Impasto oil painting means to paint with thick paint. Impasto paint will hold the imprint of your brush or palette knife. For oil painters there are a few ways you could add bulk to your paint. This blog post presents some ideas. If you have any others, please let us know by commenting below.
A detail of my painting ‘Blossom’. For this painting I really tried to lay the paint on thick and not blend them at all – placing the paint and leaving it. I did not add any medium to the paint for this painting.
1. Laying on the oil paint in large quantities
The obvious way to thicken your paint is simply to apply lots of it! However it’s also the most costly approach. But it is also the slowest drying. Oil paint hardens as it reacts with air, so if you’ve laid down a thick brush-stroke, the outer layer will harden (and shrink as it does so) while what’s underneath stays wet. This could cause cracking or wrinkling on the surface as the paint dries. The thicker you lay it on, the more unpredictable the end result.
When I know I will want to paint with thick paint, I squeeze some out on to card a day before. The card draws some of the oil out of the paint. I always keep the boxes my Jackson’s orders come in for this reason!
Top Tip:
It will help to remove some of the oil content of your paint. My favoured way of doing this is to squeeze your paints into blobs on to a piece of card a day or 2 before you’re due to paint. The oil will be drawn out of the paint and turn to a thick, putty-like consistency that is perfect for impasto painting. The painter Peter Clossick describes ‘Tonking’ his paint – blotting the paint with newspaper to get the oil out of the paint – in this blog post here.
Adding marble dust to Oil Paint
2. Adding dry mediums
Painters have been known to add bulk to their oil paint by mixing in dry matter such as sand or marble dust into their paint. The paint takes on a different texture when this is done, losing much of its satin sheen. How fine the dust is will affect how the paint looks. Coarser grit (such as this sand) will show in the paint and make it look crumbly. Fine dust such as marble dust can give paint added elasticity. It will also allow you to get ‘stringy’ effects with the paint when you spread it across your substrate with a palette knife. Derivan Dry Mediums are worth exploring to see what interesting textures can be achieved with your impasto oil paint mixes. This post by Julie Caves shows her findings when she gave them a try with both oil and acrylic.
Thickening oil paint with Michael Harding’s Beeswax Paste. You’ll notice in the bottom left picture that the painto n the right is lighter and softer looker than the paint on the left. This is because the paint on the right has had beeswax mixed with it, which is transparent. As it extends the colour it also increases its transparency. The marble dust is more opaque, and gives the impression of darkening the colour slightly. I was surprised at how different the paint looked after adding these 2 mediums.
3. Adding impasto painting mediums
There are also a number of specially blended mediums intended for impasto effects in oil paint. Beeswax pastes are a traditional and popular choice. It thickens the paint and increases its translucency. The paint tends to look slightly more matte when you use it, and a little crumbly. Beeswax pastes have the added advantage of also having a lovely scent.
If you need something that will dry more quickly, then one of the Alkyd Impasto mediums will serve you well. Oleopasto is a favourite, and will level the brush marks of thick oil paint, while Liquin Impasto lets your brush marks show. There are also some beautiful impasto mediums to explore by Michael Harding, Lukas, Wallace Seymour, Gamblin and others – click here to have a browse.
Thank you! Very concise.
Does adding beeswax paste to oil paint soften the dried
finish?
Hi Mark,
My understanding is that yes, the wax would soften the dried finish…but the paste has linseed in it to ensure there is a degree of ‘hardness’ to the dried paint film. If anyone else has any more information about this please share. My experience of painting with beeswax paste is that to the touch, it feels as hard as the paint mixed with linseed oil.
Thanks for the question!
Lisa
Thank you for your reply Lisa, I intend to try it out.
adding beeswax will result in softer finish. However, it will
harden in about 6 months at which point the finish is harder
than it would be with other paints.
Hi Ann
Yes, good point. Although when pure oil paint is fully dry I’m pretty certain it is harder than paint mixed with beeswax (this is likely to take more than 6 months). I’d need to double check to confirm this though!
Many thanks
Lisa
Hi i was wondering which paste would
have no wrinkles ?
Beeswax paste is nice and thick and won’t wrinkle.
Thanks!
Is there any way to safely achieve a
transparent or translucent impasto
effect with oil paints?
Hi Andra,
I would try using Liquin Impasto with small quantities of your colour added. This will tint the medium. Liquin Impasto is not 100% clear but it is the clearest of all the thickening oil painting mediums that I have tried. It will have a slight yellow tint to it when dry. If anyone knows of anything clearer than this do share!
Many thanks
Lisa
Hi Lisa, beeswax is indeed a great medium to give volume to oil paint but if one wishes to varnish their painting at the end they should not use Damar Varnish as it does not “sit” well on top of the beeswax painting. If they want to varnish it is highly recommended to use a varnish which contains beeswax in it.
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment, that’s a very good tip. Do you use the Roberson one? https://www.jacksonsart.com/search/?q=beeswax+varnish – or have any other recommendations?
Many thanks
Lisa
Thanks so much for this blog
Anyone has experience with oil paint and fine
sand mixing?
does it become brittle and what could one
ado the mix for stronger bond?
Thanks
Hi Pascal
It’s true that if you mix too much sand into your paint there ill be a lack of binder to hold everything together and so the layer of paint may become brittle. If the ratio is no more than 1:2 sand to paint there should be sufficient binder there. If you want to, you could add a bit of beeswax paste into the mix which will add fact content and hold help to hold all the ingredients together as it dries.
Hope this helps.
Many thanks
Lisa
Hi Lisa, I’m wondering what the highest ratio
of Oleopasto to oil paint one can use without
running into problems?
Hi Eirik,
Thanks for your question. W&N suggest one part oleopasto to 2 parts oil paint – although to be honest I think you can use it in any ratio on fairly standard brush marks. You’d only run into problems if the layers of paint+medium applied are really really thick….when wrinkling on the surface may occur.
If in doubt, always a good idea to layer thinner layers rather than lay on one thick layer, where possible.
Hope this helps!
Lisa
Hi Lisa, I paint in a very thick style with a
palette knife. I have started mixing in the
liquin impasto around 60/40 with the paint
but i am starting to worry this may
wrinkle. I have used beeswax but I can’t
always get the look I want with it. The
liquin impasto spreads smoothly and is
shiny. What do you think or suggest?
Hi Angie,
The Liquin Impasto might not wrinkle at that proportion, it’s worth testing and seeing if it has the finish you are after otherwise. Any other impasto mediums will either behave exactly the same (i.e.the resin based ones) or dry matte if they are wax based mediums. Can you try a test on a small panel and see how it behaves as it dries?
Best wishes
Lisa
What product specifically should i use to get a very thick paste like paint that i can use my painting knives to paint (almost like the thickness of soft cake icing)
Hi Selena,
I would suggest Beeswax paste for what you’re describing.
https://www.jacksonsart.com/search/?q=beeswax
Many thanks
Lisa
I have used whiting (chalk) to thicken oil
paint with some success. Works best mixing
into white.
Hi Sarah
Yes whiting will impact on the colour, so probably best to only use with white unless you would like to make your colours more pastel-looking.
Many thanks for the suggestion.
Lisa
Hello everyone. I paint very large. My
canvasses are typically no smaller than
4′ by 5′ I find that adding tablespoons
full of dollar store baby powder and
iether liquin or boiled linseed oil makes
for quick drying layers of thick paint
Oh that sounds like a great tip! Thank you Katherine.
Best wishes
Lisa
Hi Lisa
Can you get the same consistency as Bob Ross paints using liquid
impasto on other paints.
Hello,
Thanks for your question. Please could you describe the consistency you are referring to, and what you mean by ‘other paints’?
Thanks
Lisa
Which impasto medium non toxic would
you recommend me?
Hello, I would recommend a beeswax medium such as this one: https://www.jacksonsart.com/pip-seymour-beeswax-impasto-medium-500ml
It is made of beeswax and linseed stand oil and designed to thicken oil paint for impasto technique. Some beeswax impasto mediums contain solvent but this one does not.
Many thanks
Lisa
Hi , when you blot the oil paint and i use
the blotted (dryer) oil paint can i still
paint wet on wet still? Can i paint over
the wet dryer paint with paint from
straight out of the tube without causing
any wrinkling etc? Thanks
Hi Robert
Thank you for your question. I would advise against doing this as effectively you will have 2 consistencies of paint on top of one another drying at different rates, it is not guaranteed that there will not be any wrinkling or other adverse effects. Effectively you would be painting wet on to partially dry. It’s always best to work wet on wet or wet on dry. Wet on partially dry is too unpredictable to be recommended.
Many thanks
Lisa
Thank you. Also is a beeswax impasto
medium considered more fat than paint
straight out of the tube? Could i use a
beeswax mixed paint over just paint pr
do i have to do the whole painting wet on
wet with just paint and beeswax or can i
build layers and finish with the beeswax
impasto on the final layers? Thank you
Hi Robert
Neat paint would have more oil in it than the Beeswax paste, so it’s best to work with beeswax and paint on the initial layers and finish with neat oil paint.
Many thanks
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I have recently started painting again after many years. I
started in watercolour, then moved to oil and acrylic. I have had
lots of trouble with drying times for the oils, when trying to do wet
on wet like Bob Ross but the paint did not work well, now I know
why as there was 2 much oil in the paint. Thank you for clearing
this up for meand now I know what to do before I paint next time.
Regards
Peter
Thanks for your comment Peter, glad you found the post helpful.
Best wishes
Lisa
Hi I am after an almost chalky thick
paint finish, I am here to this so any help
would be greatly appreciated
Dear Sam,
Have you tried actually adding chalk to your paint? Whiting will have influence over your colours – just like adding white paint to your mixes, but it can help to build a chalky culk to your paint – https://www.jacksonsart.com/handover-whiting-25kg
Alternatively you could investigate the Derivan dry mediums, which cann be added to oil paint and produce some really interesting textures. For a chalky consistency try the pumice powder or ground marble – https://www.jacksonsart.com/derivan-matisse-dry-mediums/
Many thanks
Lisa