Applying thinner layers of paint, or glazes, developed optical effects that were widely used into the late 19th century, but have now fallen from favour.
oil paint
The new medium of the latter half of the 20th century, and how pioneers like Sam Golden transformed it to make it suitable as a replacement for oils.
How oil paint can be used to create crisp and blurred edges, and sfumato. Implications of paint drying in some of Monet’s paintings, including his Grainstack series.
Painting with an edge hierarchy requires fine control over paint viscosity and drying time, and a deep understanding of technique.
Key factors making oil paint most suitable include its slow drying, wide range of viscosity, and robust paint layer. But it has its rules too.
Tragic stories of great paintings that no longer look anything like their originals, from Leonardo da Vinci and William Blake.
In his attempts to emulate Rembrandt and Rubens, he experimented with thickened oil paint that has led to poor structural integrity, and severe damage to the paint layer.
Joshua Reynolds, who aspired to paint like Rembrandt; JMW Turner who explored colour contrasts and texture; Edgar Degas, who dried his oils before painting.
Acrylics are too chemically complex for artists to prepare themselves, containing packaged blends of polymers with surfactants, and much more.
At the start of the 15th century, Italian easel paintings used egg tempera. By the end, Leonardo da Vinci was pushing the technical boundaries using oil paint.
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