Biography of Rembrandt van Rijn

But eventually, the van Rijn family ran out of money to support their lifestyle and soon declared bankruptcy and sold their prized possessions at auction.
             Rembrandt's life truly was his art. He sketched endlessly and he sketched everything: beggars, circus people, landscapes, and friends. Rembrandt is mainly known for his paintings where he has mastered oil painting techniques. He never limited himself to single technique, he unitized them all and innovated his own. Being from the Dutch Golden Age, which followed the ways of Baroque art, the work of Rembrandt greatly resembles the work of Caravaggio, but much like other Dutch Golden Age artists, Rembrandt geared the Caravaggesque style more towards still lifes, landscapes, and most famously-portraits. Rembrandt's oil paintings are mostly done on panels or canvas, which he primed with a thick glue-like gesso. He worked in many layers, and really took his time. Although it is fairly obvious that Rembrandt is a versatile artist that did not follow the same procedure for each painting, Rembrandt almost always made a final layer of brown imprimatura to create that unique golden-brown glow characteristic of his paintings. If one looks closely at Rembrandt's work, one can see the innovation and thought that went into every piece. He often experimented with different colors for different layers, and different types of oil, even using brush handles to create hair. Studies have shown that not one single procedure he stuck with, as many different techniques were required to create a desired effect.
             From early on in his career, Rembrandt became known as the master of the light and shadow. His use of heavy contrast and techniques for painting lights and darks made him a successful artist. He devised a way to make the lights lighter, and the darks darker. Rembrandt is famous for painting in an impasto style; using a lot of tick paint. The thick, viscosity of his paint allowed him to create different textures, and once the impasto layer dried, he glazed over them in different colors to slowly build up that rich, vibrant color he is known for.