Glazing

Glazing is often treated as the holy grail of painting methods. At its core, glazing is a very simple process – a thin layer of transparent paint is added to an already-dry, more opaque paint layer. With oil paints, that transparency is achieved by mixing the paint with linseed oil or a similarly oily medium; with acrylics, water can be used alone or mixed with a glazing medium.

Nevertheless, the art of glazing has become shrouded in centuries of myth, mystery and romance. Without having modern X-ray technology to give a definitive answer, artists in the 19th century would endlessly speculate about what it was that gave Old Master paintings such subtlety and richness. Was it the application of many, many thin glazes that created a greater sense of depth, especially in shadows? Was it the use of different coloured glazes that achieved the desired effects? In fact, most glazes were few in number and colours