"What is ivorine?" is one of the most asked questions during our miniature art show.

 

The quick answer is that it is a thin sheet of cellulose material that miniature artists paint on.

 

So why would artists want to use it? Here is a quote from one of our artists, Beverly Abbott.

 

"Because Ivorine is translucent, when oil paint is applied very thinly, the light will pass through it and bounce back to the eye giving the illusion the paint is glowing. I use the slickness of the surface to my advantage by applying the paint then pushing it around with a clean brush even to the point of scrubbing away all but a residue of paint. This becomes a light aea in the painting and from then on I am adding opaque color. Only when I need a bright white will I use a white oil paint for highlights. Somewhere on the painting I like to leave a bit of the Ivorine showing or only the thinest layer of paint.

 

In between each layer of paint I will sand the paint to keep any texture to a minimum. Using 8/0 to 20/0 brushes keeps the texture to a minimum to begin with. In miniature competitions the appearance of texture comes from the skill of the artist and not the amount of paint applied.

 

Because of the translucent qualities, achieving a dense dark color requires three or more layers of paint."

 

A few of the other artists in our show that use Ivorine are: Earl, Hunter, Cox, MacArgel, Thompson, Kern, Johnson, Still, Eckert, Forester, & Hall.

 

You can see the entire show on our website at 19th Miniature Art Show.