Oil paintings

Oil painting is a painting technique in which powdered pigments are mixed with drying oils, which are generally of vegetable origin (hardening or drying oils). Oil painting can be used on many different substrates, but the most common are canvas and panel (wooden board).

„Die Ölmalerei kann auf vielen verschiedenen Trägermaterialien verwendet werden.
Oil painting can be used on many different substrates, here: oil on paper on canvas.
 
 

Features of the technique

“Oil” comes from the Latin oleum. As already mentioned, oil paint consists of pigment powder and binders such as linseed oil, walnut oil, or poppy seed oil. In addition, essential oils such as rosemary oil or, above all, turpentine oil are used as thinners. This makes the paint more watery or more impasto, depending on the desired effect. And since solvents have the property of mixing with oils, they are also used to clean brushes.

Pigments

In the past, painters were responsible for producing their own paints, which were obtained directly from raw materials (mostly of mineral origin) that had to be finely ground before being mixed with oils. The raw materials are generally of mineral origin, but earths and substances of animal or plant origin are also used. For this reason, artists, especially in the past, had to have the necessary experience to mix pigments that were compatible with each other or that guaranteed stability and durability.

The invention of the paint tube in 1841 by the American painter John Goffe Rand promoted the development of plein air painting.

Binders

Linseed oil, the most commonly used binder, is usually processed raw, as boiled linseed oil, although it gives the paint more intense colors and dries faster, yellows more. Walnut or poppy seed oil is sometimes used for light colors because it yellows less, but dries more slowly and is less durable than linseed oil. Other agents such as varnishes, resins, or cold wax also help to give the colors transparency and make it possible to conceal or reveal the brushstrokes. Thanks to modern chemical developments, water-soluble oil paints are now available.

Supports

The first support used in the 14th century was the panel, which had to be intensively prepared in a costly process. Examples of canvas supports from the same century are already known, but it was not until the end of the 15th century that they began to be used on a large scale because they were easier to transport and suitable for larger works, because they were easier to prepare and not as susceptible to insect infestation, and because they were generally more economical.

Other media include paper, slate, cardboard, pressed wood, or Masonite. Metals such as gold and silver are also used for decorative purposes. The use of leather became widespread in Venice in the 16th century. Today, woven cardboard with low permeability is marketed.

Traditionally, canvas was made from linen, a fabric with high strength that is particularly well suited for oil painting. This fabric is still preferred by professional artists because of its high quality. In the 20th century, the use of cotton became popular for a new type of canvas: “cotton duck,” also due to the emergence of acrylic paint.

Tools

The brush is the standard tool for applying oil paint. The different types of fibers used have different purposes. The arrangement of the fibers and their profile also serve different purposes. Brushes made from pig bristles are used to achieve greater opacity. Brushes made from mung bean hair are finer and softer and are better suited for portraits and details. The best and most expensive brushes are called “kolinsky sable,” whose fibers come from the tail of the Siberian weasel. This type of hair has a very fine tip and good memory, meaning that the fibers return to their original position after use.

Metal spatulas are used both to apply and remove paint. Cloths, sponges, or even fingers are also used as tools.

Artists first spread the paints on a thin wooden palette and mix them there.

Examples of oil paintings

Below you will find the oil paintings for sell that you can buy at ROBERT ZÜBLIN, including vintage landscape paintings, veduta paintings, animal portraits (dog portraits) and portrait paintings of a woman or a man:

Techniques

Form and color

The separation of form and color was a technique used from the Middle Ages to Titian (16th century) that allowed for a very detailed and natural representation of forms and was also used by the Surrealists. The artist first made a drawing, which was transferred to the painting. From there, he began applying layers of paint, starting with the primer.

Primer

Before applying the paint, in this case oil paint, the substrate must be prepared, which has a direct impact on the performance of the paint, its resistance and ultimately its durability. The primer consists of an even layer that insulates the substrate from the paint on the one hand and regulates the absorption of the binders by the substrate on the other. Oil paints require a greasy primer. The most common primer is a mixture of chalk with rabbit glue (collagen from rabbit skin) or casein glue (milk protein), sometimes with the addition of boiled linseed oil. The mixture must be liquid so that it can be spread on the canvas, but at the same time sufficiently dense. Several layers are then applied orthogonally. To achieve plastic effects, a veil of oil paint is sometimes applied over the primer.

The painter uses the imprimatura (primer) to create relationships between light and dark tones.

Painting in layers

The Old Dutch painters, who rediscovered oil painting, developed glaze painting (already known to the ancient Egyptians and Romans), applying thin layers of paint on top of each other. The transparent, oily layers are applied to opaque, dry layers, creating a shimmering effect and, above all, making skin tones appear natural. Due to other aesthetic interests, the use of this technique gradually disappeared from the Baroque period onwards.

Tone-on-tone painting

This technique is a shortened process in which the original drawing is partially eliminated. It was developed in the 16th century, with Titian playing a major role. Originally, it was very useful for producing large representational paintings. One begins with a primer in an earth tone, draws a loose sketch in colored gray or dark earth color, and allows it to dry. Then an intermediate layer of paint is applied, followed by layers of colored glazes until the artist is satisfied with the result. Titian applied between 40 and 50 layers. This method offered more freedom in finding the form of the painting.

Alla prima (wet-on-wet)

In contrast to layer painting, where the completion of a painting can take months or even years, a painting using the alla prima technique can be completed in several sessions or even in just one session. The colors are mainly mixed on the palette and applied to a specific area of the painting without the need for many corrections. This technique has been used alongside other techniques since the early days of oil painting. With the advent of the oil tube in the 19th century and the fashion for painting outdoors, this technique became the most widely used.

History of the technique

The Roman architect and writer Vitruvius (1st century BC) and the writer and naturalist Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) already reported on the existence of oil painting. However, the oldest surviving paintings are located in Bamiyan (Afghanistan) and were probably created in the 7th century AD. These paintings contain a large number of components and pigments and are even coated with a varnish, which indicates an advanced development of the technique.

Theophilus Presbyter, a Benedictine monk from the Rhineland, provides instructions on oil painting in his work “De diversis artibus” (written around 1125). It is believed that it was used for painting sculptures and other carvings, especially for outdoor use. However, it was the early Dutch painters of the early to mid-15th century, such as Jan Van Eyck, who made this painting technique their usual medium by exploring the use of layers, but initially painting on wood. This technique reached Italy in the second half of the 15th century, and in Venice, canvas was introduced as a support material at the end of the same century, as it was easy to obtain sailcloth in that city.