WHAT IS OIL PAINT?
What is Oil Painting?
What is Oil Paint?
Oil Paint is a mixture of an oil (usually linseed oil but could be another type such as safflower, walnut etc or a mixture of different oils) and pigment (natural or synthetic and some are toxic). The paint is slow drying (although different pigments affect drying time) and eventually cures to a durable paint film.
The oil encapsulates the pigment protecting it from the air so it is not affected by it (which was a big change from egg tempera in the Renaissance Period where lead paint and others would oxidise in the air and change colour)
Dependant on Manufacturer the pigment is mixed either alone with the oil or with other mediums to improve the consistency and properties of the paint.
Artists can add other mediums (such as Damar, Canada balsam, Venice Turpentine, Cobalt siccative, beeswax etc) by themselves or in special mixes to further alter the properties of the paint on their pallet or to create impasto and glazes.
(Note: Damar is not recommended to be used with alkyd resin and cobalt siccative can speed up drying time but also make the paint film more brittle and more likely to crack).
Oil Painting is the application of this oil based paint, with the addition of mediums to the discretion of the artist, onto a prepared board, canvas or paper (Recommended to use a sturdy substrate as paper is flexible and may lead to the painting cracking) to render a piece of artwork and finished with the application of varnish (again to the discretion of the artist).
