Why Oil Paint?

Painters choose to use oil paint because it offers more freedom. With oil paint, an artist can always change the painting at any time and and there are unlimited designs the painter can make on a canvas. Oil paint is pigment mixed with oil. Oil paint dates back to the 15th century, when it was used in Europe.
Once a canvas is stretched, many coats of gesso are applied to shrink the canvas. The canvas is then sanded with sandpaper to make it smoother and easier to paint on. Once that is done, creativity begins.

The artist or painter applies turpentine all over the canvas, so it will be easier to erase or fix mistakes. This is true because oil paint dries slower than most paints.Then the artist sketches the forms and step by step builds the up the painting with color. The oil paint and linseed oil used serve as varnishes to produce bright vivid colors. These oils give the painting a glossy finish. Regular paint hardens and you can not go back to fix a mistake; therefore, it shows up in the end result. Oil paint lets one blend colors and show the highlights, mid tones, and shadows of an object, setting, or person more effectively. No brushstrokes are shown; with regular paint the strokes are more visible.

Plus, the artist's style shows through the painting. Glazing is a technique Leonardo Da Vinci used in the painting The Mona Lisa. He kept building up a thin layer of paint upon another thin layer of paint to give the painting depth and texture.


Overall, oil paint has more benefits and advantages than normal paint.