Head of Julia II (1990) by Frank
Auerbach, German-born artist
famous for his thick impastoed
paintings.
Impasto Painting Technique
In fine art, the Italian word 'Impasto' (dough or paste) denotes a painting technique in which undiluted paint is applied so thickly (like toothpaste) onto the canvas or panel (often with a palette knife) that it stands out from the surface. When using this impasto technique, the artist often mixes paint on the canvas itself to achieve the required colour.
Oil paints are most suited to the impasto method, due to their viscosity, thickness and slow drying time, although acrylic paint or even gouache can be applied in the impasto style. Watercolours or tempera are too thin to be impastoed without adding bulking or thickening agents (eg. Aquapasto™).
Famous artists who used impasto in their pictures include: the 'Action Painter' Jackson Pollock, the French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and the Expressionist Vincent Van Gogh. The technique is also used by famous Irish artists such as: the Neo-Impressionist Arthur Maderson, the Belfast genre-painter and portraitist Colin Davidson, the Irish landscape artist Donald Teskey, and the Impressionist Roderic O'Conor.
