Fluid mechanics of modern artistic painting

Painting is a fluid mechanical process. The action of covering a solid surface with a layer of a viscous fluid is one of the most common human activities; virtually all manmade surfaces are covered with a layer of fluid, which eventually cures and solidifies, to provide protection against the environment or simply for decoration. This process has been vastly studied and it is well understood. The case of artistic painting is different. Painters learn how to manipulate the flow, through lengthy empirical testing of the action and the physical properties of the fluids, to create textures that form patterns and compositions of aesthetic value. In this presentation, several modern artistic painting techniques will be analyzed from the point of view of fluid mechanics. We will show that the so-called ‘accidental painting’ technique, originally devised by David A. Siqueiros, is the result of a Rayleigh-Taylor instability. An analysis of several techniques used by Jackson Pollock will be presented, showing how he learned to carefully control the motion of viscous filaments to create his famous abstract compositions. Finally, we will show how the textures that are observed in watercolor painting result from Marangoni-type instabilities in drying drops. Similar analysis of other painting techniques will also be discussed briefly. We end with a proposed perspective on how to create an explicit relation among modern fluid mechanics, art history and conservation.