Painting techniques of the masters
Jan van Eyck ( ? - 1441)
Jan van Eyck is often attributed as the inventor of oil painting, even though the process was described by a German monk in a treatise on medieval arts around 1100. However, it originally was a very slow process until, around the late fourteenth century, metals such as lead were discovered to improve the drying time and added to the oil medium.
Like many of his contemporaries, van Eyck painted on oak panels with a white chalk ground, oak having the benefit of a close grain. His painting 'The Arnolfini Marriage' (painted 1434) is painted on two pieces of oak, with the grain running vertically, animal skin glue and chalk ground was applied and then polished until smooth, obscuring the wood grain. Over this van Eyck would complete a very detailed under-drawing using a water based medium and fine brush. Once completed, he would apply a film of drying oil to make the surface non-absorbent.
Van Eycks' technique used the effect of light reflected back from a pale opaque base through layers of paint which progressively increased in transparency and saturation. The amount of opaque white in the lower layers was lessened in successive applications so that the upper layers relied on transparent pigment to enhance the modelling.
Van Eyck's technique of applying paint from light to dark and opaque to transparent, with the paint at it's thickest in the shadows and thinnest in light areas, created paintings with great richness and jewel-like intensity.
Van Eycks' mastery of his technique and understanding of the processes was superlative, rapidly giving rise to the legend that he invented the oil painting process.