Painting Mediums

Oil paint
Pigments are usually mixed with vegetable oils like linseed, poppy, or walnut. Oil is flexible and long lasting and adds sheen to the pigment. It takes years for oil pain to dry and it must be varnished

Tempera
Pigment is traditionally mixed with egg yolk. This is a fast drying paint that is mostly associated with 14th and 15th century Italian artists although it is sometimes used by contemporary artists.

Pastel
A powdered pigment which is mixed with gum or resin and comes in a stick form, pastel is fragile and is easily dislodged from the paper. Pastel is always framed under glass and is frequently seen in the work of 18th century portraitists and was revived in the work of late 19th century artists like Degas, Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase.

Watercolour
The pigment is mixed with water-soluble gum producing a fast-drying and transparent paint. White is never used because the white of the paper creates the highlights. Watercolours are always framed under glass and were a popular choice for artists working in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gouache
This is a pigment is an opaque white filler that is mixed with water-soluble gum. It is neither transparent nor as luminous as watercolour and is often referred to as ‘body paint.’

Charcoal/Coloured chalk
Charcoal, meaning charred twigs, was mostly used for preliminary sketching. Chalk comes in red, black and white and is not manufactured as pastels are but, in fact, comes from soft stones and coloured earths. Both of these substances are used for drawing, are fragile and must be framed under glass.

Pen and ink/ Pencil
Ink is a coloured fluid or paste; pencil is a rod of graphite encased in wood and both of these tools are generally used for preliminary sketch work.