Oil Paint

Prior to the 15th century oil paints were thick and hard to control, so they were initially used only for utilitarian purposes. In the 15th century turpentine was discovered to be an effective thinning agent. The Van Eyck brothers were credited with perfecting the technique of oil painting, which they initially attempted to keep secret.



Powdered colors are mixed with a fine oil, usually linseed oil. A solvent, traditionally turpentine, is also used to thin the colors as desired, so that the paint can be applied thickly and opaquely, or thinly and transparently. The oil paint is applied to a prepared ground, usually a stretched canvas with a coating of neutral pigment. The earliest technique of oil painting involved building up layers of colors, moving from darker to lighter values. Fine brushes were used, and a glossy, smooth finish was achieved. When applied in this way, the colors are somewhat translucent, so that the darker layers of color below added depth and luminosity to the surface, and permitted a remarkable degree of realism. Jan van Eyck (15th c.), Hans Holbein the younger (16th c., above), Bouguereau (19th c.) , and Salvador Dali (20th c.) are among the artists who worked in this manner. Other artists came to discover that because of its slow drying, oil paints could actually be re-worked on the surface to blend colors, and when applied thickly, with a larger brush or palette knife, could also add real surface texture to the image. This technique of applying oils lent itself to more expressive, dramatic effects in which fine detail was less important than total effect. Artists who worked in this way include Rembrandt, (17th C); Monet (19th C), Cezanne (19th c., above), William de Kooning , (20th C).


Monica Lemeshonok

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