Painting the Miniature Madame

March 2, 2015

T/m’s miniature painting of Madame de Pompadour glows like the oil paintings of the Old Masters. The artist, Johannes Landman, has been known to label himself a perfectionist and his own “worst critic” when it comes to his art. He pays attention to every detail within his paintings to masterfully achieve the subtle color changes found in works such as Madame de Pompadour.

Although strikingly similar, the original full-scale painting by François Boucher was painted on canvas, whereas the miniature is painted on a wooden panel. Landman exclusively uses wood because he feels the texture of canvas would be too bold for 1:12 scale work. To prep the wood surface, Landman applied several layers of a white paint mixture called gesso as a primer, sanding each layer after it dried. Then, using ultra-fine 000 size brushes he layers on the oil paints until he is satisfied with the final product. Stay tuned as we explore more of the mini madame’s lovely qualities.