A painting is constantly exposed to movement – on the one hand by the flexibility of the grounds such as stretched canvas, and due to fluctuations in temperature and humidity on the other. The adhesion of the paint layers and the ‘fat over lean’ principle together also ensure that the tension between the various paint layers is absorbed. If this is not the case, quality problems can arise. As an underlying (lean) layer draws oil from the layer above, you have to ensure during painting that the layer above contains relatively more oil. This will produce good adhesion between the two layers. Oil from a subsequent layer will be absorbed by the underlying lean layer and secure itself in the numerous pores while drying. While this layer dries it will not produce a sealed paint film, but a porous one. To this end the paint has to be thinned with white spirit or turpentine. What’s more, with too much oil there is a greater risk of wrinkling of the paint film during the drying process.Įnsure the first layer is applied lean. Pure oil as a medium is certainly not advisable the paint can then become too sealed resulting in a subsequent layer not being able to bond well. Ensure, therefore, that the paint is never too fat so that any subsequent paint layer is still able to bond. You cannot always foresee exactly how many layers are needed to come to a satisfactory result. With layered painting a technique has to be followed that is known as ‘fat over lean’ every subsequent layer has to contain more oil. A next layer can only be applied once the previous layer is dry enough to ensure that it will definitely not dissolve. With layered painting the painting is built up of various layers. The paint can be applied pure or combined with always the same medium or solvent. The painting, which is ultimately built up of a single layer, must be completed while the paint is still wet. With this technique the colours are mixed not only on the palette, but also in the painting itself, applied wet alongside and over one another. There are in theory two oil painting techniques: ‘alla prima’ and ‘layered painting’.Īlla prima refers to the painting being painted ‘wet-into-wet’. Talens stretched canvases, roll canvas and canvas boards have already been prepared. The gesso can then be applied, preferably criss-cross in two (somewhat thinned) layers. Next a second layer is applied, pure or slightly thinned with water.įor highly absorbent grounds the ground first can be treated with a layer of Amsterdam Acrylic binder, a pure unpigmented acrylic resin. For the first layer the gesso can be thinned with water to an easily spreadable thickness.
The layer, however, must be thick enough, and so it is best to apply this in two goes. Produced according to a special formula, gesso performs the functions of the various layers. Talens Gesso is made using a pure acrylic resin and is of superlative quality. Gesso is used to ensure a good preparation Only then will the pigments be sufficiently bonded and premature splitting and cracking avoided. A paint layer must contain sufficient oil in order to surround the pigments and form a good film. An untreated or insufficiently treated ground will suck the oil out of the paint and will eventually be damaged by the oil.
Paper, cardboard, wood, cotton and linen can be used as grounds for oil paint, but not without prior treatment. The quality of the preparation largely determines the eventual durability of the artwork.
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