Painting

The act of applying paint to a surface is a form of creative expression found in nearly all human cultures throughout time. It continues on today, as vital as ever, as artists continue to find ways to innovate and make the medium new again. The term painting is a broad one, and refers to a work of art made from paint affixed to a surface. The surface on which the paint is applied is called the support, and may be paper, stretched canvas, Masonite, wood panel, a concrete wall, or any other surface that will hold paint. To prepare the surface to receive paint, a layer of gesso or ground may be applied; often made of chalk, this forms a properly absorbent layer for the paint. Without gesso, the paint may soak into the surface of the support; in the case of Helen Frankenthaler’s stain paintings, this was a welcome effect.

In the most basic sense, paint consists of pigment - pure color made from organic or inorganic materials - bound together with a binder. The type of binder determines many of the paint’s qualities. Egg tempera paint, a commonly used medium as long ago as antiquity, is made by blending finely powdered pigment with egg yolk and a small amount of water. The paint dries quickly to produce a long-lasting, matte surface. The popularity of egg tempera faded with the advent of oil paint, made by mixing pigment with oil - usually linseed oil. Oil paint dries very slowly, and is easy to blend to create shaded areas. Many contemporary artists use oil paint, including Nicholas Stedman, George Condo, Laura Murray, and Sarah Gamble. A more recently invented type of paint is acrylic, which is made with synthetic polymers. It dries rapidly, but allows artists some of the same flexibility as oil paint. Some artists working in acrylic include Barry Senft, Brendan O’Connell, Emilio Perez, and Morgan Fisher.