The Principle of Layered Brushwork

Author: Nona Dronova — Professor, Artist, Researcher of Color and Pictorial Structure
Affiliation: Higher School of Folk Arts (St. Petersburg)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4867-9074

Abstract

The Principle of Layered Brushwork reveals the philosophical and optical nature of color formation in contemporary painting.
In this method, the artist works not with form but with time — each layer registers a distinct state of being. Through successive applications of pigment, transparent and dense, the surface becomes a temporal structure where light is refracted, reflected, and accumulated.
Layering is interpreted as both a physical process (based on optical interference between pigment films) and a philosophical act — the inscription of energy and state.
The visual result is an internally illuminated surface, vibrating with the memory of gestures and breathing of color.

1. Introduction

In the context of philosophical painting, the act of layering goes beyond compositional or technical purpose.
Each layer fixes a moment of presence; each return of the hand is a dialogue with what already exists. The image thus grows like a living organism — not through design, but through resonance.

2. Aim and Research Focus

The aim of the method is to achieve an inner spatial depth and a sense of living vibration within the color field.
This study explores how repeated layering of brushstrokes produces optical luminosity and energetic equilibrium — turning the canvas into a field of states rather than an image.

3. Theoretical Basis

3.1 Optical and Physical Level

From the standpoint of visual science, layered brushwork creates multiple interfaces between pigment films.
Light entering the surface undergoes refraction, scattering, and partial absorption.
This process generates subsurface luminance, perceived as internal glow.

3.2 Psychological and Perceptual Level

Layering registers time — each stratum retains the gesture and energy of its moment.
The viewer perceives not a single act but the accumulation of states, entering into silent resonance with the rhythm of painting.

3.3 Philosophical Level

Each layer embodies a trace of being.
The image becomes a field of time — where visibility is not imposed, but emerges from dialogue between visible and invisible.

4. Methodology

1. Warm Ground Preparation
   The process begins with a luminous underpainting in warm hues (rose, ochre, orange), establishing a foundation of inner light.

2. Initial Gestures
   Broad, semi-transparent strokes define rhythmic masses without final form — allowing the painting to breathe.

3. Layer Dialogue
   Each new layer partially covers and partially reveals the previous one, creating a rhythmic interaction of densities.

4. Balancing Transparency and Body
   Alternation of opaque and translucent areas establishes visual vibration and harmony.

5. Final Illumination
   The upper layers refine the structure by unveiling — not covering — what lies beneath, achieving a state of internal radiance.

5. Results

The method produces a breathing surface, where depth and light coexist dynamically.
The painting becomes a record of lived time, and the viewer perceives its stratified energy.
The color gains multidimensionality — its tone and vibration result not from pigment alone, but from inter-layer resonance.

6. Conclusion

The Principle of Layered Brushwork integrates optical physics, perceptual psychology, and philosophical aesthetics.
It transforms painting into an act of temporal inscription — a way of embodying inner states through visible matter.
Thus, the artist does not depict reality but constructs a field of presence, where light and time become one.

In this approach, painting is not representation, but revelation — the visible record of invisible balance.

Suggested Keywords

Layered Brushwork; Optical Depth; Philosophical Painting; Inner Light; Color Resonance; Perceptual Time; Aesthetic Equilibrium; Painting Research; Contemporary Art Theory; Visual Philosophy

Citation Format

Dronova, Nona (2025). The Principle of Layered Brushwork: A Philosophical and Optical Method in Contemporary Painting. Zenodo.