Painting
Two Dimensional Media
PAINTING
Painting is the application of pigments to a support surface that establishes an image, design, or decoration. In art the term ‘painting’ describes both the act and the result. Most painting is created with pigment in liquid form and applied with a brush. Exceptions to this are found in sandpainting Links to an external site., which has a long cultural history and is found all over the world. One example is the Tibetan Buddhist ritual of creating a sand mandala using powdered pigment. These are amazingly intricate and delicate:
mandala painting
Links to an external site.
Painting as a medium has survived for thousands of years and is, along with drawing and sculpture, one of the oldest creative mediums. It’s used in some form by cultures around the world. Artists have created paint by grinding up stones, insects, bones, soil, and even the wrappings of mummies! Artists have experimented with just about anything they could think of to create a new pigment color! Harvard University, collects and protects the worlds most unusual pigments.
The pigments in the Forbes collection come from all over the world, and some are stored in their original delicate glass containers. JENNY STENGER, © PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
Three of the most recognizable images in Western art history are paintings: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Links to an external site., Edvard Munch’s The Scream Links to an external site. and Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night Links to an external site.. These three art works are examples of how painting can go beyond a simple mimetic function, that is, to only imitate what is seen. The power in great painting is that it transcends perceptions to reflect emotional, psychological, even spiritual levels of the human condition.
What is a painting support?
Painting is extremely versatile because it can be applied to many different surfaces called supports. A painting support can include paper, wood, canvas, plaster, clay, lacquer, and concrete. Because paint is usually applied in a liquid or semi-liquid state it has the ability to soak into porous support material, which can over time weaken and damage the painting. To prevent damage, a support is usually first covered with a ground, a mixture of binder and chalk that when dry, creates a non-porous layer between the support and the painted surface. A typical ground is gesso Links to an external site..
There are six major painting mediums, each with specific individual characteristics:
- Encaustic
- Tempera
- Fresco
- Oil
- Acrylic
- Watercolor
All of them use three basic ingredients:
- Pigment
- Binder
- Solvent
Pigments are granular solids incorporated into the paint to contribute color. The binder, commonly referred to as the vehicle, is the actual film-forming component of paint. The binder holds the pigment in solution until it’s ready to be dispersed onto the surface. The solvent controls the flow and application of the paint. It’s mixed into the paint, usually with a brush, to dilute it to the proper viscosity, or thickness, before it’s applied to the surface. Once the solvent has evaporated from the surface the remaining paint is fixed there. Solvents range from water to oil-based products like linseed oil and mineral spirits.
Let’s look at each of the six main painting mediums:
1. Encaustic is the oldest known pigment binder, dating back to the fifth century B.C.E. Paint is mixed with dry pigment and a heated mixture of beeswax and resin, then the mixture is brushed or spread across a support surface. Reheating allows for longer manipulation of the paint. The characteristics of encaustic painting include strong, resonant colors, the wax can create a visual depth, and it is extremely durable and impervious to moisture. Encaustic was used extensively in funerary mummy portraits Links to an external site.from Fayum in Egypt.
Encaustic painting has seen resurgence in use and there is incredible work being done! The work of Alicia Tormey Links to an external site. is noteworthy for her mastery of the encaustic method. Her botanical painting, Gaea is brushed and scraped in layers, exposing colors from underneath, giving the finished work a depth and richness of color. She uses the same techniques in her encaustic landscape painting, Altitude, however rather than producing an image of an object, she creates a sense of limitless space. Modern electric and gas tools (such as a blow torch) allow for extended periods of heating and paint manipulation.
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Alicia Tormey, Gaea, Encaustic on panel, aliciatormey.com
Alicia Tormey, Altitude, Encaustic on panel, aliciatormey.com
2. Tempera paint combines pigment with an egg yolk binder, then thinned and released with water. Like encaustic, tempera has been used for thousands of years. Tempera dries quickly to a durable, smooth, matte finish. Because there is not a lot of time before it dries, tempera paintings are created by applying numerous small cross-hatched brush strokes, to painstakingly built up the image. Because of this technique tempera paintings are known for their detail.
In early Christianity, tempera was used extensively to paint images of religious icons. The pre-Renaissance Italian artist Duccio (c. 1255 – 1318), one of the most influential artists of the time, used tempera paint in the creation of, The Crevole Madonna. You can see the sharpness of line and shape in this well-preserved work, and the detail he renders in the face and skin tones of the Madonna (see the detail below).
Duccio, The Crevole Madonna, c. 1280. Tempera on board
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy Image is in the public domain
Detail: Duccio, The Crevole Madonna, c. 1280. Tempera on board
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy Image is in the public domain
Contemporary painters still use tempera as a medium. American painter Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) used tempera to create Christina's World, Links to an external site. a masterpiece of detail, composition and mystery.
And William Lee "Bill" Cumming Links to an external site., a notable artist with a colorful reputation, he is associated with the Northwest school and created modern tempera paintings that can be found in many private and corporate art collections in the Seattle metropolitan area.
William Cumming. Generations, 2004. Oil and tempera on masonite.
Collection of Elisabeth and Bernt Bodal.
3. Fresco painting is used exclusively on plaster walls and ceilings to paint murals. The medium of fresco has been used for thousands of years, but is most associated with its use in Christian images during the Renaissance period in Europe. There are two forms of fresco: Buon or “wet”, and secco, meaning “dry”.
Buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet lime mortar Links to an external site. or plaster Links to an external site.. The pigment is applied to and absorbed by, the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the air. It is this chemical reaction that fixes the pigment particles in the mortar or plaster. Because of the chemical reaction that occurs, a binder is not required. Buon fresco is more stable because the pigment becomes part of the wall itself.
Domenico di Michelino’s Dante and the Divine Comedy from 1465 (below) is a superb example of buon fresco. The colors and details are preserved in the dried plaster wall. Michelino shows the Italian author and poet Dante Aleghieri standing with a copy of the Divine Comedy open in his left hand, gesturing to the illustration of the story depicted around him. The artist shows us four different realms associated with the narrative: the mortal realm on the right depicting Florence, Italy; the heavenly realm indicated by the stepped mountain at the left center – you can see an angel greeting the saved souls as they enter from the base of the mountain; the realm of the damned to the left – with Satan surrounded by flames greeting them at the bottom of the painting; and the realm of the cosmos arching over the entire scene.
Domenico di Michelino, Dante’s Divine Comedy, 1465, buon fresco, the Duomo, Florence, Italy
This image is in the public domain
Secco fresco refers to painting an image on the surface of a dry plaster wall. This medium requires a binder since the pigment is not mixed into the wet plaster. Egg tempera is the most common binder used for this purpose. It was common to use secco fresco over buon fresco murals in order to repair damage or make changes to the original. Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper (below) was done using secco fresco.
Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495 – 98, dry fresco on plaster.
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan This image is in the public domain
4. Oil paint is the most versatile of all the painting mediums.
It uses pigment mixed with a binder of linseed oil Links to an external site.. Linseed oil can also be used as the vehicle, along with mineral spirits or turpentine. Oil paint dries slower than other types of paint, as such it can be blended on the support surface with meticulous detail. This extended working time also allows for adjustments and changes to be made without having to scrape off sections of dried paint -- that is unless you want to scrape the paint to create an effect! Oil painting was thought to have developed in Europe during the 15th century, but recent research on murals found in Afghanistan caves Links to an external site. show oil based paints were used there as early as the 7th century.
Some of the qualities of oil paint include a wide range of pigment choices. Oil paint has the ability to be thinned down and applied in almost transparent glazes, Links to an external site. as well as used straight from the tube (without the use of a vehicle). When oil paint is used in thick layers that stand off the support, it is called impasto (you can see this in many works Links to an external site. by Vincent van Gogh). One drawback to the technique of impasto is that over time the body of the paint can split, leaving networks of cracks along the thickest parts of the painting.
In Jan Brueghel the Elder’s still life oil painting you can see many of the qualities mentioned above. The richness of the paint itself is evident in both the resonant lights and inky dark colors of the work. The working of the paint allows for many different effects to be created, from the softness of the flower petals to the reflection on the vase and the many visual textures in between.
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Still life of flowers in a stoneware vase, second half of the 16 century, oil on oak panel,
Image in the public domain.
Richard Diebenkorn’s, Cityscape #1 from 1963 shows how the artist uses oil paint in a more fluid, expressive manner. He thins down the medium to obtain a quality and gesture that reflects the sunny, breezy atmosphere of a California morning. Diebenkorn used layers of oil paint, one over the other, to let the under painting show through and a flat, more geometric space that blurs the line between realism and abstraction.
Richard Diebenkorn, Cityscape #1, 1963. Oil on canvas, 60 ¼” x 50 ½”
Copyright The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn. Used with permission
Georgia O’Keeffe’s oil paintings show a range of handling between soft and austere to very detailed and evocative. You rarely see her brushstrokes, but she has a summary command of the medium of oil paint.
Georgia O’Keeffe 1887-1986, Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932, Oil paint on canvas, 48 x 40 inches
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas, USA © 2016 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum/DACS, London, Photography by Edward C. Robison III
The abstract expressionist painters pushed the limits of what oil paint could do. Their focus was in the act of painting as much as it was about the subject matter. Indeed, for many of them there was no distinction between the two. The work of Willem de Kooning leaves a record of oil paint being brushed, dripped, scraped and wiped away all in a frenzy of creative activity. This idea stays contemporary in the paintings of Celia Brown. Links to an external site.
5. Acrylic paint was developed in the 1950’s and became an alternative to oils. Pigment is suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion binder and uses water as the vehicle. You can achieve the same effects with acrylic paint as you can with oil, the differences between acrylic and oil is that acrylic paint dries very quickly. Acrylic paints offer the body, color resonance and durability of oils without the mess and toxicity issues of using heavy solvents to mix them. They are water soluble, but once dry become impervious to water or other solvents. Moreover, acrylic paints adhere to many different surfaces and are extremely durable. Acrylic impastos will not crack or yellow over time.
6. Watercolor is a very sensitive painting mediums that reacts to the lightest touch of the artist and can become an over worked mess in a moment. There are two kinds of watercolor media: transparent and opaque. Transparent watercolor operates in a reverse relationship to the other painting mediums. It is traditionally applied to a paper support, and relies on the whiteness of the paper to reflect light back through the applied color (see below), whereas opaque paints (including opaque watercolors) reflect light off the skin of the paint itself. Watercolor consists of pigment and a binder of gum arabic, a water-soluble compound made from the sap of the acacia tree, it dissolves easily in water.
Image by Christopher Gildow. Used here with permission.
Watercolor paintings hold a sense of immediacy. The medium is extremely portable and excellent for small format paintings. The paper used for watercolor is generally of two types: hot press, which gives a smoother texture, and cold press, which results in a rougher texture. Transparent watercolor techniques include the use of wash; an area of color applied with a brush and diluted with water to let it flow across the paper. Wet-into-wet painting allows colors to flow and drift into each other, creating soft transitions between them. Drybrush painting uses little water and lets the brush run across the top ridges of the paper, resulting in a broken line of color and lots of visual texture.
Examples of watercolor painting techniques: on the left, a wash. On the right, drybrush effects.
Image by Christopher Gildow. Used here with permission.
Thomas Moran (1837–1926) shows extensive use of washes to render this scene of a valley and the mountains in the distance.
Thomas Moran, In the Bighorn Mountains, 1889. (Photo: Public Domain)
“Boy in a Red Vest” by French painter Paul Cezanne builds form through nuanced colors and tones. The way the watercolor is laid onto the paper reflects a sensitivity and deliberation common in Cezanne’s paintings.
Paul Cezanne, Boy in a Red Vest, c. 1890. Watercolor on paper.
This image is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
The watercolors of Winslow Homer (1836-1910) are saturated with color. In his painting, Gloucester Harbor, he shows the use of dry brushing to achieve texture and depth. Also note the structure of the clouds and how the paint is applied to create objects made of water vapor!
Winslow Homer, Gloucester Harbor, 1873 (Photo:Public Domain)
Opaque watercolor, also called gouache (pronounced gwaash), differs from transparent watercolor only in that the particles are larger, the ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an additional, inert, white pigment such as chalk Links to an external site. is also present. Because of this, gouache paint gives stronger color than transparent watercolor, although it tends to dry to a slightly lighter tone than when it is applied. Gouache paint holds up well in thinner applications and often is used to cover large areas with color. Like transparent watercolor, dried gouache paint will become soluble again in water.
Gouache is a medium in traditional painting from other cultures too. Zal Consults the Magi Links to an external site., part of an illuminated manuscript form 16th century Iran, uses bright colors of gouache along with ink, silver and gold to construct a vibrant composition full of intricate patterns and contrasts. Ink is used to create lyrical calligraphic passages at the top and bottom of the work.
Other painting mediums used by artists:
Enamel paints form hard skins typically with a high-gloss finish. They use heavy solvents and are extremely durable.
Powder coat paints differ from conventional paints in that they do not require a solvent to keep the pigment and binder parts in suspension. They are applied to a surface as a powder then cured with heat to form a tough skin that is stronger than most other paints. Powder coats are applied mostly to metal surfaces.
Epoxy paints are polymers Links to an external site., created mixing pigment with two different chemicals: a resin and a hardener. The chemical reaction between the two creates heat that bonds them together. Epoxy paints, like powder coats and enamel, are extremely durable in both indoor and outdoor conditions. These industrial grade paints are used in sign painting, marine environments and aircraft painting.