Original oil paintings by South African artist
Using Impasto to Create Texture in Oil Paintings
Impasto is a term used to describe oil paint that is applied in thick layers by either a painting knife or a brush. To get this thick layering the oil paint needs to be of a buttery consistency with little or no turpentine added. One can even add a specially made thickening medium such as Oleopasta to improve the thickness of the paint without increasing the drying time of the oil painting.
In an impasto oil painting the emphasis is on surface texture with the thick oil paint pretruding from the surface of the support; breaking the two-dimensional quality of the oil painting and giving it a sense of movement and energy. The thick layers of oil paint can also be pushed into a variety of shapes and textures using bands of creamy paint, ridges, dots, irregular lines of varying widths and any other textural effects that you would like to create. The marks you make with your brush is retained by the thick oil paint and this can become an important expressive part of your oil painting.
Some oil paintings are painted entirely in impasto while other artist choose to use it only in certain areas of the painting. Generally impasto oil paintings are painted from dark to light or light over dark. While painting knives are good for laying in broad areas of impasto oil paint, the painting brush is more suitable for adding smaller areas of imp[asto paint. Whichever implement you choose to use experiment using different sides of it and holding it in various angles to create interesting textures.
