Methods of Paintings

Original Method :

•         Since he is visually impaired, he stopped using charcoal and pencils  as  they  no longer worked for him. So he used a different method of painting which is oil paint and matte fabric paint, as these types of paints helped him feel the lines of his objects/subject drawn. Oil paint also dries faster.
•          Bramblitt uses a Paasche pen to create very thin lines that resemble topographic maps to the sighted because he doesn’t just draw the form of the subject that he is going to paint the way that a sighted artist would. He also indicate where areas of shading will go, where shadows will fall, where colors will blend, highlights and dark points, and anything else that he will need to know or help to orient his way around the canvas. 
•        The drawing serves as his map of the composition and it is from this that he know exactly where the paint needs to go.

Invisible Method:

·         Raised lines : solution was to do the raised line drawing on a separate piece of paper or canvas, then put whatever he wanted the painting to be on over the paper, but by pressing lightly down so that he could still feel the lines beneath the surface.

·         On surfaces that were too thick to be felt through, like wood or thick canvas, Bramblitt would make the drawing on a very light but durable piece of paper that could be laid over where the actual painting was going to be made. I can fold back the paper so that I can feel the lines and then make the additions to the painting.

Textural/Viscosity Method:

·         Original method that I developed to distinguish colors- allows for complete control for all hues, tones, and values. Due to the unique properties inherent in oil paint because it is made from different substances, each hue is formed from different materials they naturally have a different ‘feel’ to them.

·         This difference in texture and viscosity allows a particular color to be known by touch alone. For example:  Titanium White is thick with a texture resembling toothpaste. Ivory Black is much runnier and flows easily over the fingertips. Oil paints also have a variety of mediums and additives that can be added to the paints to accentuate the different properties of the paints. This is necessary when mixing paints that have a similar texture to them, so that one can be altered by thickening or thinning it.