Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying paint made with pigment and a drying oil binder. It is widely used for artwork because it blends smoothly and develops rich color.
Painter
Amy Sillman
Amy Sillman is an American painter known for process-based oil and acrylic paintings that shift between abstraction and figuration through overlapping brushwork, revision, humor, and drawing.
Amy Sillman quick facts
Review Amy Sillman's career, oil and acrylic painting, layered canvas methods, abstract and figurative imagery, and museum-documented works.
| Born | 1955 · Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | — |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Contemporary abstraction |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Acrylic paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper (drawings) |
| Painting methods | Layering, painting over earlier marks, redrawing, and repeatedly revising gestures and shapes |
| Common subjects | Abstraction, partial figures, ambiguous bodies, color relationships, humor, and movement |
| Known for | Large-scale paintings that combine physical brushwork, drawing, and continual revision |
| Notable works | Psychology Today · Mother · Split 2 |
Sources: Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum: Mother, Whitney Museum: painting process, MoMA: Split 2, SFMOMA.
Paint types used
See the oil and acrylic paint documented in Sillman's paintings, with links explaining the media's working properties.
Acrylic Paint
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying, water-based paint made with pigment and an acrylic polymer binder. It is widely used in art and decorative projects because it is versatile and durable.
Surface types used
Explore canvas and paper supports documented in Sillman's painting and drawing practice.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric used as a flexible support for painting. Artist canvas is commonly made from cotton or linen and sold either raw or coated with a ground layer.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made primarily from cellulose fibers. Its weight, sizing, surface texture, and wet strength determine how much paint it can accept before buckling, pilling, bleeding, or warping.
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