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What is glazing in oil painting

Sean Lewis
Oct 4
2 min read

What is glazing in oil painting

If you have ever watched painting tutorials or read art books, you've probably come across the term glazing. For many beginners, it sounds like an advanced technique that only professional artists understand.


The truth is much simpler.

Glazing is one of the easiest ways to add richness, depth, atmosphere, and subtle colour adjustments to a painting. Once you understand the basic principles, it becomes a valuable tool that can transform your work.


What is a glaze

A glaze is simply a thin, transparent layer of paint applied over a dry layer of paint.

Instead of completely covering the colour underneath, the transparent layer allows the lower paint layers to remain visible.


This creates optical colour effects that are difficult to achieve using direct painting alone.


Why artists use glazing

Artists use glazing to:

  • Increase colour richness

  • Adjust colour temperature

  • Create atmospheric perspective

  • Deepen shadows

  • Enhance reflections

  • Unify areas of a painting

  • Create subtle transitions


For centuries, many of the great masters used glazing to achieve luminous effects that still impress viewers today.


Five beginner glazing mistakes


Applying a glaze over wet paint

Glazes are designed to sit on top of a dry layer. Applying them to wet paint creates muddy colours and destroys transparency.


Using too much paint

A glaze should remain transparent. Thick layers of paint stop light passing through and reduce the effect.


Choosing overly opaque colours

Some pigments naturally work better than others for glazing. Transparent colours generally produce the best results.


Ignoring tonal values

A glaze changes colour relationships, but it cannot fix poor tonal structure. Good values should be established first.


Using glazing to rescue mistakes

Glazing works best as a refinement technique. It should enhance a painting rather than repair fundamental problems.



Many beginners become overwhelmed by terms such as:

  • Glazing

  • Alla Prima

  • Impasto

  • Scumbling

  • Imprimatura

  • Fat Over Lean

  • Plein Air


Painting Made Simple explains these techniques in plain English and demonstrates exactly how and when to use them.


You see every brush stroke, every decision, and every correction so that nothing feels mysterious or confusing.



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