The Inventor of Oil Paintings
Posted: Friday, December 09, 2005
by Sara Swansson
http://www.canvaz.com/
In comparison to many other art forms, oil painting is still considered relatively new. Oil painting is the use of oil in pigments in order to paint. Oil paintings date back to the 1400’s. Before oil painting, paint was mixed with plaster found in frescoes or egg in tempera paints. The invention of oil paintings occurred because of a new desire for realism in art. Jan Van Eyck is the man credited with the invention of oil painting.
The desire for a more realistic look in art started in early fifteenth century Europe. Previously, art was very mythological and decorative, but with the onset of the Renaissance, artists began to understand concepts and laws behind the ideas of perspective and colors. As a result, more artists began painting realer images.
Jan Van Eyck had a desire to mimic nature in his paintings. In order to achieve his goal, he painted every minute detail about the object he could. Van Eyck’s attention to detail allowed his paintings to seem alive. Unfortunately for Van Eyck, the current painting styles and supplies could not help him achieve his goal of total realism. As a solution to his problem, Van Eyck created oil paintings.
Before Van Eyck, Renaissance painters did not buy colors that were already made. Painters had to make colors themselves from ground up pigments found in plants and minerals that were combined with binder to form a paste. This type of paint was called tempera paint. The problem with tempera paint was that it dried very quickly, and made it virtually impossible to have smooth transitions in painting. Van Eyck wanted to create realism via shading, so tempera paint did not suit his needs. Instead of using egg found in tempera paint, Van Eyck decided to use oil in order to work much more accurately and slowly. Having an oil binder allows the painter to make glossy colors that can be applied in several layers (also known as glazes). With a tiny pointed brush, Van Eyck was further able to create vivid detail in his paintings. Van Eyck’s work impressed many people, including other artists. Soon, many artists were using oil in their paint mixtures, and oil paintings became a very popular form of art. Oil colors have changed since the time of Van Eyck, but the principals remain the same. Oil paintings allow the painter to create more detailed settings via shading as well as create more lifelike portraits. Van Eyck’s contribution changed art forever.
Sara Swansson recommends Canvaz ( http://www.canvaz.com/ ) for oil paintings.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great Article! I enjoyed reading it. Good Info...
I'm sorry, but this is somewhat misleading in fact and misses some interesting aspects of the story. The reason oil painting began being used used at that time and in that place was as much a product of industry, and commerce, as any desire of Jan van Eyck to make his work more closely resembling reality. The manufacture of linen canvas for the commercial shipping that centered in norhtern europe (all sail powered) and the use of pressed flax for that linen; produced a cheap alternative to egg for a medium or binder for ground pigment - linseed oil. In addition the churches and primary source for artist's commisions (and income and fame) wanted works that were large enought to hold their own in the new, larger scale cathedrals and churches. Previously, everything had been painted in a technique called 'glare' and later 'egg tempera' on wood panels. As panels become larger complex joinery and added weight make it quite difficult and expensive for the artist as well as the patron. Cloth grounds had been tried before but the tempera paint cracked and fell off too easily as the cloth flexed and shrank or expanded due to its environment. The happy contextual accident of the linen and the byproduct lindseed oil were both available to the van Eyck brothers right where they lived and worked. Thus the invention of the earliest forms of oil painting. Dean
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