Working with oil paint provides for vibrant colors and tonal changes, and allows the creation of textures that bring exquisite art to life, which painters adore. In this process, one of the most mysterious concepts for oil painters
is the procedure of glazing.
Ever since the early days of oil painting, painters have used glazing as a technique to change the colors of a painting and increase its radiance. However, although it appears to be a simple task, in theory, mastering the art of glazing can prove to be a difficult process.
Adding more oil painting techniques, such as glazing, to your artist skill set will help you expand your range of abilities in a fun and gratifying way. This article is here to help you get insight into this old procedure. We will be aiming at answering the question How Do You Make A Glaze With Oil Paint?
Table of Contents
What Is Glazing in Oil Painting?
Glazing is a technique used by oil painters to create a transparent layer of paint on top of the older, already dried paint layers, often using only one pigment in the process. Painters practice this technique with the goal of adding depth and structure to the painting while also contrasting the colors and tones. As a result, the color of each subsequent layer affects those that have already been applied.
Simply put, the glaze is defined as translucent paint that rests on top of opaque paint, which gives the spectator a different perspective on the paint beneath it. Certain artists use it to progressively change the colors of a tonal underpainting in each layer of their painting. On the other hand, others will use it to modify colors and contrast in the final phases of a painting.
Glazes can be used to generate minor changes in hue, color temperature, value, and chroma. Rather than hiding the layers beneath it, it will enhance them. Light is perceived as traveling through distinct layers of translucent color, resulting in a final hue. The colors are combined optically rather than physically. When compared to the effect of combining opaque colors on a palette and then applying them to the canvas in a single matte layer, a painter may achieve significantly more powerful tones this way.
Art historians will agree that glazing was one of two primary aspects of the indirect painting technique used by the vast majority of oil painters from the fifteenth century until the mid-nineteenth century and the advent of Impressionism, though it hasn’t been used as much in the last century due to the (relatively) recent dominance of direct oil painting techniques.
Brief History of Glazing
The technique of glazing was developed by old masters for very specific reasons. Artists such as Van Eyke, Vermeer, and Rembrandt developed and refined the practice, which originated in northern Europe. Living and working in what was frequently cold and damp conditions was not conducive to traditional painting. For a start, oil paints tended to dry more slowly in the south than in the north, whereas thin paint applications dried more quickly.
Another factor is that old masters didn’t have access to the same variety of colorants that we do. Brilliant violet pigments, for example, were unavailable, as were bright oranges and many other ‘clean’ strong colors that we take for granted today. Such hues, albeit not extremely vivid, were created by combining them with others, and glazing was discovered to be the most effective method of achieving them. For example, violets might be made from a combination of blue and red, but brighter, “cleaner” violets require glazing the blue over the red, or vice versa.
Why Use Glazing?
As previously stated, glazing generates an extraordinary brilliance, which is only possible by using pigments that are naturally translucent, known as lakes. Madder lake, carmine, natural ultramarine, verdigris, various organic yellow lakes, and indigo were the main glazing pigments. Glazing using neutral grays or bland colors won’t help you achieve anything. When using opaque or semi-opaque earth hues, or black mixed with white, grays are significantly more effective.
Glazing can also be deployed to aid in the definition of form. To do this, the painter first portrays the subject in a gray-on-gray monochrome, with all shapes defined by shade and highlights but no color. They paint color in small layers over the monotone once it has dried. Because the artist has already modeled the figure in black and white, he or she may concentrate solely on color.
Complex details, such as those present in facial features, can be remarkable when portrayed with numerous layers of glaze. When compared to a direct application of paint, when color is blended first and then applied in opaque layers, the indirect method of applying color in discrete oily transparent layers might feel smoother and more deliberate.
Getting to Know the Basics When It Comes to Glazing
Before evaluating whether or not the pigments are suitable for glazing, make sure they are transparent. Glazes can be made in a variety of methods; the only restrictions are that they must be fluid and translucent, and pigment should be used sparingly.
Pigments are what your paint is composed of. To glaze successfully, you must first determine whether the pigment you’re using is clear, semi-transparent, or opaque, as well as its strength. It’s also crucial to pick high-quality paint for glazing, as many less expensive paints lack the same level of transparency as their more expensive counterparts.
The best pigments to use with the glazing technique are traditional ultramarine, madder lake, verdigris, yellow lake, indigo, and magenta. To increase transparency and reduce viscosity, the tube paint will need to be blended with a medium.
A medium is typically a mixture of solvent and oil that is kept separate from your oil paint and added as needed to achieve the correct consistency. This usually corresponds to a 50/50 blend of linseed oil and turpentine for artists. There are, however, a plethora of options.
Instead of simply adding small amounts of medium to your paint, when glazing, you will purposefully either add pure color to a small pot of medium or mix in a large amount of medium with your paint on your palette to create a very runny paint. This is then applied over any existing dry underpainting.
The effects of adding different colors to your medium to make a glaze will vary greatly. In general, diluting a transparent pigment with a medium produces a warmer glaze, which is referred to as a Traditional Glaze. Using a color that is lighter than the underlayer and is only semi-transparent will result in a colder glaze that commonly contains white pigments, otherwise known as a Velatura.
However, never use more than 50% solvent (turps) in your paint because it will actually dissolve the pigments, and never use vegetable oil instead of refined oils like linseed, poppy seed, walnut, and spike oil, which will yellow less over time than others. Another recommendation is to never use Damar Varnish in your medium; if the painting is ever restored, or even if you wish to redo it, you’ll have to take off the varnish, which will cause the painting to disintegrate.
What Else Do You Need to Know in Order to Create Glazes?
It’s always a good idea to make layers adhering to the “fat over lean” guideline. That means you should first apply strokes of paint that have been made leaner by using a paint thinner such as turpentine or oil spiked lavender oil. Such paint is runnier, wetter, and easier to handle.
Afterward, you should apply layers of paint with a high oil content, otherwise known as fat paint. In terms of handling properties, using oil (for example linseed oil)l as a medium will increase the paint’s fluidity, making it simpler to spread. It will improve the paint film’s drying time, flexibility, and gloss, making it considerably more durable.
Fat over lean guidelines is necessary because linseed oil causes oil paint to dry more slowly. Working in the opposite direction may cause the upper layers to dry before the lower layers, causing the paint to crack.
How to Apply an Oil Paint Glaze
In oil painting, glazing can be as simple as painting a thin transparent layer of one color on top of another. The colors blend optically, similar to looking through layers of stained glass, and this can produce a luminosity that can’t be achieved any other way.
There are even oil painters who create highly finished grisaille paintings and then glaze in all the color, despite the fact that the time involved would drive most painters insane. Glazing can be used as a corrective measure, to change color slightly, or to unify a painting with a wash of everything.
There are few steps you should follow if you want to achieve that perfect, glossy look on your painting:
- Start working on your oil painting, using visual resources as needed, but act as if the painting will be completed in one layer.
- Commence applying the next layer of paint after the previous layer has dried completely, which should take about a week. Don’t be concerned if the painting appears harsh; the glazes will soften the colors and deepen the tones.
- A translucent color can be obtained by incorporating a small amount of linseed oil into the oil paint.
- Apply the oil paint glaze to the desired areas with a soft sable brush. If a blue needs to be darkened, for example, the second layer of slightly darker blue or purple will deepen the color without completely changing it.
Tips and Tricks
The glaze has less of an effect when applied to a darker tone. Conversely, the greater the effect, the lighter the tone on which the glaze is applied.
Glazing with color opposites on the color wheel results in sophisticated and engaging neutral tones. On the other hand, glazing with analogous colors, which means colors that are adjacent to the color wheel, can enhance certain aspects of your work.
A series of thin glazes will typically suffice for those seeking a proper and realistic balance of tones. Glazes can also be used on passages that are too dark. However, before branching out to other glazing pigments, try experimenting with thin glazes of Phthalo blue.
Glazes automatically add a little quantity of medium to acrylic paintings, increasing the long-term health of surfaces. To create light and shade effects first mask and then glaze over high-key or bright areas. Overall, glazing can help to bring together disjointed paintings and give them a more unified feel.
Drawbacks
It’s difficult to predict the glazed area’s eventual chromatic effect in terms of the overall harmony of the finished piece. Because of its transparency, a glaze creates an optical depth that draws the viewer’s attention more than the surrounding layers of opaque paint, which typically cover the majority of the canvas’ painted surface.
Furthermore, a simple understanding of how to apply a glaze is insufficient. The thickness or thinness of the glaze paint must be determined with extreme precision; a smidgeon too sparse or a smidgeon too lavish an application can drastically affect the color or tonal value of a paint layer.
The same can be said for the underpainting, which is normally pushed to its final level of detail before being coated because it is difficult to correct once it has been glazed. Because of these considerations, glazing was historically limited to select portions of the painting.
Final Words
Aside from their practical applications, transparent oil paints have a significant symbolic significance. Many critics claim that artists should be open about their personal lives, transforming their sorrows and sufferings into beautiful and inspiring works that will motivate others who are going through similar difficulties. One of the ways to achieve incorporating this transparency into a painting and baring your soul to the spectator is through beautifully glazed works of art.
Sources
- How to glaze an oil painting: Oil Painting Techniques and Tips:
- Glazing Oil Paintings: What Every Artist Needs to Know
- Vermeer’s Painting Technique: Glazing
- Modern Oil Painting Needs an Old Master’s Boost: Glazing
- Reference Image from The Met