The works of Dana Brown

Having worked in watercolor for over fifteen years, casein in an exciting challenge – I was looking for a challenge and man, did I find it! Casein is an ancient medium, predating oils with 9000 year old examples still in existence. It was made available in tube form in the 1930’s and was very popular until acrylics came along and stole the spotlight. Today, only one manufacturer in the United States continues to make casein paint and very few artists are familiar with its wonderful qualities. It is a permanent, resilient medium with a wide range of capabilities – I am more fascinated with it every day.

Casein is a water-based paint with a binder of milk protein. Consequently it can be used semi-opaquely, almost transparently, when thinned with water or as a totally opaque medium. Having this wide range of capability is a wonderful tool. It also has a unique matte quality when dried that is unlike any other medium I’ve worked with, sometimes lending subjects an eerie quality that sparks the imagination.

My paintings are on untempered hardboard, prepared with a homemade gesso. The finished painting is varnished with casein varnish and presented in an unconventional floater frame.