The artist stretches a cotton or linen canvas on a wooden frame and secures it into place.
The canvas is then primed with a product called "gesso"; it is a matte base that gives the canvas more resilience. The artist starts the painting by drawing the basic lines out with chalk or thinned paint. Colours are applied in many different sessions, due to time consuming detailing and drying time. An oil painting can thus take several months to finish. When completely dry, the painting is protected with a layer of transparent varnish to make it more resilient. |
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