Scumbling and Drybrush

Dry brush and Scumble techniques seem pretty straight-forward to me.  Basically Dry brushing is using a very small amount of paint (usually acrylic) to brush lightly over a textured surface, allowing only the peaks of the texture to be covered in paint and letting the texture valleys to show through.  It’s a popular way to blend color or add softening effects with acrylics because acrylics dry so quickly and the technique can be layered one coat over another dry one to create some interesting and beautiful effects. It can also be used in some subtle lighting effects. Scumbling is similar in a way, but kind of the opposite.  Instead of lightly brushing over the surface, the brush (preferably one that is not too expensive or new)is scrubbed into the textured surface so that the valleys get paint in them as well and those parts of the texture turn out darker than the surface texture because it has more paint.   There are many artists that employ this technique, one way or another, and it’s not only acrylic that is used—for example, the technique can be used on indoor house walls for some fun texture effects.

One artist known for his scumbling techniques is Rembrandt, who everyone should know.  He was a master artist—one of the greatest in Dutch history and still one of the most well known of the European painters.  He did many portraits and Bible scenes, and one of the techniques he employed to create the amazing affects he did was scumbling, particularly in some of his self portraits and in this painting of a man regarding a bust.  Instead of acrylic he used oil, but the effect was similar in some ways.

Another more modern artist I found that uses the technique of scumbling is Tom Hughs, a portrait, landscape and figure painter.  He uses scumbling often in his paintings, giving them a very loose, nicely textured feel.  It seems dry brushing and scumbling are nicely suited to landscapes as it lends the painting a way to feel dimension and distance.  Adding a scumbling change of value to distant objects makes it easier for the viewer to see atmospheric perspective.  Using it with figures makes the painting seem somehow homely or nostalgic. 

The last artist I researched that uses scumbling was Tim Bowers, from Granville, Ohio.  He is another modern artist who regularly employs dry brushing in his work, thus giving his illustrations a lot of charming texture and character.  He uses a thicker gesso to create the initial texture and then adds many layers after that that over the top, as well as washes, with acrylic paints.  Each layer allows the previous ones to show through a little.