Ever since mankind mastered the use of a writing implement, there have been those few who have moved beyond to create images of beauty and life. From the earliest cave drawings to the newest oil paintings on the market, man has been driven to capture the images of his eye by the talent of his hand. The earliest of these sketches were likely produced with the end of a charcoaled stick, but as time moved on new ways of drawing were discovered and what were once simple cave drawings advanced to pictorial histories and eventually artistic creations.

One of the earliest paints that were used was tempera. Tempera paint was most commonly made by mixing egg yolks with some sort of natural powered pigment. Things like wood bark, dried plants, clay, and minerals were used to create colors. Because tempera paint was easy to make and use, it was the primary painting medium for many years, but it did have disadvantages. Tempera paint dried very quickly so the painter had to have his painting planed out ahead of time so that he could complete the task quickly. Since the paint dried out quickly, the painter would have to add water to the mixture if it was starting to dry out.

So, overall it was an acceptable painting option for the time but it did not allow painters the opportunity to embellish canvas paintings or to capture the essence of a three dimensional object. The paint simply dried too quickly for painters to labor long over the creative and artistic details. At this time(1300’s-early 1400’s) there was knowledge of using oil and tempera mixtures or simply mixing oils with pigments, but at painters were hesitant because at this point the oil took far too long to dry…several days of sunlight drying was not unheard of. In 1410 the world of painting changed forever. A Flemish painter named Jan Van Eyck developed the first user friendly oil based paint. Mixing primary ingredients of linseed oil, pigments, and bone ash, which he boiled before using, Van Eyck was able to create a stable oil paint that neither dried too quickly or too slowly.

The development of this new type of oil paint allowed the try artist to be born. Three dimensional objects could be captured, shadows could be copied and finer details could be depicted. After the death of Van Eyck in 1441 more artists began tampering with the oil paint mixture, each creating a new variety, many which surpassed Van Eyck’s first version, but the birth of truly usable oil paint will always belong to Jan Van Eyck.

Adding a piece of art to a room can do wonders, except great looking art is often very pricey. Not anymore, there are several online retailers operating via the internet that are currently offering ‘ready to hang’, hand painted oil paintings at cheaper prices. Decorate your home without spending a fortune with amazing canvas oil art that is 100% hand painted by an artist and are ready to hang straight out of the box.

Author Bio: Jane is an expert in the field. For more information on oil paintings and on canvas paintings Please visit: http://www.mojodirect.com.au

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: office chairs, computer chairs, coffee tables, office furniture, oil paintings, canvas paintings