What are the three basic oil painting rules?
When painting with oil colour, artists must adhere to three conventional oil painting rules: 1. Fat over lean – (see explanation below). When oil painting in layers, each successive layer must be more flexible than the one underneath. This rule is maintained by adding more medium to each successive layer. 2. Thick over thin – Thick layers of oil colour are best applied over thin under layers. Thin layers on impasto paintings are likely to crack. 3. Slow vs. fast drying colour – Slow drying colours should not form continuous under layers as any faster drying layers on top may crack.
