• Press

• Upcoming Live Auctions
• Past Live Auctions
• Online Auctions

• Charity Partners
• Benefit Events
• Service Offerings

• Art Lectures
• Art Consignment
• Art Appraisals
• Auctioneer Services

• Masters
• Modern Contemporary
• Publications

• Artists
• Art Terms
• Art Blog

“*Contact Us for more information about the oil paintings technique.”

The oil painting process includes a couple steps. Most oil painters use canvas as a painting surface, but surfaces like linoleum, wooden panel, paper, slate, pressed wood, and cardboard are used as well. The artist will then draw out a sketch with charcoal or thinned paint. The oil paint is a mixture of 3 things: pigment, binder and thinner. The pigment is the color element, the binder is the oil which holds the pigment and the thinner makes the oil thin enough to still be moldable with the brush. Oil painting relies on oxidation; by reacting with oxygen it turns from liquid, to a gel, to a solid form. Oil paint remains wet longer than many other types of artists' materials, enabling the artist to change the color, texture or form of the figure. An artist can remove layers of oil paints to make changes to his piece, this is done with a rag and turpentine but once the paint hardens the layer must be scraped.

Oil paint was first used in western Afghanistan between the 5th and 9th centuries, but did not gain popularity until the 15th century. By the height of the Renaissance oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced tempera paints in the majority of Europe. The oil painting technique was modified in Europe around 1410 by Jan Van Eyck. After Van Eyck, Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) introduced a new technical improvement. Later, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) improved the preparation in cooking the oily mixtures at low temperature after the addition of 5 to 10% of bee wax, thus preventing too dark of a color.

Many artists will use oil paint because of its advantages; the main advantages being flexibility and depth of color. The paint dries slow so the artist can continue to work on the piece and make changes at any time, making greater opportunity for blending and layering. Oil colors do not change noticeably after drying so it becomes possible to produce opaque and transparent effects, and matt and gloss finishes. Rembrandt is the master of oil; he was able to show off the advantages of oil paints and display stunning effects of color and light. Because of these numerous advantages and stunning effects Baterbys Art Auction Gallery knows the importance of showcasing oil painted pieces. Come to the gallery and see the beauty of an oil painting.


To get notified about updates on our Art Info page, click here