Oil painting classes
Oil painting is not just a way of making pictures; it is a timeless form of art that carries history, emotion, patience, and imagination together on a canvas. Long ago, people used to draw on walls, rocks, and wood using natural colors. Slowly, artists discovered that when color is mixed with oil, it becomes richer, smoother, brighter, and lasts much longer. This discovery gave birth to what we now call oil painting.
According to history, the earliest use of oil-based colors can be found around the 7th century in the Bamiyan caves of Afghanistan. However, oil painting truly developed and became famous in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. The great artist Jan van Eyck played a very important role in improving and popularizing this technique. Later, during the Renaissance period, legendary artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael took oil painting to an entirely new level. World-famous masterpieces like Mona Lisa were created using this medium.
One of the greatest strengths of oil painting is that the colors dry very slowly. Because of this, an artist can carefully blend colors, create soft transitions, and add depth, light, and shadow with great realism. This is why oil painting is considered the best medium for realistic and lifelike artworks. Expressions on faces, light in the sky, reflections on water, and fine details can be shown beautifully with oil colors.
Oil paint is made by mixing color pigments with special oils, most commonly linseed oil. This oil makes the paint smooth, rich, and long-lasting. Because of this quality, many oil paintings remain fresh and beautiful for hundreds of years. Even today, we can see oil paintings that are 200 to 500 years old preserved in museums.
In India, oil painting also has a glorious history. The great artist Raja Ravi Varma made oil painting very popular by painting Indian mythological and historical characters in a realistic and powerful style. His works are still considered priceless treasures of Indian art.
Oil painting is not a fast or easy process. It requires patience, skill, and deep concentration. A single painting may take many days, weeks, or even months to complete, with several layers of color. But once finished, an oil painting becomes something that can touch hearts and remain alive for generations.
That is why oil painting is often called “The King of Painting Mediums.” It is not just a picture—it is a permanent expression of history, emotion, and the artist’s soul.