Sfumato Technique - Leonardo Da Vinci Paintings

About Sfumato Technique - Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting technique is very unique and is regarded as one of the very best in the world. When compared to his contemporaries, the painting technique looks at least 200 years ahead of its’ time and certainly makes a difference when comparing the end results. A group of researchers have recently been able to study the Mona Lisa and detect virtually every stroke that the genius left on the canvas. This helped them understand how the painting technique worked and how it managed to produce the stunning results that all of us know and appreciate.

The technique is still unique to this day and is known as the Sfumato technique. The most prominent practitioner of Sfumato Technique was Leonardo da Vinci, and his famous painting of the Mona Lisa and displays all the advantages of the technique in this marvellous piece of art. It involves very thin layers of paint applied one on top of the other to achieve the stunning realism that all of Leonardo’s works provide. Also, it is very unusual for a painter to apply that many layers in one area of the painting alone. Usually, the colors are mixed to a specific shade before being applied to the canvas, yet Leonardo mixed the shades according to the rest of the painting using this technique.

Even though Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting technique offers stunning results, few people can actually handle it properly because of the complexity it provides. Unless you are a very talented painter, this technique is not for you. Think of it as a display with a lot of small pixels. That is what Leonardo’s technique involved, several small strokes of the brush in one area to achieve the perfect balance of color and detail.

The interesting fact about this Sfumato technique is that it appears Leonardo did not develop it since studying his other works reveals the same amount of detail. It is believed that this painting technique was born when the genius was born, so that it was imprinted in his brain.

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