Painting: the process, art, or occupation of coating surfaces with paint for a utilitarian or an artistic effect.

The outlines of the images would have first been drawn as an outline with pieces of charred wood or flint. Then, by blending dry pigments from the land with plant juices, animal blood or fat, prehistoric man would color in his drawings to create paintings.

As time went on, people used painting both as a form of decoration and as a way to pay tribute to unforeseen forces.

Egyptian artists for example were commissioned to create paintings for temples and mastabas as well as to decorate manuscripts. Paper was made from papyrus reeds, "new" colors like green and blue were prepared from copper, and gold leaf became popular. Later, the Greeks painted their temples much the way we paint our homes today. The Romans copied the Greeks and went just a little further. In fact, objects that we would think of as paint boxes have been found by archaeologists. These kits contained up to eighty glass vessels (to hold pigments), a mortar for grinding and an oblong object much like a paint palette.

Still later, early monks prepared pigments in order to decorate illuminated manuscripts. By this time, vellum and parchment papers were used as were brushes made of hog and sable hair. The monks worked with tempera paint, which was essentially a mixture of powdered pigment and egg yolks or glue. As the Renaissance approached, a technique involving dry pigment on wet plaster (fresco) was also employed.

As time went on, monks began to mix pigments with oils and varnishes - and voila, oil paint was invented. Old Masters spent a great deal of time sharing their knowledge of paint with their apprentices who would grind pigment and prepare canvas (beginning in the 15th century). It was all very time consuming. Jean Van Eyck is credited with mastering the art of oil painting and his skill can be seen in works like Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife.

By the time of the Impressionists, new colors were being produced. Colors like cadmium yellow, ultramarine, cobalt blue, and alizarin crimson were very different from the brown and yellow tones of the Old Master paintings.

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