German American painter, Hans Hoffman once said, "Through a painting, we can see the whole world."
Indeed, a beautiful painting leaves more than just impressions, it is also a reflection of technical artistry and boundless creativity.
Having said that, there's always more than one way to create a beautiful painting because there's more than one way to see the whole world. That's because different painting mediums can help us to do that effortlessly.
In this article, we will explore the endless possibilities of painting through a diverse range of mediums.
Moisture and Liquid Basics: Tackling Watercolour Painting
For most of us, this is probably our first encounter with painting as a young kid. Mixing our favourite colours on the colour palette and painting on an A4 art paper.
The key to tackling watercolour painting is to find a healthy balance (ratio) between the flow of the water and the colour intensity. These two factors are important to ensure a clean, consistent, and harmonious final result for your painting.
For example, too much water in one section will cause your paint to flow to other parts of the painting. Also, it's best to determine the colour hue that you plan to go for (best to mix them in advance on the palette) as you progress along the way. To achieve your desired result smoothly, you might want to test them out on a newspaper or spare paper before painting them directly.
One tip is to start from the lightest colour to the darkest colour. Usually, dark black colour is used for the final touch of the painting (around the lines and borders). However, if you are planning to paint different layers of colours to your painting, make sure that the first layer is dry (where the surface is a bit hardened) before you continue. This is also known as the wet-on-dry technique in watercolour painting.
On the other hand, you can also explore the wet-on-wet technique where you add watercolour paint to a wet surface or another layer of colour. This allows the paint and water to flow randomly, creating assorted lines, and patterns along the way.
Having said that, the wet-on-wet technique is extremely useful when you are painting landscape scenes, especially when you are painting different hues of a sunset or sunrise, different shades of trees and flowers as well as different textures of soil or mountain.
In between, you can also use a diverse range of painting brushes to cover different strokes, fine lines and borders as well as different edges and areas. It is also important to keep a clean towel and water mug nearby when you plan to switch colours and clean your brush.
Try your hand at various painting techniques and discover a whole new world of painting.
Photo by Wioleta Zakrzewska on Unsplash
Buttery Delight: A World of Oil Painting
Next, let's move on to another form of popular watercolour painting — oil painting.
The main reason why it's often used in various artworks is due to its deep and rich colour. It also has a buttery and thick depth, contributing to its slow drying time. It is made up of a mixture of pigment particles consisting of linseed oil, stand oil, and turpentine to create a gloss effect as you paint.
Due to its slow-drying property, oil paintings are known for their extreme durability, versatility and blendability. This way, you can have more time to blend in different colours, make minor corrections (when needed) and keep it for a long period (in good condition too!).
Remember what we talked about the wet-on-wet technique just now? The same technique can also be used for oil painting to make the painting multilayered and rich.
Oil paintings are usually used on canvas, linen boards, papers, wood, and even linen, catering to different preferences and painting styles.
Here is a list of famous oil paintings from different art movements in history:
- The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci [Renaisssance]
- The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio [Baroque]
- Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich [Romanticism]
- A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat [Impressionism]
- The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet [Realism]
- Woman with a Guitar by Georges Braque [Cubism]
- The Elephants by Salvador Dali [Surrealism]
Don't forget to check out these amazing painters of different art movements throughout the years.
Versatile Speed and Flow: Be A Master Of Acrylic Painting
If you aim for speed and efficiency as you paint, you should certainly use acrylic paint as your painting medium.
As compared to watercolour paint and oil paint, acrylic paint is quick-drying, it dries in minutes even though it is mostly water-based.
And the best part? Even though it is water-based, it becomes water-resistant upon drying.
Another amazing property of acrylic paint that you should know is that it can be diluted with water. According to to the different levels of dilution, it can create the same effect as watercolour painting, oil painting and even gouache painting.
There are various painting techniques that you can apply for acrylic painting. For instance, you can use the dry brushing technique — using a dry brush to paint on a dry surface (like canvas) to make the subject more distinctive and apparent.
Whether it is to create a smooth blend background with multilayers, textured abstract background, or create different colour combinations to make the painting more dimensional, you can have fun painting acrylic landscape art or portrait art.
Some examples of famous artworks that used acrylic painting as a medium:
- A Bigger Splash by David Hockney (painted in 1963)
- Diptych Marilyn by Andy Warhol (painted in 1962)
- Night Journey by Frank Bowling (painted in 1969-1970)
- Knowledge of the Past Is the Key to the Future: Some Afterthoughts on Discovery by Robert Colescott (painted in 1986)
- Fall by Sudhir Patwardhan (painted in 1998)
You'll notice that acrylic paint is more commonly used in the 20th century and even among many modern art pieces today. That's because artists these days opt for more versatility during the creation process and prefer to incorporate various materials into their artwork — such as mixed media. For example, you can even mix sand, rice, and even other painting mediums like charcoal and oil paint and still produce a beautiful acrylic-based artwork.
Another reason why acrylic painting is more practised these days is your painting brushes are relatively easier to clean. You can just use any soap and the acrylic painting can come out on its own.
Talk about convenience and time effectiveness!
Photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash
Expressive Details: Learn About Gouache Painting
Another water-based painting medium, gouache is often applied together with watercolour paint.
Unlike watercolour's transparent property, gouache has a higher pigment concentration and binding agent which contributes to its opaque property.
It has a quick drying time and can be easily "reactivated" with water after drying. Furthermore, it can be used on various painting surfaces such as canvas, linen and paper as well as with other painting mediums like watercolour paint and oil paint.
It is also well-desired because it produces a matte finish effect once it's dry, which is ideal for hiding any surface imperfections without much light reflection. This means if you were to take a photograph of a completed gouache painting right now, it would turn out just fine on screen or once you print it out.
Gouache has always been popular among established painters from the early art movements. Some famous artworks which used gouache as a painting medium include:
- The Scarlet Sunset by Joseph Mallord William Turner
- The Choirstalls in the Mainz Cathedral by Adolph Menzel
- Two Women in a Garden by Camille Pissarro
- Colburn's Butte, South Utah by Thomas Moran
- The Snail by Henri Matisse
In the meantime, be inspired by these talented Malaysian painters who have accomplished great achievements in their careers.
Master Painting With These Painting Mediums Seamlessly Through Private Tutoring
We have talked about four different painting mediums and their distinctive characteristics. Which is your favourite, so far?
Interested in learning them all but have no idea where to start?
Maybe some of you are thinking of enrolling in an art academy to learn everything from scratch. Maybe some of you are thinking of learning the bits and pieces of painting solely through YouTube tutorials because you simply don't have the time to travel after work.
One way to find a balance between two options is to consider taking art lessons with a private tutor. Through private tutoring, you can master different aspects of painting techniques at your own pace. Furthermore, you can decide on the duration of the lesson, the teaching specialisation, teaching mode (physical or online lessons), and even the hourly rate of the lesson.
Trust us, you can get all these aspects covered in one amazing platform — Superprof!
Apart from home tutoring, Superprof also offers students a more flexible and affordable learning route, where you can take online lessons from an experienced tutor regardless of your geographical location.
Photo by Rahul Jain on Unsplash
As you build a strong foundation in painting basics with a Superprof tutor, you can also discuss with your tutor about your learning interests and needs throughout the lessons. For example, if you are preparing for an art test soon, you can request extra exercises and useful painting tips for different painting mediums.
Your Superprof tutor can come out with a personalised teaching structure that is tailor-made for you! That way, you can immerse yourself throughout the lessons without worrying about missing out on anything.
We hope you have learnt something new about these different painting mediums through this article. May you see the world in a whole different light, and embark on a journey of discovering endless possibilities through the wonders of painting.
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