Contemporary Philippine

Arts from the Regions

Quarter 2
Module 3

Mediums and
Techniques:
Painting
 B. Dry brushing D. Glazing

RECAP
The previous lesson was about the mediums and techniques in drawing. The lesson
tackled about the characteristics, similarities, differences, and the brands of the
mediums. The following were discussed:
• Pencil is a wooden rod enclosing a substance for marking. The four most
common kinds of pencils are graphite, charcoal, colored, and mechanical
pencils.
• Pen & ink refers to the use of different inks with a pen, which serves as the
vehicle to create marks. The kinds discussed were ballpoint, rollerball,
marker, felt-tip, and nib pens.
• Soft pastel is a type of pastel that has the consistency of a chalk.
• Oil pastel is another type of pastels. It is made of pigment held by a wax or
an oil binder.
• The most common surfaces used in drawing are sketch papers, illustration
board, and sandpaper. In picking a surface to work on, there are
considerations to look for, namely the weight of the paper, as well as its
durability overtime, whether it is acid-free or archival.
• Lastly, there were 7 pen and pencil techniques that were discussed, namely,
hatching, cross hatching, stippling, scumbling, scribbling, contouring,
and smudging.

LESSON

There are 3 major painting mediums that are widely used by both students and
professional artists: watercolor, oil, and acrylic. Each medium is unique because of
its binder, or the material that holds the pigment together.
1. Watercolor is a water-soluble paint that is bound by gum Arabic. Student grade
watercolor brands recommended by MyModernMet.com include Winsor & Newton,
Reeves, Van Gogh, and Sennelier.
Unlike oil and acrylic, it can only be used on paper. In picking out a paper to use for
watercolor, besides the weight, the texture of the paper is considered. There are three
kinds according to texture:
• Hot-pressed papers have a smooth surface. It is ideal for portraits and
detailed work. A drawback of hot press is that since it is too smooth, the
texture makes it difficult to control the paint as it does not have wells that
stop the paint from moving.
• Cold-pressed papers or “Not papers” have a texture that is between hot press
and rough. It is the most used kind because of its versatility. Novice and
 professional artists use it for various works, such as portraits, landscapes,
and still life.
• Lastly, rough papers have the most pronounced texture among the three. It
is ideal for painting landscapes and expressive pieces.
Watercolor papers are also categorized according to forms. They come in sheets,
rolls, blocks, panels, and pads. Some popular student quality paper brands are
Canson, Fabriano, and Strathmore.
Other materials and mediums used in watercolor:
• Masking fluid is a latex-based product used to shield a portion of the paper
from paint. It is used by applying on the paper, letting it dry, and peeling off
the product, revealing the surface unaffected by the paint.
• Paper tape is a kind of tape used to mask portions of a paper. It is usually
used in watercolor hold down a paper on a surface to prevent it from warping.
• Waterbrush is a brush exclusive for watercolor use. Its body or handle serves
as a container to hold water that seeps down onto the bristles for ease of use.
2. Oil paint is a mixture of pigment using oil as a binder. While most brands use
Linseed Oil, other brands may also use Safflower Oil or Poppy Seed Oil. Unlike
watercolor and acrylic, oil paints dry slow, with others taking several hours and some
taking more than a day to dry. Reliable student-grade oil paint brands are Reeves,
Winsor & Newton Winton series, Grumbacher, and Pēbēo.
Oil paints come in different forms. Besides the traditional oil paints, there are also
water-mixable oils, alkyd oils, and oil sticks.
• Traditional oil paints are the usual pigment plus oil binder paints. They can
be mixed with different oils and solvents and have a consistency similar to
butter.
• Water-mixable oil paints are the same as traditional oils in terms of what it
offers, but with the bonus of the ability to mix with water, getting rid of the
need for solvents and oils, and the often tedious process of cleaning up tools.
• Alkyd oil paints contain alkyd resin, which is a solution that makes the paint
dry faster. For example, a Winsor & Newton Burnt Umber paint usually dries
in 12-24 hours, but with alkyd, it is cut to 6-12 hours. It is ideal for making
multi-layered oil paintings.
• Lastly, oil sticks, sometimes referred to as oil bars or pigment sticks, are
traditional oil paints that can be used with oils and solvents that come in the
form of a rod or stick.
Additionally, oil paints can be painted in surfaces, called as supports. The two most
widely used are:
• A canvas is a material made of cotton, linen, or other synthetic material. It is
the most common surface used in oil painting. Canvases come in different
forms, such as stretched, board/panel, and paper.
• Wood panels are made from different kinds of wood (depending on the brand),
like poplar, oak, plywood, fiberboard, pine, and other various hardwoods.
Other materials used in oil painting:
• Turpentine is a solvent made from Pine Tree resin used for thinning out oil
paints and cleaning brushes and palettes.
• Drying oil is a medium used to slow down the drying time for paint. It is used
by painters to allow them to work on the paint for days, or sometimes even
months.
• Alkyd medium is used to speed up the drying time of paints.
 • Varnish is used as the last layer of the painting. It is used to give the painting
a glossy, satin, or matte sheen. Varnishes are also used to give the painting a
layer of protection once it is dried.
3. Acrylic paint is a water-based medium made from a combination of pigment and
acrylic polymer. It is the fastest drying painting and most versatile medium among
the three discussed in the lesson. Acrylic paints can be used like both watercolors
and oils. To add to that, it can be applied to a variety of surfaces like paper, canvas,
and wood, as well as metal, plastics, and textile.
There are numerous mediums and additives used with acrylic paints, which include
the following:
• Gloss medium is used to make acrylic shine, thinner, and add transparency.
• Matte medium creates a non-reflective finish to the final product.
• Glazing medium makes the paint thinner and more transparent suitable in
making multi-layered paintings using the glazing technique.
• Gel medium is used to make the acrylic paint thicker for artists who prefer
using the impasto technique.
• Retarding medium is utilized to slow down the drying time of the paint, akin
to the drying time of oil paints.
Other materials and tools used in watercolor, oil, and acrylic painting:
• Easel is a frame that supports or holds a surface an artist is using while it is
being painted or drawn. It is made of different materials such as wood, plastic,
and metal.
• Palette is a surface where paint is put onto and mixed. In watercolor painting,
it is ideal to have a palette made of plastic with numerous wells to separate
each color and to store water. Oils and acrylics can use plastic or wooden
palettes.
• Palette knife is a tool used to mix acrylic and oil paint. It can also be used
like a brush and apply paint onto a surface.
• Brushes are the main tools used by artists to apply paint on a surface. There
are two types of brush bristles or hair:
o Natural brush is made from animal hairs. An example of this is bristle
brush, which are thick, strong, and rough. It is ideal for oils and
acrylics. As for watercolor paints, sable brushes are recommended as
they hold water excellently.
o Synthetic brush is often made from nylon, polyester, or both. It can be
used for all three painting mediums, but one drawback is that synthetic
brushes can only hold a small amount of paint, which can be a hassle
for some artists.

Painting is an art anyone can start. It is not necessary for artists to use expensive
artist and professional grade paints to be able to learn and create beautiful paintings.
With paints, brushes, a surface on hand, along with the fundamental painting
techniques, one can ease the anxiety of starting with painting:
• Underpainting is the first layer of paint applied on a surface serving as the
base for the artwork. It can have a major effect on the rest of the painting,
especially the color. For example, blue toned underpainting can make a
painting feel cold, even if something is red-like a barn in wintertime against
a white, snowy backdrop.
• Dry brushing is a method that uses a dry brush to spread paint. Depending
on the paint, it can have varied effects. With oil and acrylic, it creates a
 feathered effect, and it is used to blend the paints. For watercolor, it is used
to create textures, especially on rough papers.
• Sgraffito is the term used when removing paint while it is still wet to expose
the underpainting or the layer underneath. It is used when depicting
scratches, hair, grasses, and the like.
• Glazing is the process of layering a coat of transparent paint over a dry part
of the painting. It is used for intensifying shadows and changing colors. For
example, when a transparent blue layer is painted over a dry yellow layer, it
creates green. This technique is useful when producing various shades of
colors that are not achieved from a single color of paint from a tube or pan.