“… life isn’t a support system for art, but the other way around. … Art teaches us to be whole because it is whole.
“A painting is two things at the same time: a flat surface with little piles of color and a fictive world into which we expand our consciousness.
“In a Rembrandt self-portrait, creamy oil paint suddenly becomes translucent flesh with warm blood coursing beneath. Scumbled brushstrokes instantly transform into the folds in a cap.”
Brian Rutenberg, “Short Life Lessons“, World Class Performer.com 21 Feb 2021
Rembrandt also liked to use the handle of the brush to scratch into wet paint, a technique called sgraffito. Look closely at the curls in his hair in this self-portrait for exanple.
