Back to Gallery Painting
Painting is one of the most versatile art medias and comes in a wide variety of mediums, surfaces and techniques. All paint consists of a pigment, a binder to hold the pigment together, and a solvent to thin the binder. According to the amount of each of these ingredients, the consistency, texture and time it takes for the paint to dry can be affected. Surfaces available to the application of paint include canvas, cardboard, ceramics, fabric, glass, paper, plaster and wood. Each of these creates its own effect, as does each type of paint. Paint brushes are surprisingly not the only common tool used in the art of painting. Palette knives, sponges, twigs or even one's fingers can be used according to the result one wants to achieve. Also, besides being intricately applied to a surface, paint can be rolled, sprayed or splattered. As this gallery demonstrates, paint has a wide range of possibilities to make one's painting unique through the type of application, paint and surface.
Tempera, watercolor, gouache, oil paint and acrylic paint make up the family of painting mediums. Tempera began in the Renaissance era with frescoes and has developed into a widely used medium among artists and students today. A couple of advantages to tempera are that it dries efficiently and produces an opaque image when applied with soft, thick brushes on cardboard, paper or wood. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first individuals to use watercolour. Unlike the opaque tempera, watercolour is often translucent and applied with soft, long-bristled brushes onto a paper surface in broad, flowing brush strokes. A medium that uses watercolour techniques without being translucent is gouache. Oil paint was first used by the Egyptians, but not as a painting medium until the 15th century. This medium that dries slowly was very attractive to those interested in human portraiture at the time. Today, it is commonly applied onto canvas with short, stiff brushes in order to maximize the consistency of the paint. Acrylic paint is very popular among modern artists because unlike oil, it dries quickly. All of these paints allow artists to experiment with different colours and styles.
Many of the paintings in this gallery exhibit a sense of expression achieved through the use of paint. The range of colours is incredibly vibrant and extensive. From watercolour to oil paint, each of these pieces is unique in their styles and vary from realism to surrealism. There is even a variety of brush strokes from work to work in this painting gallery. From fast-drying paint, to a wood surface, to finger painting, the extent of the application and use of paint is unbelievable. How many ways can paint possibly be applied? Paint has developed since 32,000 B.C. into a medium that will always intrigue artists, as it presents an endless number of possibilities to create a unique piece of art.
Sara Caissie
