As evidenced by the innumerable masterpieces exhibited on gallery walls of the most prestigious museums worldwide, perhaps it is the medium of oil that has created the most significant impact on the development of painting as visual art form. Painting with oil on canvas continues to be a favored choice of serious painters because of its long-lasting color and a variety of approaches and methods. Oil paints may have been used as far back as the 13th century. However as a medium in its modern form, Belgian painter, Jan van Eyck, developed it during the 15th century. Because artists were troubled by the excessive amount of drying time, van Eyck found a method that allowed painters an easier method of developing their compositions. By mixing pigments with linseed and nut oils, he discovered how to create a palette of vibrant oil colors.
Over time, other artists, such as Messina and da Vinci, improved upon the recipe by making it an ideal medium for representing details, forms and figures with a range of colors, shadows and depths. During the Renaissance, which is often referred to as the Golden Age of painting, artists developed their crafts and established many of the techniques that provided the medium of oil to emerge. The refinement of oil painting came through studies in perspective, proportion and human anatomy. During the Renaissance, the goal for artists was to create realistic images. They sought to represent all that was caught by an artist’s detailed eye, as well as capture and present the intensity of human emotions.
Giovanni Bellini’s work from 1480, “St. Francis in Ecstasy,” captures oil’s ability to create an accurate, complex composition with the soft glow of morning light and the detailed perspective of the natural landscape. Oil became a useful medium during the Baroque period, when artists sought to display the intensity of emotion through the careful manipulation of light and shadows. Rembrandt’s use of oil in his piece, “Night Watch,” from 1642, displays the concerns of the night watch with a dark, yet detailed background and the crisp brightness of the golden garments. In the mid-19th century, as painters explored new approaches and developed new movements, oil as a medium followed. In the 1872 painting “Impression, Sunrise,” for which the Impressionist movement was named, Monet used oil to provide an evocative view of the harbor, silhouettes and sun as reflections danced on the water. Into Modernism and beyond, oil has been used by artists, such as Kandinsky, Picasso and Matisse, to further their experimental approaches in the early 20th century.
Easily removed from the canvas, oil allows the artist to revise a work. With its flexible nature, long history and large body of theories, oil painting has created a most significant impact on visual art. New developments in oil paints continued into the 20th century, with advent of oil paint sticks, which were used by artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Anselm Kiefer. Since the Renaissance, the masters used oil to create works that continue to inspire, intrigue and delight, and today, artists continue to use this significant medium to express their visions, goals and emotions.
How to Speed up Oil Paint Drying Time
Oil paint straight from the tubes may take days, sometimes weeks, to completely dry. Many artists, myself included, do not like working wet on wet. For busy artists who are producing lots of commissions, or have a time limit to finish a series for an upcoming show, a faster oil paint drying time is imperative.
The main difference between oils and water based paints is the drying time. The water in water based paints evaporates, causing the paint to harden.
Oil paint, on the other hand, oxidizes, which is a much slower process. It is important to realize that oil paintings take months to fully dry before varnishing.
What we are referring to here is the oil paint hardening enough to touch or be painted over.
There are many things an artist can do to ensure their oil paintings dry in hours, rather than days. Please realize though that no matter what an artist does to speed up drying of oil paintings, they should allow at least a few hours before even testing the paint or painting over layers. With thin washes, it may even be possible to do several layers in one day. There is no way to make oil paint harden instantly during a painting session, but by using the following tips, you can significantly lessen the duration they take to dry.
1. Use drying mediums
There are many drying mediums available for painting with oil paint. There are a variety of products available, and it is advisable to research which ones work best for you.
Also pay particular attention to the directions, and amounts to use for each product. Some are obviously very hazardous, and should be handled with great care.
Alkyd mediums – such as Liquin, Galkyd and Neo-Meglip
Lead Dryers
Cobalt Dryers
Turpentine – to thin the paint and make it dry faster, especially for base coats
2. Environment
Let the painting dry in a non-humid larger room with well circulated air. Try using a dehumidifier and a fan. Placing it in a well heated, well lit room has been proven to significantly reduce the time for drying of oil paints.
3. Paint in washes or thin layers.
The drying time will be significantly decreased if you work in layers rather than thick impastos. For those artists who primarily create paintings by impasto, your drying time still can be lessened by using a combination of some of the other methods listed here.
Always abide by the thick over thin rule for oil painting, though – to avoid cracking. Thank-you Art of Cheryl O for pointing that out.
4. Different pigments and brands of oil paint having innate drying times.
Ivory black and titanium white tends to dry very slowly, whereas pigments such as lead white and burnt umber harden at a faster rate.
5. Linseed oil.
Combine thickened linseed oil with the oil paint on your palette, which will speed up the drying process. (This does not work for all brands of oil paint)
6. Use a fast drying paint.
The very nature of oil paint requires a much slower drying duration. For art commissions and works with stringent time limits, you may do better by using a faster drying medium, such as acrylics, watercolor, gouache and even digital painting. Anyone who has tried oils and a variety of other mediums will realize oil colors are much more vibrant. Colors are easier to mix and blend together on the canvas. If you do not want to sacrifice this vibrancy and blending for a quicker drying medium, you may do better by working with oil paint instead of against it – realizing that paint drying time is a part of the medium.
7. Use acrylic paint for the background.
To cut down on the whole procedure for a painting, some artists first paint the background with acrylic – quick drying paint, then the main elements of the composition in oils. This gives an interesting contrasting effect between the acrylic and oil paint.
8. Paint on flat surfaces.
Oil paint on textured canvas tends to dry more slowly, as thicker globs of paint fill the crevices of the canvas. A flat surface such as board ensures the paint is evenly dispersed and dried.
As you can see, there are many methods of speeding up drying time for oil paintings. To quicken the process even faster, use a combination of these techniques. With a little experimentation, I think you will find that drying duration is no longer a problem, and oil paintings are created at a much faster pace.
How do you decrease oil paint drying times? Please share your experiences with us below.