Painting

Paint Media Types

Oil: Usage dates back to the 7th century with its popularity increasing during the Renaissance. Requires the application of paint in layers, allowing ample drying time between. Transmits rich, luminescent colours.
Acrylic: A versatile medium, fast-drying, and can mimic the effects of both oil and watercolour paints. Mainstay since the mid-20th century.
Watercolour: Delicate, transparent medium primarily made of pigment and gum arabic. Historically used for landscape and portraiture, it requires careful control of water usage.
Tempera: Age-old medium using egg yolk as a binding agent. Delivers a matte finish and historically used for religious iconography.
Gouache: Heavily pigmented watercolour and opaque. Usually applied in a solid colour, providing a flat, smooth finish.

Brushes: Extremely versatile, coming in various shapes (flat, round, filbert), sizes, and bristle types (synthetic, hog, sable) each offering unique stroke characteristics.
Palette knives: Useful for applying paint in thick layers (impasto technique) or for mixing colours on the palette.
Glazing: A technique where thin, transparent layers of paint (usually oil or acrylic) are applied on top of previous layers for a rich, luminous effect.
Scumbling: Involves brushing a thin layer of lighter, opaque paint onto a dry, darker layer underneath. This adds depth and complexity to the artwork.
Gradients: Essential skill for creating three-dimensional effects, shading and highlighting. Smooth gradation of colours is often achieved with wet blending or layering techniques.

Primary Colours: Red, blue, and yellow – cannot be created by mixing other colours.
Secondary Colours: Green, orange, and purple – made by mixing two primary colours.
Tertiary Colours: Result of mixing a primary colour with its closest secondary colour.
Complementary Colours: Opposite each other on the colour wheel, they provide contrast when used together and create greys or browns when mixed.
Colour Harmony: Techniques for selecting colours that look good together, including analogous colours (next to each other on the colour wheel), monochromatic (different shades of a single hue), or triadic (three colours evenly spaced on the colour wheel).

Rule of Thirds: Imaginary grid line that helps in dividing the canvas into nine equal parts, helping to achieve a balanced composition.
Golden Ratio: An irrational number (approximately 1.618) used in many artworks to create aesthetically pleasing compositions.
Focal Point: Area of the painting meant to draw the viewer’s attention.
Positive and Negative Spaces: The balance between the area occupied by primary objects (positive) against the background or empty spaces (negative).
Perspective: The technique used to represent three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface, giving the illusion of depth or distance.
Proportion: The relationship of one part of the composition to the other parts in terms of size and positioning.

Remember that these tools, techniques, and concepts are building blocks. A painter’s skill lies in the ability to combine them creatively!