Practice question · Put in order
Arrange these layers of an oil painting in order from the leanest to the fattest, as the rule requires them to be applied.
- The first opaque colour layers, with a small amount of medium
- Final glazes carrying the most medium of all
- Later modelling layers with proportionally more oil
- A thin imprimatura wiped out with solvent
- A monochrome underpainting with very little added oil
Hints
- The leanest layer is the one thinned with solvent and nothing else.
- The glaze carries more medium than anything under it.
Show the answer
- A thin imprimatura wiped out with solvent
- A monochrome underpainting with very little added oil
- The first opaque colour layers, with a small amount of medium
- Later modelling layers with proportionally more oil
- Final glazes carrying the most medium of all
Why
The order is also a timetable, because leaner layers dry sooner. That is the practical benefit hidden inside the structural rule: working lean to fat means each layer is touch-dry before the next arrives, so the sequence protects the film and the working method at the same time.
Practise Oil, Fat Media and the Rule of Fat Over Lean
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