Acrylic painting technique: basics

Impasto in painting means applying a thick textured layer of paint.

This technique is widely represented in Van Gogh's paintings. The artist often applied paint in thick strokes using his finger. The impasto strokes turn out to be very thick, you can almost touch them, they are so embossed. That is why the technique got its name, translated from Italian as “dough”.

Creating texture using oil paint using the impasto technique allows, first of all, to enhance the color effect of the painting. Bold, energetic brushstrokes dictate the work in a fast and expressive manner, allowing for the effectiveness of the work.

Impasto technique

Impasto is a technique that allows you to quickly and easily make a painting incredibly impressive. This is a technique when an uneven textured surface, due to a very thick and bold application of paint.

Works famous Wang Goga have a rich texture thanks to this technique. In such works, texture is not inferior in importance to such important components as composition, color and plot.

Acrylic paints are best suited for impasto, as they are flexible and can be squeezed directly onto the canvas. An excessively thick layer may crumble when dry. To avoid this, you should be patient and apply the paint in several layers.

Oil paints can also be suitable for impasto. However, unlike acrylic ones, they take a long time to dry, and this creates difficulties in working on the painting. Oil is also applied in layers, but since it takes time to dry, the work takes a lot of time and the result will not be enjoyed soon.

Brushes and palette knives can be used as impasto tools. Depending on their choice, different strokes are obtained. The paint must be applied with confidence. When working with a round brush, you can get speckled strokes if you quickly touch the canvas with the tip. Long curls are obtained by vigorously moving your entire hand. Obviously, in order to master these techniques, training is needed.

A palette knife is great for getting large, thick, bright spots of paint on a painting. With its help, you can achieve a very impressive texture by applying and smearing paint, leaving all sorts of imprints on it and drawing lines with the edge of the blade. Working with a palette knife is somewhat reminiscent of spreading butter on bread. It is necessary to scoop up the paint and distribute it, keeping the surface of the tool parallel to the canvas.

Technique impasto makes it extremely easy and quick to achieve a striking textured effect.

IMPASTO(Italian impasto - “dense, pasty”) - in painting - the technique of writing with dense, covering strokes, often using a palette knife or spatula instead of a brush. The same as the pasty, or corpus, technique.

Sometimes Vincent Van Gogh painted his famous colored swirls by smearing the thick layer of paint on the canvas with his own finger. He also loved to apply thick, undiluted paint to the canvas with a brush or palette knife. Whatever Van Gogh painted—green grass or a starry sky—the paint applied in an unusual way became one of the most memorable details of the painting. The artist used thick paint to breathe life into the objects he painted.

In the film " Starry night» Ban Gogh (1853–1890) uses impasto to create a vibrant effect and paints night lights with bold, heavy strokes of thick paint

What does wall painting have to do with it? Your wall = clean canvas. Using oil-thick paints, you can create a wide variety of attractive textures. You can read about how to write using the IMPASTO technique

Impasto is the application of paint in a thick layer using palette knife or brushes. In this case, the paint should be thick, like oil or acrylic, with a minimal amount of pinene or no pinene at all. Moreover, the artists of our studio mix paints with special thickening additives, and we also add various natural materials (stone chips, for example) to create texture. Thus, the impasto technique allows you to maximize the rich textural capabilities of oil paints.

Thick paint can be given different shapes: apply it to the wall with long and pointy strokes, create ridges and draw all sorts of lines of different widths. This opens up a real wealth of relief effects that wall coverings - wallpaper, films, stickers - can never imitate.

Since paint retains brush (or palette knife) marks, they also become a means of expression. We know that one successful brushstroke can often give a design a charming ease, and we love to use this property of impasto.

How to write using the impasto technique? First of all, take care of the tools - you will need them palette knives(different shapes) and bristle brushes.

Palette knives for painting (with curved handles) they leave broad strokes, unlike brushes, which are more suitable for small surfaces. Depending on the angle at which you hold the tool - be it a palette knife or a brush - and what parts of it you work with, the results will be different. Experiment with brushes and palette knives to see what kind of reliefs you can create with them. Most palette knives are made of metal, but you may also like plastic ones - they are more flexible. These tools are suitable for quickly painting large surfaces. The combination of a brush and a palette knife allows you to paint with a variety of strokes.

Paints You need thick coverings - oil, acrylic, tempera. Acrylic paints are considered an ideal material for working in the impasto technique, since they are flexible and can be painted by simply squeezing them onto the canvas directly from the tube. However, it is better to apply acrylic paint gradually, layer by layer, because if you apply it too thickly at one time, the paint may crack and fall off the canvas. Another undoubted advantage of acrylic paints is that they dry very quickly. This means that it won't take you long to see the results of your creativity.

Some of my favorite techniques
Thick impasto stain
Place a sufficient amount of undiluted paint on the bottom surface of the palette knife and apply it to the surface with broad strokes. The movement is like spreading butter on bread. You will end up with a thick stain of color.

Line texture - impasto.
Place paint on the underside of the palette knife and apply it to the canvas with light strokes. The result is a thick patch of color with protruding “ridges” of paint.

An alternative to palette knives and brushes.

We are not limited to brushes and palette knives, but experiment with sponges, plastic, rollers, brushes, sticks - and with everything that comes to hand. The result is always impressive

One of the main representatives of the impasto technique was Van Gogh. Van Gogh mastered the impasto technique perhaps better than any other artist. This term comes from the Italian word pasto, which means a thick layer of paint with imprints of the tool with which it was applied - usually a brush or palette knife. This technique allows you to create a powerful volumetric effect - the image seems to protrude from the canvas.

For example, Van Gogh, as a rule, applied paint to the canvas in such a thick layer that all traces of the brush remained visible. This technique allowed him to achieve rich texture, as, for example, in his painting "Cows", 1890 or " Seascape in Sainte-Marie", 1888.

In painting, the impasto technique was used by many impressionists, which was facilitated by paints in metal tubes, which first appeared in 1840. The paint in the tubes was thicker than before, allowing it to be squeezed directly onto the canvas from the tube without fear of it bleeding. In addition, such paint, mixed not by hand, but by machine (another innovation), was more uniform, which also helped to work in the impasto technique. The impasto technique used by Van Gogh differed from the similar technique used by the Impressionists. His brush strokes were more expressive and energetic than those of the Impressionists.

Impasto draws attention to the relief of the painting. Thick paint literally rises above the surface of the canvas, which is why the painting can no longer be called two-dimensional. The works painted in the impasto technique by our contemporary Andrzej Wlodarczyk are distinguished by incredible energy.

Andrzej Wlodarczyk, “Still life “Yellow Bouquet””

Thick paint can be given different shapes: applied in long and dotted strokes, creating ridges and drawing all kinds of lines of different widths. A real wealth of relief effects opens up before us, which can radically change the perception of painting.

Andrzej Wlodarczyk, “Still life “Red Bouquet””

Since paint retains brush (or palette knife) marks, they also become a means of expression. Artists know that one successful brushstroke often gives a painting a charming ease, and they like to use this property of impasto.

A painting painted using the impasto technique should look free and relaxed. But creating one requires careful advance planning. Paints lose their inherent vibrancy if they are mixed on the palette for too long. It’s the same with the impasto technique: if you apply paint directly to the base, but do it thoughtlessly or “carry” the paint on the base for too long, then the paint will very quickly lose its freshness. Oil paint It’s pleasant to the touch, and there’s a great temptation to apply it with rich, thick strokes. But the danger is that with each new brush stroke, paint from the previous layer is collected. The result is a dull color and a surface with an unattractive texture. You can save the painting by blotting it or removing a fresh coat of paint with a palette knife and starting over. But it is better to prevent such problems from arising from the very beginning. Start with a thin layer of underpainting and then gradually build up layers of paint.

Andrzej Wlodarczyk, “Still life “Red and yellow bouquet””

For example, sometimes Vincent Van Gogh painted his famous colored swirls by smearing the thick layer of paint on the canvas with his own finger. He also loved to apply thick, undiluted paint to the canvas with a brush or palette knife. Whatever Van Gogh painted—green grass or a starry sky—the paint applied in an unusual way became one of the most memorable details of the painting. The artist used thick paint to breathe life into the objects he painted. The impasto technique makes it extremely easy and quick to achieve a striking textured effect.

Being a fan of the work of the great Van Gogh, Andrzej Wlodarczyk often writes copies of his works. The impasto technique, as in the original source, allows you to achieve a striking textured effect.

In painting

It is created by applying a thick layer of paint from a tube or diluted with a small amount of thinner using rough strokes with a brush or palette knife. This technique achieves greater relief of the picture, enhancing the light effect and texture. As a rule, it is used at the final stage of writing a work.

Strokes of thick paint may be different types: long and dotted, ridges, lines of different widths. By preserving traces of a brush or palette knife, these forms acquire expressiveness.

With the help of impasto, attention is drawn to the relief of the painting, as the strokes protrude above the surface of the canvas and a three-dimensional effect is created.

Paintings painted using the impasto technique are distinguished by their dynamics and expression.

One of famous artists who used the impasto technique - Vincent Van Gogh, who applied paint in a thick layer and then smeared it with his fingers.

In enameling

One of the methods of jewelry enameling in the form of layer-by-layer application of fine-grained enamel directly onto metal surface, forming a volumetric relief.

In pottery art

Impasto was used as a term to designate, not entirely correctly, a variety of Italian ceramics made from poorly washed clay, fired to a brown, brown or black color. In the tradition of Villanovian pottery, impasto was decorated with incisions in the form of lines and dots. They were made both by hand and on a potter's wheel.

Notes

Literature

• Demchenko, V. I. Technology of using artistic expressive means and techniques in oil painting by modern masters / V. I. Demchenko, G. A. Selikhova // Collection: Materials of the 65th scientific and practical conference of teachers and students in 3 parts of the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University. - Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, 2015. - pp. 10-14.
• Dichenko, E. Vincent Van Gogh. The artist in 100 paintings / rep. ed. M. Tereshina. - Moscow: Eksmo, 2015. -

IN fine arts The Italian word impasto (dough or paste) refers to a technique using undiluted paint that is applied thickly to the canvas. Initially, the method was used to mask defects or certain fragments of a painting - artists mixed pigments directly on the canvas to obtain the desired color or effect.

This technique can add a three-dimensional, almost sculptural quality or create unique textures. The technique uses thickened opaque layers - oil, acrylic, gouache and tempera. Thick brush strokes created relief surfaces on which traces of a brush or spatula are still clearly visible. Some artists applied the method to specific elements of the painting, others, like Vincent Van Gogh, executed entire canvases in impasto.

Properties of oil pastels

Features of the technology

The use of impasto evolved into a true exploration by artists of the properties of oil pigment, the standard medium in Western painting during the Renaissance. Oil paintings dry slowly, allowing artists to apply it in thick strokes or in multiple layers. To create particularly expressive effects, paint is applied with a palette knife instead of a brush.

• Unlike wet-on-wet mixing, the impasto technique actually creates a physical sense of volume in expressive, abstract works. To make strokes denser, artists sometimes add wax or other substances.
• Baroque painters, who practically pioneered the technique, mixed paints with varnish or zinc white for rough textures, combined with other techniques to create a wide range of textures and effects in a single work.
• The Impressionists, who prided themselves on spontaneous plein air works, took a completely different approach. Unlike more early artists, the Impressionists purchased ready-made mixtures and used paints straight from the tube. Thick, vibrant oil paintings retain brush marks.
• Artists of the Post-Impressionist Expressionist era also used thick layers similar to the Impressionists, a practice continued by the Abstract Expressionists throughout the last century.

Sfumato painting technique

3D effect

Impasto creates a richly textured, three-dimensional surface that holds light on canvases or creates tiny areas of shadow, enhancing the perception of the painting. The impasto effect in a painting serves several purposes:

• adds surface relief, lighting, gives a sculptural quality to painting and accentuates forms;
• used to create areas of visual interest.

Early Baroque artists Rembrandt and Velazquez used impasto in part, for complex textures such as lace, hair, wrinkled skin or the effect of carved stone without copying precise details, folds of clothing, the shine of jewelry, and to enhance atmospheric effects.

Visual illusion

Impressionists and Expressionists used thick layers to create visual illusions, simulating broken texture, volume, and intense light. Expressionists used technology to convey feelings and emotions. Claude Monet used an architectural approach to impasto.

Painting technique A la prima

The impressionists used two methods when working in pastels.

• The first is based on the use of fixatives and adding the fixative by spraying or brushing. Edgar Degas worked layer by layer using this technique.
• The second method is based on the development of pastel acrylic bases that are capable of holding texture on the canvas.

Texturing

Modern acrylic pastel primers are heavy enough to keep the thick layer flexible without cracking or peeling. This allows you to experiment with pastels and get a variety of textures. To highlight the textural properties of paint, early artists tried to eliminate brushstrokes, but times have changed and today many artists make the most of the properties of visible brushstrokes.

The oil is most suitable for the paste method due to its viscosity, density and slow drying performance, but in impasto technique apply acrylic paint or gouache. Tempera has too fine a texture, so the impasto technique is used with fillers.

Northern Renaissance painting

How to apply paint

Paint application methods:

• Paint can be applied with a brush or palette knife, used straight from the tube, or added fillers;
• Dense layers of pigment are left to dry, but slowly to avoid wrinkling or cracking;
• An overly oily medium is difficult for texturing and brushstrokes;
• A flat brush or synthetic brushes are ideal for impasto work;
• For viscosity, pigments are supplemented with sand and sawdust to create volume and texture;
• After the impasto has dried, you can protect the work with a thin film of glaze to prevent cracking.