impasto

The term, impasto, is borrowed from the Italian. It commonly refers to the oil painting technique where paint is thickly laid on the canvas. Brush strokes or painting knife strokes are often visible when this technique is used.

Impasto painting provides texture. Impasto gives the artist more control over the way light will reflect on the painting. Some say the paint is coming “out” of the canvas since it is almost a 3 dimensional sculpture.

Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers (pictured) used this technique.