Blending is a painting technique where two different colors are slightly mixed together when wet, giving a smooth transition from one color to the next. The transition color will be a product of the two blended colors (i.e., if you blend blue into yellow, the transition color will be green). Blending requires the paint to be … Read more
A mahl stick is basically a long wooden stock with padding at one end which is used to lean on to provide stability when painting finer details. The padded side is rested on the dry areas of the canvas and the artist can rest their hand anywhere on the wooden stick. Thanks for Reading! Thanks for taking … Read more
Atelier is a French term for “workshop” or “studio”. In art, an atelier is an intimate group of students, apprentices, and assistants who work under the instruction of a master to produce artworks in the master’s name. An atelier was standard practice for apprentices from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century. Apprentices would start young … Read more
A glaze is a thin, semi-transparent layer of paint. Glazing is a popular technique in oil painting, where glazes are applied on top of an opaque layer of paint that has been allowed to dry. The general practice is to create a monochrome under-painting using opaque colors and then gradually building up glazes on top, allowing each … Read more
Alkyd medium is an alternative to using oil in oil painting. Alkyd medium is made from a synthetic resin and dries faster than oil mediums but slower than acrylics, whilst retaining many of the benefits of oil mediums. Alkyd medium is popular as it removes the need for a solvent when oil painting. I personally do not … Read more
Wash refers to a very thin layer of paint used generally just to stain the canvas with general tones. For oil painting, you would thin the paint using a solvent and for acrylic painting, you could simply use water. A wash will dry fast and is painted over, with some of the paint often being exposed … Read more
Oiling out is a technique used in oil painting when the oil sinks into the lower layers of a painting, leaving the top layers lacking vitality. Oil may sink into the lower layers for a number of reasons: The lower layers may be too absorbent Too much solvent has been used Not enough solvent has been … Read more
Imprimatura is an initial stain of color on the canvas in oil painting. This is different from a colored ground in that the stain is generally translucent in imprimatura. Imprimatura is commonly used when painting alla prima (or wet on wet) and was practiced by many of the great masters such as John Singer Sargent. … Read more
What does painting with a limited palette mean? Well essentially, it means limiting the number of colors you use in the painting to the bare essentials. Painting with a limited palette is touted by many of the great masters, including John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn and Claude Monet. Some of the reasons a limited palette may … Read more
Drying oils are oils that dry to a solid and elastic film when exposed for certain periods of time to air. This chemical process is known as oxidization. Drying oils are used in oil painting to bind the pigment. Drying oils include linseed oil, tung oil, poppy seed oil and walnut oil. Non-drying oils include almond … Read more