Whether the artist wanted to paint expressive portraits, landscapes or abstract works, they have long found that the texture of paint can be an integral part of the painting experience. Painters found that this effect could be utilised to show form and texture and, by the nineteenth century had developed it further into the technique now known as impasto. As the nineteenth century progressed, artists began to use this technique for it’s own sake, creating works using this method alone.
Van Gogh explored impasto a lot in his pictures, allowing it to bring shapes and patterns that would describe the emotion in a work. Impasto can also have a role in creating depth within a painting. If used in conjunction with washes and thin glazes, thick layers of paint can be used to help create the illusion of perspective.
In all probability, van Gogh would have intoduced a small amount of wax to his commercially prepared paints, this would have helped create a rich creamy paint ideal for impasto, it dries solidly without wrinkling, to with an even matt finish. Traditionally, the preferred type of wax for artists to use was beeswax. Beeswax is available in blocks, pellets or small lumps, the white bleached version is the best option for artists. It should be mixed into oil paints after melting 1 part wax with 2 parts stand oil, and then mixing into the paint with a palette knife. Although beeswax melts at moderately low temperatures, it still remains stable and durable. The wax can be gently melted in a water bath, in a similar way that you would melt chocolate. You can correct the consistency by adding additional oil if the paint is too stiff or wax if it’s too liquid.
With the addition of wax in their paints, artists found an ideal medium for creating brush marks and textures in the heavy layers of paint typical of the impasto technique. Even so, where paint is applied in thick layers in this manner, it will take the painting a long time to dry.
Tags: impasto, oil painting, paintings, portraits