Let's Learn More About Oil Painting

The renaissance period has seen the rising of various important events and has been responsible for several changes in the field of science and technology. Painting was no such exception and newer techniques, like oil painting, which was already present evolved with more prominence during this period. Canvas painting is also at times referred to as oil painting, the simple reason since the color used in this art of painting comes from oil paints.

The general process of oil painting is to have the color pigments affixed to the medium of oil that is about to dry. In the earlier days when the art was practiced in Europe the painters used linseed oil as the medium for binding the color pigments. On various occasions these oils were heated to the limit of boiling along with resins or frankincense, and the product that was obtained was known as varnishes. The varnishes were highly prized at earlier times due to the rich body color they developed along with the exquisite glossy look.

In the current days, number of oils is used for oil painting, simply due to certain drawbacks some have been identified among them. The basic factor that they cater to be the time of drying of the oil or, the following tendency that oil paintings have after a long period of time. Painters often consider using different types of oil in the oil painting to obtain the desired effect in their piece of work, which would not be possible with a single oil blend.

Various processes of oil painting：

The processes of oil painting could be distinctively characterized according to the painters needs. The basic example of this is the usage of canvas as the texture or surface to paint. Even though oil painting can be done on various platforms canvases has been the most popular texture since the 16th century. It replaced the popular wooden panels, which were expensive, heavy and might split or get warped due to the inconvenience while carrying them.

Furthermore, every painter had the idea of mixing the pigments to the oil by themselves, but over the years they have given up to the freely transported oil paints obtained in tubes. However, they are still very specific about the type of brushes they would use, and some may even go to the length of having special ones manufactured for them.

Most of the artists or painters try to go about oil painting by applying the paints in layers. They generally form a platform on the canvas on which they can apply further paint. In oil painting, many painters like to put on extra layers on their paintings, just to improve its detailing or to make it more appealing and more realistic for the viewers.