured canvas.

Preparing His Fabric Painting Surfaces

Early in his career Velazquez would prepare his paintings with darker grounds known as “Neapolitan earth”. However, later on he sought greater luminosity in his painting and would primarily use lead white as a ground for his surfaces. This would become standard practice for him for the rest of his life.

In fact, it is his painting “The Forge of Vulcan” that was his first to be done with a light ground. He created it after his trip to Italy, where he was undoubtedly influenced by the vibrant and luminous Italian works.

Velazquez is a prime example of one who would experiment with different materials until he would achieve the vision he had for his work. This is a lesson we can all take with us – explore the many options in front of you and decide which will best suit your needs. However, continue to learn and change the way you do things so you can grow and develop even further.

Velazquez Painting Techniques Using Pigments and Color

The range of colors Velazquez used is very small. However, the way in which he mixed and used them changed considerably over the course of his career. A testament to the value and importance of color mixing.

All of Velazquez’s color mixing and paintings are made up of the following colors:

White: Comprised of lead white and calcite

Yellow: Yellow iron oxide, lead tin yellow, Naples yellow (sparingly)

Orange: orange iron oxide and vermilion of mercury

Red: red iron oxide, vermilion of mercury, and organic red lake

Blue: azurite, lapiz lazuli, and smalt

Brown: brown iron oxide and manganese oxide

Black: organic black of vegetal or animal origin

Green: azurite, iron oxide, and lead-tin yellow

Purple: organic red lake and azurite

Binding medium for his colors

When Velazquez mixed his colors he would use oil. Depending on how transparent he needed his color to be he would use more or less. The more transparent the color, the more oil he would use. He would often use more transparent colors over opaque layers.

As already discussed, the ground/ surface of the painting was incredibly important to Velazquez. Therefore the interplay between the ground and the pigments was crucial. When viewing his work, you can often find some areas of the ground left exposed but then gradually reincorporated into the work.

Velazquez Composition and Execution

It appears that Velazquez did not have a fixed idea for a composition when he started a painting. Rather, he would continually make changes as he would work. In fact, sometimes you can spot the changes with the naked eye spotting overlapping contours or changes to the entire composition.

Sometimes, the changes he would make would be minute, such as changing the position of a hand, collar or piece of lace. While other times he would make significant changes to the composition that would even require new canvas to be added.

This flexible approach to composition can be applied to your own work. When you work on a piece, approach it with an open mind to potentially change elements as your piece progresses. Sometimes, you cannot see the ‘big picture’ of your painting until you are further along. Thus allowing yourself to continually make change (if needed) will result in a much better composition than you would have if you had never made any adjustments.

Velazquez’s Belief in Painting from Life

Many in Velazquez’s time would use models from other paintings or engravings to copy from for their own paintings. However, Velazquez took a novel approach by using real, live models for his paintings. He wanted to bypass the idealization of the human figure as he viewed it as being too artificial.

When seeing his work you can tell that the figures look very natural. They have an imperfect quality that is absent from the idealized figures we see from other artists working in Velazquez’s time.

For example, in Velazquez’s painting ‘The Feast of Bacchus’ we see a very down to earth approach to mythological subject matter. Velazquez recreates the classical past but in a very contemporary and natural way. Instead of dressing his subjects in antique costumes, his models are ill dressed, weather beaten peasants who are wearing clothing of the time. By doing this, Velazquez recreates history by making it seem fresh, real and immediate.

Velazquez Learned from the Art of the Past

As a young man, Velazquez met Peter Paul Rubens while he was in Madrid negotiating peace between Spain and England. He would remain in the country for 9 months, and there is no doubt that he would have had a lasting influence on the young Velazquez. Although Velazquez was a brilliant painter in his own right he was still just a provincial painter from a small town and known in a small circle – until that point. Rubens must have shown him what he would need in order to reach the heights of his painting profession – a deep and profound knowledge of the art of the past.

After his encounter with Rubens, Velazquez travelled to Italy to study Italian art. His teacher, Pacheco, says that ‘he devoted to copying the great frescoes of Raphael and Michelangelo in the Vatican.’ The results of his studying can be seen in two paintings he painted in Rome – ‘Joseph’s Coat Brought to Jacob’ and ‘Forge of Vulcan’. Velazquez utilizes Italian painting methods in these works that he picked up during his time there.

Finding composition inspiration

For his painting “The Forge of the Vulcan”, Velazquez took inspiration from the composition of Antonio Tempesta’s engraving. We can see how engaged Velazquez was with the art that surrounded him. Velazquez’s work is far from being a copy of Tempesta’s. Rather, this shows that Velazquez was immersed and engaged with the art that surrounded him, and wished to elevate it through sheer artistry.

Painterly Economy

One of the greatest hallmarks of Velazquez’s painting technique, is how he was able to summarize complex visual elements into just a few brush strokes. He was a true master of simplifying light and shadow. As a painter in the royal Spanish court there was no shortage of painting opulent dress.

For example, when we take a look at his painting of la infanta Margarita Teresa we can see shiny silk, ruffles, ribbons and all sorts of embellishments. However, when viewing the work up close all of these ‘details’ read as quick brush strokes that work masterfully together to create the illusion of something much more. It is not limited to just the royal wardrobe but this same trait of summarizing and simplifying can be seen throughout all his work.

Taking Inspiration from Diego Velazquez

Whether you desire to paint like Velazquez doesn’t matter when it comes to learning from his techniques. His innovative way of working and pushing boundaries is something everyone should take to heart and push towards applying to their own way of working. Additionally, understanding how he thought as a painter will only enrich your understanding of the craft of painting.

Take Things Further with Master Copies

Just as Velazquez did master copies himself in his time. It is always beneficial to do master copy studies in our day and age to get a deeper idea of the way an artist thought. You can look through Velazquez’s catalogue of works and find areas in his paintings that inspire you and make you want to study further. You could do a thumbnail color study or a larger more in depth painting.

Want to remember this? Save Velazquez’s Painting Techniques to your favorite Pinterest board!