Drybrush is a
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
technique in which a
paint brush that is relatively dry, but still holds
paint
Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
, is used to create a drawing or painting. Load is applied to a dry support such as
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
or
primed canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...
. The resulting brush-strokes have a characteristic scratchy and textured look that lacks the smooth appearance that
wash
Wash or the Wash may refer to:
Industry and sanitation
* WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues
* Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages
...
es or blended paint commonly have. This technique can be used to achieve a blurred or soft appearance.
The technique of drybrush painting can be achieved with both water-based and oil-based media. With water-based media such as
ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
s,
acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Dep ...
s,
tempera
Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...
-paints, or
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...
-paints, the brush is usually dry or squeezed dry of all water. The brush is loaded with paint that is highly viscous or thick and then applied to a dry support. With other water-based media, the brush is loaded with paint and then squeezed dry. When using oil-based media, such as
oil-paint, similar techniques are used, although instead of water, the brush is used dry or any oil or solvent is removed. Because oil-paint has a longer drying-time than water-based media, brushing over or blending drybrush strokes is often avoided to preserve the distinctive look of the drybrush-painting-technique.
The technique is often used in
model-painting to apply highlights to miniatures.
Oil-based drybrushing can also be scrubbed onto paper, canvas or absorbent
gesso
A restored gesso panel representing St. Martin of Tours, from St. Michael and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, Hampshire
Gesso (; 'chalk', from the , from ), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigi ...
with stiff bristle brushes to impart smooth airbrushed or pastel-style effects. Next is that drybrush is sometimes mixed with other painting techniques
Coming from the dry brush technique, an autonomous painting technique developed in a comparatively short time:
For painting with the dry brush a small amount of oil is used. The color is diluted with a few drops of linseed oil or solvents. From this mixture very little color is added to the brush. In the next step the brush with the color on it is spread out very well on a color palette and the oil is secreted. The brush must be dry at the end of this step.
Linseed oil, when used with oil paint for dry brushing, will yellow if it becomes too warm, such as being left in a car in the summer sun. Sewing machine oil and diesel oil work just as well and do not yellow.
Now a very thin layer of color is applied to a watercolor paper. By reworking with an eraser at this point it is possible to incorporate different lighting effects and details.
Images painted with a dry brush are characterized by the specific transitions of light and shadow and gossamer tones. A work done in black and white appears similar to a coal or fine pencil drawing.
Tutorials and technique
* Nadja Sasch: ''Der trockene Pinsel.'' Edition Michael Fischer, Ingling 2012, .
See also
*
Art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...
*
Creativity techniques
Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, ...
*
List of art media
Media, or mediums, are the core types of material (or related other tools) used by an artist, composer, designer, etc. to create a work of art. For example, a visual artist may broadly use the media of painting or sculpting, which themselves hav ...
*
List of artistic media
Media, or mediums, are the core types of material (or related other tools) used by an artist, composer, designer, etc. to create a work of art. For example, a visual artist may broadly use the media of painting or sculpting, which themselves have ...
*
List of art movements
:''See Art periods for a chronological list.''
This is a list of art movements in alphabetical order. These terms, helpful for curricula or anthologies, evolved over time to group artists who are often loosely related. Some of these movements ...
*
List of art techniques There is no exact definition of what constitutes art. Artists have explored many styles and have used many different techniques to create art.
Art techniques
A
* Airbrush#Technique, Airbrushing technique
* Aerial_perspective#In_art, Aerial pe ...
References
External links
{{commons category
How to create a range of dry brush strokes with watercolor
Painting techniques
Artistic techniques