An oil painting is an expression on canvas that can reflect many things, from real life to abstract, and it one of the greatest gift ideas. Painting in oil is an almost lost art medium in the burgeoning digital age. Contrary to popular belief, painting in oil does not require that the artist to be a professional. Rather oil is a medium that is malleable, making it fun – even if it’s not always the easiest medium to use.

There are many interesting facts and terms that you need to know, beforehand, about oil painting if you plan to take it up as a hobby. By knowing these terms, you will be able to get a better understanding of oil painting and become an expert about the trivialities involved in that type of painting.

To start with, you need to understand what the terms value and color temperature mean. In paintings, you need to make the transition of the colors from a dark color to the light color. Value is the term that is added to this change from dark to light that is made in the paintings. By making changes in the value in oil painting, you will be able get a better contrast in your painting.

Another term related to oil painting that you may not have heard before is color temperature. Color temperature is nothing but the place of a color on a color wheel. By using the color wheel, it is possible to get an idea about the cool and warm colors. While the warm ones have a reddish tint, the cool ones are found to have a bluish tint in them.

Oil painting can be classified as long and short oil paints. These varieties of paintings can be obtained by using varying amounts of the mediums that are used in oil paintings. The most commonly used mediums in oil painting are linseed oil, sunflower oil and stand oil. The long oil paints are obtained by adding more medium to the oil colors, while in the short oil paints medium is used to a minimum.

One important part of oil painting is the layering of the colors being used on the canvas. It is suggested that you should add thin layers of colors first and slowly go on adding thicker layers of colors. You should start painting the bigger parts of your oil painting and then proceed with adding details to your painting. The usual method that should be followed in an oil painting is as follows: canvas, prepared gypsum, under-painting, thin paints, thick paints and varnish.

Having a clear understanding of these terms and facts will help you to know more about oil paintings, and you will be able to come up with better quality of paintings than before.

Tags : Oil Painting