Oil painting - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Oil_painting

Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a
medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most
common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or
canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest
of the world. The advantages of oil for painting images include
"greater flexibility, richer and denser colour, the use of layers,
and a wider range from light to dark".[1] But the process is
slower, especially when one layer of paint needs to be allowed
to dry before another is applied.

The oldest known oil paintings were created by Buddhist artists

in Afghanistan and date back to the 7th century AD.[2] The
technique of binding pigments in oil was later brought to
Europe in the 15th century, about 900 years later. The adoption
of oil paint by Europeans began with Early Netherlandish
painting in Northern Europe, and by the height of the
Renaissance, oil painting techniques had almost completely
replaced the use of tempera paints in the majority of Europe.
Oil paint was used by Europeans for painting statues and Mona Lisa was created by Leonardo
woodwork from at least the 12th century, but its common use da Vinci using oil paints during the
for painted images began with Early Netherlandish painting in Renaissance art period in the 15th
Northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance, oil century.
painting techniques had almost completely replaced the use of
egg tempera paints for panel paintings in most of Europe,
though not for Orthodox icons or wall paintings, where tempera and fresco, respectively, remained
the usual choice.

Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. The
choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying
time. The paint could be thinned with turpentine. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are
also visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use several different oils in the same painting
depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a
particular consistency depending on the medium. The oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine
resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. The paint itself can be
molded into different textures depending on its plasticity.

Contents
Techniques
History
Ingredients

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Supports for oil painting

Process
Examples of famous works
Notes
References
Further reading

Techniques
Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist
sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned
paint. Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade
mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner,
faster or slower-drying. (Because the solvents thin the oil in the
paint, they can also be used to clean paint brushes.) A basic rule
of oil paint application is 'fat over lean', meaning that each
additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer
below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains
less oil, the final painting will crack and peel. The consistency
on the canvas depend on the layering of the oil paint. This rule
does not ensure permanence; it is the quality and type of oil
that leads to a strong and stable paint film.

There are other media that can be used with the oil, including
cold wax, resins, and varnishes. These additional media can aid
Thin blade used for the application
the painter in adjusting the translucency of the paint, the sheen
or removal of paint. Can also be
of the paint, the density or 'body' of the paint, and the ability of
used to create a mixture of various
the paint to hold or conceal the brushstroke. These aspects of
pigments.
the paint are closely related to the expressive capacity of oil
paint.

Traditionally, paint was most often transferred to the painting surface using paintbrushes, but
there are other methods, including using palette knives and rags. Palette knives can scrape off any
paint from a canvas and can also be used for application. Oil paint remains wet longer than many
other types of artists' materials, enabling the artist to change the color, texture or form of the
figure. At times, the painter might even remove an entire layer of paint and begin anew. This can
be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, but after a while the
hardened layer must be scraped off. Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually
dry to the touch within a span of two weeks (some colors dry within days).

History
The earliest known surviving oil paintings are Buddhist murals created circa 650AD in Bamiyan,
Afghanistan. Bamiyan is an historic settlement along the silk road and is famous for the Bamiyan
Buddhas, a series of giant statues, behind which rooms and tunnels are carved from the rock. The
murals are located in these rooms. The artworks display a wide range of pigments and ingredients,

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and even included the use of a final varnish layer. The

refinement of this painting technique and the survival of the
paintings into the present day suggests that oil paints had been
used in Asia for some time before the 7th century. This
technique of binding pigments in oil, first seen in the Bamiyan
cave paintings of South Asia, was later brought to Europe about
900 years later, in the 15th century. Europeans adopted the
technique with Early Netherlandish painting in Northern
Europe, and later, during the Renaissance, oil painting
techniques had almost completely replaced the earlier use of A section of the earliest discovered
tempera paints in the majority of Europe. [3][4][5] oil paintings (~ 650AD) depicting
buddhist imagery in Bamiyan,
Most European Renaissance sources, in particular Vasari, Afghanistan
falsely credit northern European painters of the 15th century,
and Jan van Eyck in particular, with the invention of oil
paints[6] However, Theophilus (Roger of Helmarshausen?)
clearly gives instructions for oil-based painting in his treatise,
On Various Arts, written about 1125.[7] At this period, it was
probably used for painting sculptures, carvings and wood
fittings, perhaps especially for outdoor use. Outdoor surfaces
and surfaces like shields—both those used in tournaments and
those hung as decorations—were more durable when painted in
oil-based media than when painted in the traditional tempera
paints. However, early Netherlandish painting with artists like
Van Eyck and Robert Campin in the early and mid-15th century A detail from the oldest oil paintings
were the first to make oil the usual painting medium, and in the world (~ 650 AD) a series of
Buddhist murals created in
explore the use of layers and glazes, followed by the rest of
Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Northern Europe, and only then Italy.

Such works were painted on wooden panels, but towards the

end of the 15th century canvas began to be used as a support, as it was cheaper, easier to transport,
allowed larger works, and did not require complicated preliminary layers of gesso (a fine type of
plaster). Venice, where sail-canvas was easily available, was a leader in the move to canvas. Small
cabinet paintings were also made on metal, especially copper plates. These supports were more
expensive but very firm, allowing intricately fine detail. Often printing plates from printmaking
were reused for this purpose. The increasing use of oil spread through Italy from Northern Europe,
starting in Venice in the late 15th century. By 1540, the previous method for painting on panel
(tempera) had become all but extinct, although Italians continued to use chalk-based fresco for
wall paintings, which was less successful and durable in damper northern climates.

Renaissance techniques used a number of thin almost transparent layers or glazes, usually each
allowed to dry before the next was added, greatly increasing the time a painting took. The
underpainting or ground beneath these was usually white (typically gesso coated with a primer),
allowing light to reflect back through the layers. But van Eyck, and Robert Campin a little later,
used a wet-on-wet technique in places, painting a second layer soon after the first. Initially the aim
was, as with the established techniques of tempera and fresco, to produce a smooth surface when
no attention was drawn to the brushstrokes or texture of the painted surface. Among the earliest
impasto effects, using a raised or rough texture in the surface of the paint, are those from the later
works of the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini, around 1500.[8]

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This became much more common in the 16th century, as may painters began to draw attention to
the process of their painting, by leaving individual brushstrokes obvious, and a rough painted
surface. Another Venetian, Titian, was a leader in this. In the 17th century some artists, including
Rembrandt, began to use dark grounds. Until the mid-19th century there was a division between
artists who exploited "effects of handling" in their paintwork, and those who continued to aim at
"an even, glassy surface from which all evidences of manipulation had been banished".[9]

Before the 19th century, artists or their apprentices ground pigments and mixed their paints for the
range of painting media. This made portability difficult and kept most painting activities confined
to the studio. This changed when tubes of oil paint became widely available following the American
portrait painter John Goffe Rand's invention of the squeezable or collapsible metal tube in 1841.
Artists could mix colors quickly and easily, which enabled, for the first time, relatively convenient
plein air painting (a common approach in French Impressionism)

Ingredients
The linseed oil itself comes from the flax seed, a common fiber
crop. Linen, a "support" for oil painting (see relevant section),
also comes from the flax plant. Safflower oil or the walnut or
poppyseed oil are sometimes used in formulating lighter colors
like white because they "yellow" less on drying than linseed oil,
but they have the slight drawback of drying more slowly and
may not provide the strongest paint film. Linseed oil tends to
dry yellow and can change the hue of the color.

Flax seed is the source of linseed Recent advances in chemistry have produced modern water
oil. miscible oil paints that can be used and cleaned up with water.
Small alterations in the molecular structure of the oil creates
this water miscible property.

Supports for oil painting

The earliest oil paintings were almost all panel paintings on
wood, which had been seasoned and prepared in a complicated
and rather expensive process with the panel constructed from
several pieces of wood, although such a support has a tendency
to warp. Panels continued to be used well into the 17th century,
including by Rubens, who painted several large works on wood.
The artists of the Italian regions moved towards canvas in the
early 16th century, led partly by a wish to paint larger images,
which would have been too heavy as panels. Canvas for sails
was made in Venice and so easily available and cheaper than
wood.
Splined canvas
Smaller paintings, with very fine detail, were easier to paint on
a very firm surface, and wood panels or copper plates, often
reused from printmaking, were often chosen for small cabinet paintings even in the 19th century.
Portrait miniatures normally used very firm supports, including ivory, or stiff paper card.

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Traditional artists' canvas is made from linen, but less expensive cotton fabric has been used. The
artist first prepares a wooden frame called a "stretcher" or "strainer". The difference between the
two names is that stretchers are slightly adjustable, while strainers are rigid and lack adjustable
corner notches. The canvas is then pulled across the wooden frame and tacked or stapled tightly to
the back edge. Then the artist applies a "size" to isolate the canvas from the acidic qualities of the
paint. Traditionally, the canvas was coated with a layer of animal glue (modern painters will use
rabbit skin glue) as the size and primed with lead white paint, sometimes with added chalk. Panels
were prepared with a gesso, a mixture of glue and chalk.

Modern acrylic "gesso" is made of titanium dioxide with an acrylic binder. It is frequently used on
canvas, whereas real gesso is not suitable for canvas. The artist might apply several layers of gesso,
sanding each smooth after it has dried. Acrylic gesso is very difficult to sand. One manufacturer
makes a "sandable" acrylic gesso, but it is intended for panels only and not canvas. It is possible to
make the gesso a particular color, but most store-bought gesso is white. The gesso layer, depending
on its thickness, will tend to draw the oil paint into the porous surface. Excessive or uneven gesso
layers are sometimes visible in the surface of finished paintings as a change that's not from the
paint.

Standard sizes for oil paintings were set in France in the 19th century. The standards were used by
most artists, not only the French, as it was—and evidently still is—supported by the main suppliers
of artists' materials. Size 0 (toile de 0) to size 120 (toile de 120) is divided in separate "runs" for
figures (figure), landscapes (paysage) and marines (marine) that more or less preserve the
diagonal. Thus a 0 figure corresponds in height with a paysage 1 and a marine 2.[10]

Although surfaces like linoleum, wooden panel, paper, slate, pressed wood, Masonite, and
cardboard have been used, the most popular surface since the 16th century has been canvas,
although many artists used panel through the 17th century and beyond. Panel is more expensive,
heavier, harder to transport, and prone to warp or split in poor conditions. For fine detail,
however, the absolute solidity of a wooden panel has an advantage.

Process
Oil paint is made by mixing pigments of colors with an oil medium. Since the 19th century the
different main colors are purchased in paint tubes pre-prepared before painting begins, further
shades of color are usually obtained by mixing small quantities together as the painting process is
underway. An artist's palette, traditionally a thin wood board held in the hand, is used for holding
and mixing paints. Pigments may be any number of natural or synthetic substances with color,
such as sulphides for yellow or cobalt salts for blue. Traditional pigments were based on minerals
or plants, but many have proven unstable over long periods of time. Modern pigments often use
synthetic chemicals. The pigment is mixed with oil, usually linseed, but other oils may be used. The
various oils dry differently, which creates assorted effects.

A brush is most commonly employed by the artist to apply the paint, often over a sketched outline
of their subject (which could be in another medium). Brushes are made from a variety of fibers to
create different effects. For example, brushes made with hog bristle might be used for bolder
strokes and impasto textures. Fitch hair and mongoose hair brushes are fine and smooth, and thus
answer well for portraits and detail work. Even more expensive are red sable brushes (weasel hair).
The finest quality brushes are called "kolinsky sable"; these brush fibers are taken from the tail of
the Siberian weasel. This hair keeps a superfine point, has smooth handling, and good memory (it

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returns to its original point when lifted off the canvas), known
to artists as a brush's "snap". Floppy fibers with no snap, such
as squirrel hair, are generally not used by oil painters.

In the past few decades, many synthetic brushes have been

marketed. These are very durable and can be quite good, as well
as cost efficient.

Brushes come in multiple sizes and are used for different

purposes. The type of brush also makes a difference. For
example, a "round" is a pointed brush used for detail work.
"Flat" brushes are used to apply broad swaths of color. "Bright"
is a flat brush with shorter brush hairs, used for "scrubbing in".
"Filbert" is a flat brush with rounded corners. "Egbert" is a very
long, and rare, filbert brush. The artist might also apply paint
with a palette knife, which is a flat metal blade. A palette knife
A traditional wood palette used to
may also be used to remove paint from the canvas when
hold and mix small amounts of paint
necessary. A variety of unconventional tools, such as rags,
while working
sponges, and cotton swabs, may be used to apply or remove
paint. Some artists even paint with their fingers.

Old masters usually applied paint in thin layers known as

"glazes" that allow light to penetrate completely through the
layer, a method also simply called "indirect painting". This
technique is what gives oil paintings their luminous
characteristics. This method was first perfected through an
adaptation of the egg tempera painting technique (egg yolks
used as a binder, mixed with pigment), and was applied by the
Early Netherlandish painters in Northern Europe with
pigments usually ground in linseed oil. This approach has been
called the "mixed technique" or "mixed method" in modern
times. The first coat (the underpainting) is laid down, often
Tubes of paint
painted with egg tempera or turpentine-thinned paint. This
layer helps to "tone" the canvas and to cover the white of the
gesso. Many artists use this layer to sketch out the composition.
This first layer can be adjusted before proceeding further, an advantage over the "cartooning"
method used in fresco technique. After this layer dries, the artist might then proceed by painting a
"mosaic" of color swatches, working from darkest to lightest. The borders of the colors are blended
together when the "mosaic" is completed and then left to dry before applying details.

Artists in later periods, such as the Impressionist era (late 19th century), often expanded on this
wet-on-wet method, blending the wet paint on the canvas without following the Renaissance-era
approach of layering and glazing. This method is also called "alla prima". This method was created
due to the advent of painting outdoors, instead of inside a studio, because while outside, an artist
did not have the time to let each layer of paint dry before adding a new layer. Several contemporary
artists use a combination of both techniques to add bold color (wet-on-wet) and obtain the depth of
layers through glazing.

When the image is finished and has dried for up to a year, an artist often seals the work with a layer
of varnish that is typically made from dammar gum crystals dissolved in turpentine. Such

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varnishes can be removed without disturbing the oil painting itself, to enable cleaning and
conservation. Some contemporary artists decide not to varnish their work, preferring the surface
unvarnished.

Examples of famous works

Arnolfini La donna velata, The Rape of Europa, The Raising of

Portrait, Jan Raphael, 1516 Titian, 1562 the Cross, Peter
van Eyck, 1434 Paul Rubens,
(on panel) 1610–11

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Innocent X, The Milkmaid,

Nicolaes Tulp, Rembrandt, Velázquez, c 1650 Johannes Vermeer, La Belle
1632 1658–1660 Strasbourgeoise,
Nicolas de
Largillière, 1703

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The Toilet of The Blue Boy, Battle of Woman with a

Venus, François Thomas Somosierra, Parasol - Madame
Boucher, 1751 Gainsborough, Piotr Monet and Her
1770 Michałowski, Son, Claude Monet,
1837 1875

The Card Players, Paul

Bal du moulin de la Galette, Portrait of Dr. Cézanne, 1892
Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1876 Gachet, Vincent
van Gogh, 1890

The Old Le Grand Canal, Venice, Les Demoiselles The Kiss (Der Kuß),
Guitarist, Henri Le Sidaner, 1906 d'Avignon, Pablo Gustav Klimt, 1907/8
Pablo Picasso, 1907
Picasso, 1903

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Composition VII, Wassily Bella with Motive from Tartu, Villem

Kandinsky, 1913 White Ormisson, 1937
Collar,
Marc
Chagall,
1917

Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942

Notes
1. Osborne, 787
2. Archaeology, Current World (6 July 2008). "World's oldest use of oil paint found in Afghanistan"
(https://www.world-archaeology.com/world/asia/afghanistan/worlds-oldest-use-of-oil-paint-foun
d-in-afghanistan/). World Archaeology. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
3. "Synchrotron light unveils oil in ancient Buddhist paintings from Bamiyan" (https://www.esrf.eu/
news/general-old/general-2008/bamiyan). www.esrf.eu. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
4. "Afghan caves hold world's first oil paintings: expert" (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-01-26/
afghan-caves-hold-worlds-first-oil-paintings-expert/1024106). www.abc.net.au. 25 January
2008.
5. April 2008, Live Science Staff 22 (22 April 2008). "Earliest Oil Paintings Discovered" (https://ww
w.livescience.com/2465-earliest-oil-paintings-discovered.html). livescience.com.
6. Borchert (2008), 92–94
7. Osborne, 787, 1132
8. Osborne, 787
9. Osborne, 787–788
10. Haaf, Beatrix (1987). "Industriell vorgrundierte Malleinen. Beiträge zur Entwicklungs-, Handels-

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und Materialgeschichte". Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung. 1: 7–71.

References
!"Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. London: Taschen, 2008. ISBN 3-8228-5687-8
!"Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to Art, 1970, OUP, ISBN 019866107X

Further reading
!"Chieffo, Clifford T.:Contemporary Oil Painter's Handbook, Prentice Hall, 1976
!"The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, comprehensive reference book by Ralph
Mayer (1940)

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