Definition

1. Noun:
   • The art or technique of painting using oil paints: This refers to the artistic practice or method itself, involving the use of pigments suspended in drying oils.
   • A picture or artwork created using oil paints: This refers to the physical object, the finished painting on a surface like canvas or wood.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Art/Method):

  • She studied oil painting at the art academy for three years.
  • The book explains the fundamentals of oil painting.

• Noun (Artwork):

  • The museum has a beautiful collection of 19th-century oil paintings.
  • He bought an original oil painting from a local artist.

Advanced Usage

• "To be no oil painting" (British English Idiom): Used humorously to say someone is not physically attractive.
  • He's a lovely man, but let's be honest, he's no oil painting.

Variants and Related Words

• Oil paint (n): The specific type of paint used, consisting of pigment mixed with oil.
  • The artist squeezed tubes of oil paint onto the palette.
• Oil painter (n): An artist who paints with oils.
  • She is a renowned landscape oil painter.

Synonyms

• Canvas (when referring to an oil painting on canvas):
• Artwork / Painting (general terms that can include oil paintings):

Related Phrases

• In oils: A phrase describing a work created with oil paints.
  • The portrait was executed in oils.

Related Idioms

• "To be no oil painting": As mentioned in Advanced Usage, this idiom is a fixed expression. It is important to note it is a set phrase and the term 'oil painting' within it does not refer to the art form directly, but is used figuratively to represent a standard of beauty.

Noun

1. the art or method of painting with oil paints
2. a picture painted with oil paints