The Classical Glazing Technique of Traditional Oil Painting

Glazing technique is the core classical technique of traditional oil painting and the key to creating the profound, transparent and textured color effect of classic works. This technique was perfected by Jan van Eyck and was widely used by Renaissance and Baroque masters such as Da Vinci and Rembrandt. The so-called glazing refers to a layered painting method that applies thin, transparent or semi-transparent oil paint on a completely dried base color layer. Different from the one-time flat coloring method, glazing requires artists to divide the creation into multiple steps. First, lay a single and stable monochrome base color on the canvas to determine the light and shadow structure and tone of the whole picture. After the base color is completely dried, apply thin color layers of different hues and lightness layer by layer. Each glazing layer is extremely thin, and the color is not opaque coverage, but superposition and penetration. After multiple layers of glazing, the color of the picture will produce a rich, layered and crystal clear visual effect that thick paint cannot achieve. Classical glazing technique pays extreme attention to the sequence of color layers and the thickness of paint. Artists need to accurately control the drying time of each layer to avoid color mixing and turbid pictures. This technique is mostly used in realistic portrait painting, classical landscape painting and religious painting, which can perfectly restore the delicate texture of objects and the soft transition of light and shadow, creating a solemn, elegant and profound classical artistic atmosphere.