In oil paintings, one of the most important things that beginners should learn is applying glazes. For starters, a glaze is a transparent and thin layer of paint applied to the surface of the canvass to build up the colour of other paints. Glazing is important in painting because the appearance of the painting greatly depends on the glazing as it modifies the layers of paints beneath it. Perfecting the use of glazes usually takes longer time to practice before mastering the art of glazing. However, the effort can be worthy because the quality of paintings with proper glazing have more richness, depth, and luminosity of the colours which makes the painting more appealing to view. The concept behind the effect of glazes is that light travels through the transparent glaze layers so when the light reflects back to the eyes of the audience the colours are mixed creating an illusion of an attractive painting with very beautiful mixed effect.

Even though using glazing in oil paintings takes a lot of effort, there are some tips which beginners can use as good starting points. The first tip is the need to be familiar with all the transparent colours of the glazes. Even though at first glance the glazes look the same, there are actually differences in their hues. There are the transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque glazes. The transparent glaze is best suitable for improving subtle colours while those with opaque hues are safe to be applied on initial layers. Starters should practice with transparent glazes first before working on opaque ones.

The next tip is to remember that glazes work best on smooth surfaces so the initial paint layers should be carefully applied to produce a smooth surface. Glazes applied on bulky surfaces can create small puddles or even bubbles so using a smooth panel hardboard or fine-weaved canvas is better for those who are just starting to learn the application of glazing materials.

The third tip in applying glazes in oil paintings is to use white or light-coloured canvass so that the glaze layers can reflect more light. Using glazing mediums is also recommended to adjust the glazes into the right consistencies. Glazing mediums can speed up the drying time of the painting so it can also solve adhesion problems that normally occur on newly painted paintings. In using glazing mediums with glazes, it is best to experiment first when it comes to the ratio of medium so that the quantity of glaze that needs to be mixed can be properly estimated. Not doing so can cause the mixture to give too glassy or too glossy effects so doing a paint test is important.

In applying glazes, soft brushes should be used because rough brushes can create visible swipe marks so the use of soft brushes is always recommended. Soft brushes with rounded edges like the filbert brush are the best type for glazing because these brushes have very fine textures. Using stiff hog-hair brushes is also acceptable but only for those who have already mastered the art of glazing. In case there are visible brush marks, flicking the canvass surface with a hake brush or a dry fan can solve the problem in removing the marks. Once the painting and the preliminary glazing are done, a unifying glaze should be applied to combine all the layers into one focal point.

Author Bio: Oil Paintings seascape paintings

Category: Arts and Crafts
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