Zhenhui Qian
With the changing of the style, oil painting techniques have been invented differently. My research is focused on three great periods: Renaissance, Baroque and modernism. In term of techniques, it includes two things: the painting process and painting materials. Painting materials determine the painting process, and the painting process had to avoid the shortcomings of the materials. Using the same painting materials, artists are able to create very different images by using different processes.
Painting materials consist of pigments, brushes and painting surfaces (support, size and ground) and so on. Most researches which have been done are about the pigments, painting mediums and painting surfaces. Supports can be panels and canvas (linen and cotton). Size is a layer used to separate pigments and supports. Ground is the layer which touches and absorbs the pigments. The purpose of using mediums is to keep the pigments shining and slow the cracking process, sometimes even helps to dry.
The Renaissance Period is the starting time that oil painting was invented and replaced the use of tempera. Panels were widely used as support and applied a layer of oil ground. Underpainting has been done in most paintings and sometimes tempera painting could be an underpainting. Most formulas which were used at that time are lost. In my research, I used three ways to experiment: 1. Used egg as the underpainting and then a thin layer of oil. 2. Use oil as the underpainting. 3.Used acrylic as the underpainting and then a thin layer of oil. Final picture is showing here:
This painting is one of the best result which has been done in the third way. Compare to the others, this is quicker and retains its color.
In the Baroque period, the canvas was widely used. Artists would ground the canvas in different way and fill in the texture.
One of the examples here is done by the black-white underpaintings. Opaque color on the top and layers of glazing.
Glazing is a very important method to reach such an effect. Glazing medium also became important. Oil helps to keep the luminosity of the colors, turpentine helps the deeper layers of paint to dry by evaporation.
Modern art is very different from these traditional paintings. Texture which had been avoided is used everywhere. Artists are searching for different ways to create unique effect. Mix media became very popular.