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PAINTING |
By Learnzat.com Painting dates back to the Stone Age, but paint was made by using binders other than oil mixed with pigment, such as egg in tempera paints or plaster in frescoes. The quick drying characteristics of tempera paint did not allow for smooth transitions in shading, which was necessary for achieving a sense of reality. Instead of egg, oil was used in order to work much more slowly and accurately. An oil binder allows making glossy colors, which can be applied in transparent layers or glazes. The use of oil combined with pigments only dates back to the 1400's. Jan Van Eyck was the inventor of oil painting. If you look around your house you can probably find lots of surfaces other than expensive canvas for your artwork. Wood is always a good surface to use. It's easily primed with a coat of gesso. A thin piece of wood, less than 1/2 an inch thick or so, will do better if gesso is applied to both sides in order to prevent warping. Flexible sheets of wood can also be pinned or clamped to a surface in order to keep it flat in the painting process. Paper can also be used for oil painting as long as it is thick and acid free or look in your closet for old clothing that can be recycled into an oil painting surface. Experiment with cotton and linen fabrics that can be stretched like canvas, but be sure to prime well with acrylic gesso. You can stretch and secure the fabric to a board or wall. If you don't have brushes and have no money to buy them, then try palette knives. You can buy them made in a plastic, disposable form and are inexpensive. Or you can find other materials around the house like kitchen knives, sponges and rags. If you don't have a palette, use any smooth, flat surface primed with acrylic gesso. Glass pickle jars are great to keep solvents in and evaporation will be kept to a minimum if covered tightly with the lid. No need to dispose of solvents as they can be reused indefinitely by filling the jar with a layer of marbles or pebbles. The oily sediment and residue will fall down around the pebbles and keep your solvents clean. To preserve oil paints from one sitting to the next, cover the palette with plastic wrap. If a skin forms around old paint, just take off the skin and use the paint underneath. So go ahead, start painting! |
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