Oil Paintings

Paintings tend to be the most beautiful creation of man, which has the power to exert a pull on the spectator. Oil paintings are beautiful art forms, and these antique elements continue to mark their stand through generations.

Why oil painting?

The great painters and the artists of the past chose to work on oil paintings because it rendered a very realistic output. The paintings differed from those produced by water colors, because the oil paintings looked very rich and attractive.

Oil paintings originated during the middle ages, when the requirement for waterproof painting was at the peak. Great artists opted for oil paintings because of their durability and long lasting resistance. Thanks to those great men because of the usage of oil paints only, we are able to enjoy the stupendous collection of various artists.

The hard work consumed by the oil paintings!

Behind the beauty of oil paintings is the hard labor of the artist. A classical work may take several weeks to months to be completed. Color pigments and binders are the constituents of the oil paints. Linseed oils, poppy seed oils, safflower oils and walnut oils are the oils to be mixed with the pigments. Brushers made up of different fibers are used to paint. Oil painting is said to consume a lot of work because it does not dry up easily, and if the artists wants to paint in layers, he must wait for the paints to dry at each level which may devour a week. The oils employed would dry at their own pace. The artist

will be able to make changes during the dry period of the painting, which is impossible in water paintings. Oil paintings do no dry through evaporation, they have to be oxidized. And then these paints are varnished after six months or a year. Some art conservators consider an oil painting to be dry only after its 60-80 years old.

Oil paintings reached the pinnacle during the renaissance, where artists began to select wooden panels as their base medium. They would stretch their canvas over the wooden panel. Artists used a variety of brushes to produce different kinds of unique effects, knives and blades were also used. Some artists painted with their fingers too.

Oil paintings today

Oil painting is an astonishing art form and even today there are many artists who work fabulously on oil paints. But now there are more sophisticated tools to produce oil paintings such as water miscible oil paints. These paints can be thinned and cleaned up with water rather than using the turpentine. Earlier turpentine was used as a cleaner in oil paintings. These water miscible oil paints reduce the deep odor of toxic chemicals. Those days artist coated a blended mixture on the canvas before they started painting, this was done to protect the canvas from the toxic nature of the paints. But now all these safety measures are less required.



By: Gayathri