Kolkata, West Bengal
When we think of drawing, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the pencil — specifically, the wooden pencil. Inside the wood is a black-colored substance used for making marks. In scientific terms, this substance is called graphite.
Generally, a pencil is used to make a rough sketch, and then colors are applied. Compared to the long history of drawing, the pencil is quite a recent invention, only about five hundred years old. But drawing itself began several thousand years ago. Though it’s hard to pinpoint an exact timeline, cave paintings have been found dating back as far as fourteen thousand or even nineteen thousand years.
In those days, the colors used in paintings came from naturally sourced mineral-rich colored soil. This soil would be mixed with animal fat. Since life was centered around hunting, animal fat was easily available. In that mixture, the colored soil served as pigment, while the fat acted as a binder, something to help the color stick and stay for a long time. Another ancient pigment was charcoal or burnt wood.
As human civilization advanced, so did the range of knowledge, and people discovered various natural colorants and even began producing synthetic ones.
In historical times, people painted on stone surfaces as well, for example, the Jataka tale murals on the walls of Ajanta in India. Around the 13th century CE, a new style of painting became popular. Plastering of walls became common, and while the plaster was still wet, artists would apply paint made by mixing pigments with water. As the plaster dried, the color would set into the wall itself, gaining the same durability as the wall plaster. This technique came to be known as fresco painting, or more specifically, the fresco buono technique. Generally, when we say "fresco painting," we refer to this method.
In Italy and other parts of Europe, many gifted artists immortalized their work through fresco paintings on church walls. Leonardo da Vinci, a man of many talents, painted the famous Last Supper in a style close to fresco but slightly different. Instead of applying color on wet plaster, he used dry plaster, which caused the paint to begin flaking off within a few years. Later, with the help of other artists and new techniques, the painting was restored. This method came to be known as the fresco secco or fresco mesco technique.
Interestingly, the 6th-century CE murals in the Ajanta caves were also painted using a method very similar to fresco mesco. Materials like cow dung, rice husk, and lime were used in such a way that the paintings have survived over a thousand years. Unfortunately, the identities of those great artists have been lost in the sands of time.
Clearly, such paintings couldn’t be moved from place to place. Artists couldn’t paint at home and sell their work elsewhere. So, they began exploring other methods, one involved mixing pigments with egg yolk, which acted as a binder. Additionally, certain tree gums and juices were used to mix with the colors, which were then painted onto wood, fabric, and other surfaces. This technique is known as tempera painting, since “tempera” means mixture.
Later, the ancient use of fat returned in a new form, instead of animal fat, various oils were used. Oil-based painting became so popular that it came to be known simply as oil painting. The pioneer of this method is considered to be Jan van Eyck, born in 1390 CE in the Netherlands. He was the first to successfully use oil paints to create unique visual effects.
Although oil paintings have been discovered on the walls of Afghan caves dating back to the 7th century CE likely painted by anonymous Buddhist artists, the technique was not widely used. It was only after Jan van Eyck that oil painting became popular worldwide.
As color mediums evolved, so did the surfaces for painting. In humid climates, wood was prone to damage, so artists searched for alternatives. In the 16th century, Venetian artists began painting on canvas, a thick fabric made from thread. Back then, this fabric was used to make sails for ships. While painting on this material began informally, eventually canvas was produced specifically for artists. Compared to wooden panels, canvas offered many advantages: it could be removed from a frame, rolled up, transported, and then reframed without damaging the artwork. Many famous paintings were done on canvas and still are.
By the mid-20th century, a new type of paint gained popularity — acrylic paint. Its major advantage is that it can be diluted with water and dries very quickly. Oil paints, in contrast, can take up to 24 hours between layers, but acrylics require only about an hour. Gradually, acrylics became quite popular among artists.
In addition to all this, artists continuously try to invent and discover new mediums. It would be unwise to say that no completely new type of medium will ever emerge in the future.
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