J.M.W.Turner - Painting Methods

Turner's painting method usually not exposed to public view was on few occasions observed by close friends and on vanishing day at the Royal Academy. Later fellow artist took note of Turner's innovative methods of painting. He was fairly secretive about his procedures and materials and kept few notes.

Turners training primary in watercolour was to copy such artist as Cozen. He also indulged in theatrical scenery, which I would think is good training because of the scale. Turner also attended the Royal Academy School at a very early age (15). The school at the time had limited use, for basically student moved around a large room with statues and busts, drawing them from multiple angles.

Observed at Farley Hall Turner would start not just one but a group of watercolours using the same materials and colour in all paintings. At Petworth House also Turner was observed working on several oil paintings going from one to the other. This is good commercial practice as sometimes working on dry paint rather than a wet into wet is required. Oil paint takes days rather than hours to dry.

Turner's early watercolours were drafted in detailed pencil drawings, had graduated washes of colour on white size. A ruler was often used on architectural details. Progressing from here Turner used the pen and pencil loosely and less detailed as he got older. Using a number two or three h pencil for the distance and a number two or four black softer for the foreground.

Turner would scratch out details with his sharpened thumbnail or the end of a brush, stipple over this with dry brush technique, or remove colour with blotting paper after immersing the whole watercolour in a bucket of water. Highlights were sometimes added in gouache. Soft edges were achieved with the use of a sponge.  

Having no set procedure Turner was said to drive the colour about until he was satisfied with the result.

For painting in oil Turner would block in the composition with thinned oil colour on a white canvas. Looking at “Shipping at the Mouth of the Thames” in the drafting of the painting Turner used yellow ochre in white, and umber mixed with ochre for the sails, cobalt blue in the main ship sails, all this sketched in quickly and confidently by a preconceived plan of the overall finished painting. The quite bright under colours of the sea would be glazed to unify and calm down the colours. Impasto paint on the waves and sailors clothing were done in creamy white. The sky painted with scrumbles of black pigment in white. Quite often Turner would use tempera in the under-painting for expedient drying.

Thus Turner's progress in the later years was to use of new techniques are now called simultaneous contrast i.e. a touch of green and red. This technique has been further developed by Eugene Delacroix to pointillist, blue and orange spots of paint together but not mixed.

Turner's position led him to study the scientific examination of colour, the best-known being Goethe’s Fabenlehre use this to examine artist like Titian in order to heighten his own works.