Impasto

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Impasto is a technique used in painting, where the paint is placed in a surface area in a very thick layer, usually thick enough so that brush strokes or blade-paintings are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto gives texture; paint looks coming out from canvas.

Video Impasto

Origins

The word impasto is from Italy; where it means "dough" or "mix"; the verb "impastare" translates to "knead", or "inserted". The use of Italian "impasto" includes painting and pot-making techniques. According to Webster New World College Dictionary , the root word impasto is pasta , the main meaning in Italian is > paste .

Maps Impasto

Mediums
Oil paint is a traditional medium for impasto painting, because of its thick consistency and slow drying time. Acrylic paints can also be used for impasto by adding heavy body acrylic gel. Impasto is generally not visible in watercolor or tempera without the addition of thickener due to the thinness attached to this medium. An artist working with a pastel can produce a limited effect of impasto by pressing a soft pastel firmly on paper.

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Destination

Impasto techniques serve several purposes. First, it makes light reflect in a certain way, giving additional control to the artist over the game of light in the painting. Second, it can add expressively to the painting, with viewers able to see the strength and speed at which artists apply paint. Third, impasto can push a piece of painting into three-dimensional sculptural rendering. The first goal was initially sought by experts such as Rembrandt, Titian, and Vermeer, to symbolize clothing or jewelry: then juxtaposed with a smoother style of painting. Much later, the French Impressionists created pieces covering the entire canvas with rich impasto textures. Vincent van Gogh often uses it for aesthetics and expression. Abstract expressionists such as Hans Hofmann and Willem de Kooning also use them extensively, partly motivated by the desire to create paintings that dramatically record the action of painting itself. Still recently, Frank Auerbach has used such a heavy impasto that some of his paintings are almost three dimensional.

Impasto gives texture to the painting, which means it can be opposed with a more flat, smooth, or cohesive painting style.

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Artist

Many artists have used impasto techniques. Some of the more famous include: Rembrandt van Rijn, Diego VelÃƒÆ'Ã‚Â¡zquez, Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning.