plate no. 1176

Buitrago houses

Carlos Saenz de Tejada, 1920

oilExpressionismlandscapehouseslandscapebuildingshillvillagesky

recreation guide

Carlos Saenz de Tejada’s 'Buitrago houses' (1920) is an Expressionist landscape that likely employs a layered approach to color and tone, consistent with early 20th-century oil painting practices that revived Old Master techniques. The work focuses on the architectural and natural elements of the Buitrago region, treating the houses and surrounding scenery as a coherent composition where sky and weather play significant roles (Source 3). As an Expressionist piece, it likely prioritizes emotional resonance and tonal harmony over strict topographical accuracy, utilizing contrast laws to heighten the visual impact of the structures against the landscape (Source 2, Source 7).

estimated time

20-30 hours over 5-7 sessions (allowing for drying times between glaze layers)

materials

5 items

steps

5 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Linseed oil	Primary drying oil for mixing paints and creating glazes	Refined linseed oil
Oil of Copavia (or modern damar/resin medium)	Historical medium for initial oil layers to ensure fast drying and clarity, as cited by Reynolds	Damar varnish mixed with odorless mineral spirits or a dedicated resin medium
Ultramarine, Black, White	Core pigments for the initial monochrome underpainting (grisaille)	Ultramarine Blue, Mars Black, Titanium White
Red and Yellow earth/ochre pigments	For glazing and scumbling to introduce warmth and local color	Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red (or modern equivalents)
Varnish	Mixed with oil for later glazing stages to increase transparency and depth	Stand oil or a slow-drying resin varnish

preparation

surface prep

Prepare a rigid support (canvas or panel) with a traditional oil ground. Given the emphasis on glazing and scumbling in the referenced techniques, a smooth, non-absorbent surface is ideal to allow the transparent layers to sit atop the underpainting without sinking in excessively. The ground should be neutral or slightly warm to facilitate the 'extracting of red and yellow' mental exercise described in the sources (Source 1).

underdrawing

While specific preparatory sketches for this painting are not detailed in the sources, landscape painters of this tradition often worked from outdoor drawings or studies (Source 5). A light, loose underdrawing in charcoal or thinned oil is recommended to establish the 'coherent composition' of the houses and landscape elements (Source 3). Avoid heavy, dark lines that might show through the subsequent glazes.

underpainting

Execute a grisaille (monochrome underpainting) using black, ultramarine, and white mixed with oil of copavia (or a modern resin medium) (Source 1). This layer establishes the tonal values and chiaroscuro. The goal is to mentally extract red and yellow tones, focusing on the structural light and shadow of the houses and terrain as if those warm colors were absent (Source 1). This creates a solid foundation for the subsequent color glazes.

color palette

Ultramarine/Black/White

Ultramarine blue, black, white

Initial grisaille underpainting to establish tone and form

Warm Earth Tones (Red/Yellow)

Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber

Glazing and scumbling over the dry grisaille to introduce local color and warmth

Cool Greys/Blues

Ultramarine, white, black

Sky and shadows, leveraging the 'coldness' effect of scumbling over darker grounds

composition

The composition likely features the houses prominently within a wider landscape view, consistent with topographical views that include buildings (Source 3). The sky is almost certainly included, serving as a major element of the composition and potentially emphasizing cloud formations or atmospheric effects (Source 3, Source 5). The arrangement should aim for a 'coherent composition' where natural scenery and architecture are integrated (Source 3).

step by step

underdrawing→underpainting→refining→finishing

underdrawing

step 01
Sketch the basic forms of the Buitrago houses and the surrounding landscape lightly. Focus on the placement of the horizon and the relationship between the buildings and the sky.
Tip — Keep lines faint to avoid interfering with the transparent layers.
Preliminary sketch

underpainting

step 02
Mix black, ultramarine, and white with a resinous medium (like oil of copavia). Paint the entire composition in monochrome, establishing the light and shadow structure. Mentally exclude red and yellow hues.
Tip — Ensure the tonal contrast is strong enough to support the final image, as the color will be added transparently.
Grisaille

refining

step 03
Allow the grisaille to dry completely. Begin glazing with transparent red and yellow tones using oil. Apply these colors much like tinting an engraving with watercolors, allowing the underlying monochrome to show through.
Tip — Work in thin layers. The goal is to let the underlying painting 'make itself felt' through the color.
Glazing
step 04
Use scumbling (semi-opaque painting) to adjust tones, particularly in areas where a 'grey bloom' or coldness is desired, such as in shadows or distant atmospheric effects. This can be done with oil or a mix of varnish and oil.
Tip — Scumbling over darker grounds tends to produce coldness; use this to enhance the atmospheric depth of the landscape.
Scumbling

finishing

step 05
Refine the color harmony by considering the 'dominant color' or tone of the picture. Adjust juxtapositions to enhance simultaneous contrast, ensuring that the colors of the houses and landscape harmonize rather than clash.
Tip — Check if the colors are 'inherent to the model' or if you are substituting neighboring scale colors for better harmony (Source 2).
Color Harmony/Contrast

critical techniques

Glazing and Scumbling

Used to build color and depth over a dry monochrome underpainting. Glazing adds transparent color, while scumbling adds semi-opaque texture and tone. This method was practiced by old masters and is cited as effective for achieving harmony and depth (Source 1).

Simultaneous Contrast

Juxtaposing colors to enhance their visual impact. Placing flat tints of different tones next to each other produces chiaroscuro and gradation of light. This principle helps in harmonizing colors that are inherent to the landscape (Source 2).

Monochrome Underpainting (Grisaille)

Establishing the tonal structure first, using black, ultramarine, and white. This separates the problem of value from color, allowing for more controlled color application later (Source 1).

common pitfalls

→Applying glazes before the underpainting is completely dry, which can muddy the colors and ruin the transparency.
→Using too much white in the glazing layers, which defeats the purpose of transparency and the 'old master' technique described.
→Ignoring the law of simultaneous contrast, leading to colors that appear dull or disharmonious when placed next to each other (Source 2).
→Overworking the scumble layers, which can obscure the underlying grisaille rather than letting it 'make itself felt' (Source 1).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific pigments used by Carlos Saenz de Tejada in 1920 are not detailed in the sources; the guide assumes a traditional palette compatible with the described techniques.
·The exact visual details of the 'Buitrago houses' (e.g., specific architectural features, number of houses, exact weather conditions) are not described in the sources, so the composition notes are generalized based on landscape painting conventions.
·The artist's specific brushwork style (e.g., impasto vs. smooth) is not detailed, though the glazing technique implies a smoother finish.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- COLOURING A MONOCHROME — applied to Underpainting, glazing, and scumbling techniques
Laws of Contrast of Colour↗
- 6. Put beside each other two flat tints... — applied to Color harmony and contrast principles

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia: Landscape painting↗
- Landscape painting — part 1 — applied to Composition and genre context
Wikipedia: Oil painting↗
- Oil painting — part 4 — applied to Materials and medium selection

Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.

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