What is a panel painting!

I realised that many people who may see my work and my description of it, know very little about Art.  I studied Art History to Masters Degree and have spent many years working in museums and major salerooms so I tend to refer to my paintings as you would see in a sale catalogue or museum.   When I say a painting is "oil on panel"...I mean it is painted on a piece of wood.    The 17th Century Dutch landscape painters often used a piece of Oak.....however it goes back to the Greeks and Romans.  It was a very prestigious medium to work on.  Canvas was only introduced in Italy in the first half of the 16th Century, because it was the cheaper option!

When you visit Italy (although most panels are now in every major museum) you will often see marvellous Early Renaissance altarpieces dating from the 13th & 14th century which are all painted in this way..they are the ones that often depict the Madonna and Child..google Giotto for example.  They are often covered with Gold Leaf too, comprised of perhaps two or three panels..if two it is called a dyptich and three a tryptich.  They were hinged to be transported when necessary.

My favourite wood panels are by the Dutch Master painters, but by the 17th century they didn't do all the preparation I have mentioned above..they would have gesso'd the panel a few times with a darker tint.   Check out Aelbert Van Cuyp's lovely cattle scenes, or Vermeer (Girl with a Pearl Earring - book and movie...book is better!

I recall at Art College learning the techniques of the Old Master painters.  I still have a small panel, which I created and that I had forgotten about until now!  We used a piece of half inch wood, covered it with animal skin glue which smelled horrible, and a piece of linen.. This was known as the "size"...
I suppose its like a tiling a floor or wall.  Its a bonding material for the finished surface material which is called "gesso".  Gesso in italian means chalk from latin=gypsum...and has been combined with liquid animal glue to produce very thin liquid material...similar to the consistency of a bottle of whiteout that's a bit tacky!     In the 13th and 14th Century, there were up to 15 layers applied to each panel often by a studio of apprentices. 

I only did about five or six..got a bit fed up with this process, but the more applied the better it looked.  Once each layer was dry it was polished with a small tool so that the surface was like a shiny  china plate.   Then it was ready to paint on...

Are you all asleep yet..  That's a panel painting!
More of my panel paintings will follow, as I love the way I can get more movement in the oil.