American Artist Magazine Review
This review originally appeared in the January 2004 issue of American Artist. © VNU Business Media. Reprinted with permission.

Artists have long speculated on the materials and techniques used by the Old Masters as they try to duplicate the appearance of paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer or Van Dyck. Now Donald C. Fels Jr. has produced evidence of the secrets of the Flemish masters, publishing them in a 386-page book along with an english translation of a 17th century manuscript on the craft of painting. Moreover, Fels is now manufacturing painting mediums and amber varnish that he believes will allow contemporary artists to paint in the manner of Rubens and Van Dyck.

"This book is the culmination of 11 years of research with Frank Mason in rediscovering the mediums and methods of painting, which due to the deaths of Van Dyck and Rubens and the demise of the great studio systems, became lost by the year 1700," says Fels. "Despite the fact that numerous books have been written on Old Master techniques, none to my knowledge describes in detail the temperatures, methods of manufacture, and archaic terms often listed in ancient recipes. It has been my wish in writing this book that the information and detailed recipes serve as a historical reference and guide for painters and scholars wishing to understand the painting systems of the Flemish masters. This point likewise refers to the first complete english translation of the De Mayerne manuscript, the most widely quoted manuscript on technical aspects of 17th century painting."

Within the book, Fels recommends ways of using his mediums: Linseed Thick, Linseed Thin, Painting and Grinding Medium, and Linseed Amber Varnish. The advantage of using these mediums, according to Fels, is they allow oil painters to proceed from an initial drawing to the final glazing of colors without having to wait for each coating to dry. "Painters following this system and using these mediums will be able to lay as many as five layers of paint in one sitting without the need for each layer to dry or for the addition of driers," he explains.

To help artists understand the "F.E.L.S. System of Painting in Oil" (Fat oil Essential oil Layering System) artist Joseph H. Sulkowski created four step-by-step demonstrations for the book. In one exercise he begins with a charcoal drawing, restating it with combinations of yellow ochre and raw umber oil paint mixed with Painting and Grinding Medium. Without waiting for that to dry, he then blocks in the lights, midtones, and shadows using oil colors mixed with the same Painting and Grinding Medium. Continuing with a traditional fat-over-lean method of painting, Sulkowski applies layers of paint mixed with Linseed Painting Medium Thick and Linseed Painting Medium No. 2 Thin. In another demonstration, he prepares the final glazes of color by mixing pigment with Amber Painting Medium.

The Fels book , Lost Secrets of Flemish Painting Including the First Complete English Translation of the De Mayerne Manuscript, B. M. Sloane 2052, as well as the painting mediums and varnish, are available directly from his company by writing: Alchemist Inc., P.O. Box 215, Willis VA 24380; phone: (540) 789-5444; or through retailers listed on his website: www.ambervarnish.com .

This review originally appeared in the January 2004 issue of American Artist, page 64.
Copyright VNU Business Media. Reprinted with permission .

The following Review Appeared in American Artist in 2007

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