Friday, June 10, 2016

Understanding The Oil Painting Process

By Robert Smith


Many artists have had oil paints as their first priority for many years. Artists use selected oils to mix dry powder paints in the process of making their colors. They blend these products to get a stiff paste and this paste usually has consistency. Consistency is an essential property for these paints. The recommended standard for this paints is to have a buttery smooth paste which is not either stingy or tacky. Nevertheless, artists have made the oil painting a top choice over many years due to its benefits.

As a matter of fact, colors are beautiful and gorgeous, and they last forever. The nature of oil paints is that they are slow drying making it possible to remove what you might not want when it is still wet. Again, you can still paint over the picture once it get dry.

As noted before, consistency for this type of paints is a vital property. However, if some flowing quality is required, a liquid medium like turpentine could be added. Still, a siccative or liquid drier can be added in order to accelerate the rate of drying. By just learning the basics, oil paints are easier to use.

When carrying out this artistic work, artists canvas as their ideal support. The canvas is usually cut to the required size and is then stretched on a frame which in most cases a wooden frame, and then it is secured in place by staples or tacks. To lower permeability of the canvas and attain a smooth surface use a primer, and allow it to dry before you can start painting. The mostly used primers are such as gesso and lead white. In some cases, a stiffer and smoother paint could be preferred to texture and springiness. In such a case, a processed paperboard panel or a wooden panel that is primed can be used.

Brushes are important tools for this artistic works. They are used for applying paints over the sketched outline. These brushes are often made of a variety of fibers in order to produce different effects. Common types of brushes used are red stable and bleached hog bristles. The brushes are of different shapes and sizes, for instance, flat, oval or round.

After the painting work, a picture varnish coat is normally done in order to protect the picture from atmospheric attacks, accumulation of dirt and minor abrasions. Nevertheless, the varnish can be safely removed using some solvents such as isopropyl alcohol. Also, the varnish adds a uniform luster, tonal depth and color intensity originally in the wet paint.

There are many benefits of painting using oil paints. First, the paints are slow in drying compared to watercolors. This is a benefit to the artist since it give him enough time to work with his creations and make important changes before deciding that painting is complete. Also, this kind of paints can withstand wear and tear.

Finally, when the painting process is complete, correct the mistakes while the paint is still wet. Save the remaining paints for use in the next artistic work. Lastly, clean up the brushes because the paint will ruin them when allowed to dry before they are cleaned.




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