Oil Painting Palette

Oil Vs. Layers

A canvas must be properly primed, so that the oil paint will not rot the canvas over time. As the paint is applied, each layer must contain more oil than the layer below it to allow proper drying and to prevent cracking and peeling; this rule is known as “fat over lean.”

Drying Time

Paint brushes are often used to apply the paint to the canvas, but other methods can be used, such as rags and palette knives. Oil paint takes much longer to dry than many other types of paint, allowing the artist to change the color, texture, or form of the picture. Oil paint dries by a process known as oxidation, in which it hardens into a dry solid.

While the paint is still wet, the painter sometimes even dares to remove the entire upper layer and repaint a new look. This is accomplished by using a rag and some turpentine. Once the paint dries and hardens, it must be scraped off. Oil paint is usually dry to the touch in a day to two weeks.

After about six months to a year, the paint is dry enough to be ready for a coating of varnish. It takes about 60 to 80 years for the painting to be considered a “completely dry painting” by art conservators.

Ingredients In Oil

The ingredients used for oil painting come from plants. The flax seed produces linseed oil, and the flax plant produces the linen commonly used to make the canvas. Safflower oil is used to form lighter colors such as white, since it yellows less than linseed oil, even though it takes longer to become completely dry.

Modern science has produced water miscible oil paint. As the name suggest, this oil paint was created with a tiny modification in its molecular structure, allowing it to be used with and easily cleaned up with plain water. Heat-set oil, another creation of modern science, is an imitation oil paint that resembles oil paint, and remains liquid when heated to 265-280 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oil Painting - View of Delft, by Johannes Vermeer

A finished acrylic painting can have the appearance of a watercolor, an oil painting, or some other unique look, depending on the percentage of dilution with water, gels, or pastes.

The binding ingredient of oil paint is linseed oil, whereas water is the main binding ingredient used in acrylic paint. Therefore, oil paint is said to be “oil based”, while acrylic paint is “water based.”

Drying Time of Painting

Acrylic paint and oil paint require different lengths of time to dry. Oils take relatively more time to dry, typically several weeks, depending on the ingredients used. This is because oils do not undergo the same process of evaporation that water does when exposed to air. Rather, oil paint oxidizes into a dry solid. This property causes oil paint to dry very slowly, giving the artist time to blend colors and adjust the final product.

Alternatively, acrylic paint is often chosen by artists who want faster results, since it takes only hours to dry. However, a slower-drying acrylic paint was introduced in 2008 by Golden Artist Colors, which combine the qualities of oil paints with the quicker drying time of acrylic, resulting in a paint that remains wet for a few hours on the palette under normal environmental conditions.

Drawbacks of Oil

Using oil paints comes with its drawbacks – there is a need to use a solvent such as turpentine to thin the paint and clean up the work area. Such solvents typically have some level of toxicity and excessive exposure is best avoided.

Before painting, the canvas must be properly primed, and the finished product requires a removable protective layer of varnish. The appearance of the paint can become yellow and brittle over time, and, to avoid cracking, the principle of “fat over lean” must be adhered to; each layer of paint that is applied must have a higher oil to pigment ratio.

Acrylic is typically more versatile in nature to use for the average artist, although because of its faster drying time, the painter is not able to blend colors or use the wet-in-wet technique available to oil paint. Retarders can be added to acrylic paint to slow the drying process, allowing water to be added to make the paint more workable.

This is an example of nearly pure abstraction, The Yellow Curtain, painted by Henri Matisse in 1915 with his drawing Matisse and Fauvist color.

Visual language that uses any form, line, or color to generate a masterpiece which has its unique existence distinct from visual references is known as abstract art. Before abstract paintings, traditional European art attempted to reproduce an illusion of visible reality.

As other cultures became accessible over time, artists were exposed to other ways of showcasing their art. By the end of the 19th century, many artists wished to express their artwork in a more abstract way that would show the fundamental changes happening in technology, science, and philosophy.

Deviation From Reality

Abstraction shows a departure from reality by depicting imagery in art. This deviation from reality can be anywhere along a continuum from slight to total abstraction. Freedom taken to alter any form or color makes artwork partially abstract.

Total Abstraction Art

Total abstraction occurs when a piece leaves no reference of recognition to the original piece. As it is nearly impossible to perfectly recreate an object, even art that claims to be highly distinct can also be considered abstract.

Symbols

In ancient times, people used to put symbols and marks on rock, pottery, and clothes that were simple, linear and geometric forms just to reveal a symbolic or decorative purpose. This art communicated just the primary level of visual meaning, just as we enjoy the attractiveness of Chinese or Islamic calligraphy even without being able to read and interpret it.

Main Art Movements

Romanticism, Impressionism, and Expressionism were the three main art movements responsible for the recognition and development of abstract painting in the 19th century. James McNeill Whistler was one of the first to introduce this new art, by giving greater importance to visual sensation rather than the simple portrayal of objects, in his painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The falling Rocket, in the year 1872.

Expressionist painters created emotionally charged paintings that were reactions to their contemporary experience. They experimented with the bold use of the canvas, drawing exaggerations and distortions with intense colors.

Famous Painters

Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, and Paul Cezanne practiced post Impressionism, which had a huge impact on the art of 20th century and resulted in the creation of 20th century abstraction.

Famous painters including Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy revolutionized the Paris art world by drawing wild paintings of landscapes and figures that were multi-colored and expressive. Paintings by Henri Matisse that resemble pure abstraction because of his expressive use of color and imaginative drawing include French Window at Collioure (1914) and View of Notre-Dame (1914).