Scumbling Techniques for Painting

In this article, I explain the scumbling technique, by looking at examples by the Masters, Romanticists, and Impressionists, and considering the emotive effect of its application. I then demonstrate how to add scumbling to paintings of fabric, clouds, and a portrait, to give examples of its potential. Articles in the Painting Techniques series define the meaning and context of art making processes and give practical tutorials on how to work with them.

Scumbling Techniques for Painting

Definition

Scumbling is the application of paint with a dry brush and a loose hand, to create an opaque, inconsistent, broken layer on top of a painted surface for added texture and depth. It is usually of a lighter colour than the one below, to create dimension. The word comes from the 17th Century word ‘scum’ which meant ‘to skim’– just as the surface is lightly skimmed with the brush.

Effect

By scumbling the surface of a painting, you create appealing complexity through optical mixing and texture since the painting below remains semi-visible. The immediate rough texture is ideal for representing the natural world, such as cresting waves, wispy clouds, or thick grasses, and is also seen in portraiture and abstraction. By varying the strokes it creates a more convincing illusionary effect, since creating a regular pattern may come across as manufactured. This technique has a vigorous appearance, giving paintings vitality. For example, a tight flat painting may benefit from some scumbling, to give it a new lease of life through spontaneous mark-making. In this way, scumbling can also be used to make finishing touches to a painting, such as to soften the transition between colours, or to add textural interest to an empty space.

History

We can trace scumbling back to the 16th century, with early examples from painters like Titian and Tintoretto. In this example of Doge Andrea Gritti by Titian, he has used scumbling across the fabric, especially in the highlights over his red shirt, which enhances the grandiosity of his outfit, and gives it movement.

Rembrandt often used scumbling to enhance the luminosity and texture of his portraits, making the finish of his sitters appear diffused or misty. Later, the Romanticist painters created notable examples of scumbling, such as in landscapes by Turner and Constable. They both made use of dynamic skies in their works, with scumbling playing a key role in capturing that effect. In Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute, Turner has used scumbling for the white clouds over blue skies to create this optimistic mood, where we can imagine his brush lightly skimming the surface. To a different effect, in The White Horse by Constable, he has also scumbled clouds over a blue sky, but the intense swiped and dabbed layers of greys and pinks make the effect of scumbling in this sky appear heavier, and more somber.

The Impressionist movement also produced numerous examples of scumbling, such as the shimmering waters of Monet, and seen in tender portraits by Mary Cassatt. In her painting The Loge, layers of scumbling populate the entire work, giving it a shifting, living feeling that enhances the feeling of anticipation or withheld energy in her sitters, full of optical mixing and quick mark-making.