Essential Oils

July 24, 2025

For hundreds of years, oil paint has been the medium of choice for the world’s most innovative and masterful artists. There’s a certain gravity to oil, a sense that when you pick up a brush loaded with it, you’re stepping into a centuries-old dialogue, continuing a conversation that began with Titian, Rembrandt, and Velázquez. Oil painting is not an easy path. It demands patience, persistence, and a kind of quiet reverence. You have to earn your understanding of its language through repeated attempts, through trial and error, through countless moments of doubt and discovery. But once you begin to speak its language, there is truly nothing like it.

What sets oil paint apart is its complex, almost contradictory nature. It dries slowly, frustratingly so at times, especially when compared to the rapid pace of acrylics or the unforgiving immediacy of watercolor. But within that slow dry time is oil’s greatest gift, the luxury of time itself. Time to blend, to revise, to push and pull the paint across the canvas until something luminous begins to emerge. Time to step back and return with fresh eyes, time to explore the subtle transitions of color and value that are so central to the medium’s allure. The paint seems to live on the surface just a little longer than anything else, giving you that much more opportunity to shape it into something meaningful.

The depth and texture that oil paint can achieve are remarkable. With every layer, every glaze, every scumble, the painting becomes a richer, more tactile experience. The pigment seems suspended in the medium, catching light in a way that no other paint can match. There's an undeniable weight to it, a seriousness, even when the subject is lighthearted. It's a medium that insists on being taken seriously, and in return, it offers unparalleled richness and subtlety.

For me personally, one of oil painting’s most satisfying qualities is its matte finish once dry. There’s a purity to it, a softness that feels grounded and real. Unlike many synthetic or fast-drying paints that leave a glossy or plasticky sheen, oil, especially when left unvarnished, dries with a velvety, non-reflective surface. That absence of glare makes it easier to see the work for what it truly is. You’re not distracted by reflections or artificial shine; instead, you can engage directly with the forms and colors. It’s an honest surface, and that honesty is something I keep coming back to.

Working with oil paint is never just a technical experience, it’s a relationship. It demands care, discipline, and a bit of surrender. But in that slow burn, that lingering presence on the canvas and in your hands, lies its power. It's not just about making a picture; it's about participating in a lineage of craftsmanship, of expression, of persistence. Oil paint doesn’t just let you paint, it lets you build, blend, breathe, and ultimately, belong to something larger than yourself.