Know your art
Painting is a hobby that many people enjoy and even use it as a stress-buster. While paintings can be made on almost any surface with the help of different materials, there are some types or techniques which are more famous than the rest. Let’s take a look at some of them…
Oil painting
In oil paintings, drying oil is used as a binder to the pigments, which gives a buttery feel to the paint. This is suitable for almost all kinds of styles. The texture of paints is smooth and it even has a scent to it.
‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh is one of the best examples of oil paintings. It describes the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room just before sunrise.
Water colour painting
In this, water-based solutions are used to mix the colors, hence the name. The mixing of colors is very crucial in this, since too much of anything, changes the shade of the colors.
‘The Lighthouse at Two Lights’ by Edward Hopper is a very famous water colour painting. The painting is based in Cape Elizabeth, Maine where he has painted a 120-foot-high lighthouse tower and adjoining Coast Guard station.
Pastel paintings
These are normally created with the help of pastel sticks. Using pastel sticks, you can immediately start drawing and coloring. Pastel paintings can be done on any textured paper or canvas, and colours can be layered on top of each other.
‘September clouds’ by Childe Hassam is based in Lexington, Massachusetts, during September and October in 1891. He exhibited it in the fourth and last exhibition of The Society of Painters in Pastel.
Acrylic paintings
These are made with water soluble paints, yet once the painting is complete, it turns water resistant. Most hobbyists love to work with acrylic paints. For sculptures, moulding, facial features, many artists use acrylic painting. It is easier to clean the brushes after use, since acrylic paints need only water to wash them off.
‘A Bigger Splash’ by David Hockney is a very famous acrylic pop art painting, which depicts a swimming pool beside a modern house, that has been disturbed by a large splash of water.