Painting: What Exactly is Painting?

Painting is an extremely versatile craft, involving not only different colors and tools but also the expression of various emotions.

The Difference Between Painting and Drawing

Anyone who draws a lot has surely received a compliment about a drawing in the form of “That’s nicely painted!”. Often, painting seems to be used synonymously with drawing in everyday use, but the difference is quite clear to artists and hobbyists – or is it?

When drawing, a subject is primarily created using lines and/or dots. Even if an area can be created while drawing, it essentially always consists of lines and/or dots. In painting, on the other hand, wet paint is applied with a tool (brush, painting knife, or spatula), which lays on the painting surface and forms an area.

However, it is also possible to paint so precisely that the painted picture looks like a drawing. A well-known example is the wing of a European roller by Albrecht Dürer, a watercolor! The distinction between painting and drawing seems to become more confusing the more you delve into it.

Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Often, a painting is preceded by a drawing or a sketched outline, although this is not a rule. Action Painting, for example, does not require a preliminary drawing.

So what exactly is the difference between painting and drawing? If you have time, you can try a small experiment by attempting to use drawing techniques like hatching with a brush and painting techniques with a pencil. The difference seems to be in the materials and the respective techniques, but even here we encounter exceptions like felt-tip pens, markers, or crayons, making a clear distinction difficult.

In summary, it can be said that in painting, the focus is always on the area through which the subject is represented. In drawing, the focus is on the line, which depicts the subject through contours, outlines, and shapes.

Painting Techniques

The term painting technique describes both the method of applying paint and the way of making and processing the respective colors, especially differing in the binders used.

Acrylic Painting

In acrylic painting, synthetic binders (resins) are used to bind the pigments. When wet, acrylic paints are water-soluble, but when dry, they are waterproof and harden. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly clean the tools after painting, as brushes can otherwise be damaged.

• Binder: Resin
• Application: Wet, pasty, or dissolved in water
• Tools: Brush, spatula, painting knife

English: NPS Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Watercolor Painting

In watercolor painting, the brightness and darkness of colors are achieved by the density of the paint application or the mixing ratio of pigments and water. Often, a preliminary drawing is made before painting with watercolors, which the artist lets show through the watercolor.

• Binder: Glue, paste, gum arabic, starch
• Application: Wet, pigments dissolved in water
• Tools: Brush (watercolor brush)

Julian Ashton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Encaustic

Encaustic (wax painting) was developed in antiquity and used in Egypt for painting mummy portraits. Its history is therefore much older than that of oil painting.

• Binder: Wax
• Application: Liquid, hard, cold or hot
• Tools: Spatula

Walters Art Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Fresco

Fresco describes a painting technique where paint is applied on still wet plaster. A fresco requires particularly high craftsmanship as each stroke is irrevocable and no corrections can be made. Overpainting is also not possible.

• Binder: Wet lime plaster
• Application: Wet, pigments mixed with water
• Tools: Brush

Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Gouache

Gouache has the interesting property that the colors lighten after drying. This is because the colors are enriched with white pigments, giving them a chalky appearance. Gouache colors can be used both transparently and opaquely.

Gouache painting was particularly common in miniature painting or medieval manuscript illumination.

• Binder: Gum arabic, dextrin
• Application: Wet, pigments dissolved in water
• Tools: Brush

Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Oil Painting

In oil painting, along with oil paints, turpentine is used. Turpentine can dilute the colors during painting and clean the brush after the work is completed. A finished oil painting is usually coated with a protective layer.

Oil painting is particularly known for its unrivaled durability and color brilliance, and it has become popular worldwide over centuries.

• Binder: Oil (linseed oil, walnut oil, poppy oil, etc.) or oil combinations
• Application: Wet, transparent (glazing) or opaque (covering)
• Tools: Brush, spatula

Thomas Buchanan Read, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tempera Painting

Characteristics of tempera painting include an opaque, matte layer of paint and a quick drying process. Egg tempera was the most popular painting technique before the introduction of oil painting in the 15th century. To seal a tempera painting, the finished picture is coated with a protective layer of varnish.

Ready-made tempera paints are rarely sold because they spoil quickly and do not keep for long. Therefore, tempera painting artists make their own colors from pigments and binders.

• Binder: Casein, water-soluble (casein tempera) or egg yolk mixed with linseed oil varnish, water-insoluble (egg tempera)
• Application: Wet
• Tools: Brush

Rijksmuseum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons