Misty Herb Farm
by Jack I. Liberman
Painted with Alchemist Mediums
I highly recommend Alchemist Mediums painting mediums made by Donald Fels, and I am extremely grateful for efforts over ten years in collaboration with my teacher Frank Mason in correctly translating and formatting the actual mediums used and described by Rubens, van Dyke, Gentileschi and others as documented by De Mayerne manuscript. Donald Fels has written a book in which he translated into English the materials used by Rembrandt, Rubens, and other Flemish painters of that period. The hard part was figuring out the proportions of oils and varnishes used and at what temperatures they were heated. The old masters had no thermometers to tell us the temperatures, ovens were different, and proportions were unclear. We do know that they never used cold mixtures and always heated and polymerized their mixtures.
Donald Fels and Frank Mason have closely formulated the mediums used that allow us today to paint like the old masters. One can now again draw with paint and achieve optical effects with speed and fluency and without the paint running or bleeding. One can now paint within a single sitting or for continuous sessions and not have any problem alternating thick, thin or glazes or worrying about fat over lean application. One does not have to wait for the paint to dry and the finest details can be painted without using solvents. The paint retains a consistent luminosity without varnishing.
I would be at a loss without the use of Fels oil and amber mediums.
