Oils were king until the 1960s, when acrylic paints became readily available. How do they differ from oils, though?
history of painting
How Samuel Palmer used ink in paintings, and some fine work using the milk protein casein, by Gustav Klimt and others.
From Conté crayons to oil pastels, stick media have many advantages and are rightly popular today. Here are examples by Millet, Seurat, Redon, Schiele, Bonnard, and others.
Developed in the mid 1600s, pastels are often considered to be the ‘purest’ form of painting, in which pure pigment is applied to the ground.
Since the decline of egg tempera and fresco in the Renaissance, oil paints have predominated. They rely on drying oils as their binder, which give them longevity and versatility.
With a binder of gum arabic, watercolours came into use in the Renaissance, and have steadily increased in popularity.
In the Renaissance, while oil painting was still catching on, many of the greatest masterpieces were painted in egg tempera. How, and to what effect?
Popular in the early Renaissance, it was revived by William Blake, the Nabis, and a few others. Despite its disadvantages, these are wonderful paintings.
Painting with pigment mixing with molten wax is another ancient method. Haunting funerary portraits from 80-250 CE show how effective it can be.
Introduction to a series looking at different painting systems. Establishes how their key components are the support, ground, pigment, binder and diluent and explains terms.
