Practice question · Put in order
Arrange the layers of a traditional oil painting in order from the support outwards.
- The size that seals it
- The paint layers
- The varnish, applied once the film is dry through
- The support: panel or stretched cloth
- The ground that supplies the working surface
- The imprimatura that kills the white
Hints
- The layer that seals comes before the layer that is painted on.
- One of the six is applied months or years after the others.
Show the answer
- The support: panel or stretched cloth
- The size that seals it
- The ground that supplies the working surface
- The imprimatura that kills the white
- The paint layers
- The varnish, applied once the film is dry through
Why
The sequence is also a timetable. Everything up to the paint happens in a week; the varnish waits for the film to be dry through, which for an ordinary oil painting is conventionally at least six months and depends on thickness, pigment and the room it dried in.
Practise Supports, Stretchers, Sizing and Grounds
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