Glaze Technique in Oil Landscape Painting
Mastering the technique of glazing an oil painting requires precision and dedication, but the vivid results cannot be accurately duplicated through any other method. Options for glazing media vary greatly to accommodate different styles, and throughout its long history glaze has been utilized for specific painted areas as well as to coat entire paintings. No matter what your intention with your glaze, there are certain universal principles that must be followed when employing this technique.
Other People Are Reading
-
Why Glazing is Used
-
Glazing has as long a history as oil painting itself. This technique was originally practiced in part as a method of achieving more diversity in colors; colored glazes allowed painters to display vivid purples and oranges that were not otherwise available through natural pigments. The practice of glazing is still employed today because of the added radiance it brings to already spainted colors. Since the dried oil paint and the glazed layer do not mix, a look is achieved that resembles stained glass.
Selecting and Mixing Glazes
-
The choices for glazes are wide-ranging. Opaque oil paints can be used to create a cloudy looking glaze, while transparent oil-based colors allow for infinite tints and color-enhancing effects. Antiquing glazes also exist to artificially age an oil painting. The material selected must be mixed with a medium to bring it to the proper viscosity for application. Media include shiny yet slow-drying linseed oil and quick-drying, matte alkyd. Artists differ in their opinions of various glazes, so experiment to find what works best for you to enhance the final look of your landscapes.
-
Basics of Applying
-
Make sure your underpainting, the initial landscape painting, is completely dry before applying your glaze. Use a brush with bristles that will not leave stroke marks on the painting; opt for a soft brush, like one made of synthetic mongoose or a black sable. Use thin layers of glaze, as thick layers will overly darken a painting and may give it a muddled look. The same effect can result from applying too many layers of glaze, so be sure to evaluate after each layer so as not to diminish your original landscape.
Layer by Thickness
-
Increasing amounts of oil, when mixed with a glazing medium, gradually increase the drying time of the glaze. This makes it necessary to apply layers of glaze with less oil to a painting first, followed by layers with increasingly more oil. This method allows the initial layers of glaze to dry sooner than the outer layers; thicker layers on the bottom could cause cracking in your landscape’s dried paints. This principle can be remembered with the phrase “fat over lean,” alluding to thicker layers' being applied over thinner ones.
-
References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
