BEGINNERS OIL PAINTING GUIDE – Fat Over Lean
Fat over lean in oil painting refers to the amount of oil in various painting layers. The ‘fat’ part refers to more oil in the paint and the ‘lean’ part refers to there being less oil in the paint. When painting in layers, the rule states that it’s important to start with less oil in the mixture by adding a solvent for your first layer(s) and then to stop adding in solvent for subsequent layers. This is because if a top layer of paint dries before the layer beneath does, cracking will likely occur in your painting. Oil paints are