Painter

Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was an American painter and illustrator whose scenes of the sea, rural life, and people in demanding settings span oil and watercolor.

Winslow Homer quick facts

Homer used watercolor to capture light and weather, while oil allowed him to build larger, carefully revised scenes of maritime and rural life.

Winslow Homer quick facts
Full name	Winslow Homer
Born	February 24, 1836 · Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 29, 1910 · Prouts Neck, Maine, U.S.
Nationality	American
Movements	American Realism
Paint types	Watercolor · Gouache · Oil paint
Other media	Graphite, drawing, and commercial illustration
Other materials	—
Painting surfaces	Paper · Canvas · Wood · Painting board, including academy board
Painting methods	Graphite underdrawing with transparent washes, opaque gouache, rewetting, blotting, and scraping
Common subjects	Seascapes, fishermen, boats, coastal communities, rural life, war, and tropical landscapes
Notable works	The Gulf Stream, Snap the Whip, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), and Cannon Rock

Sources: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met: Boys in a Dory, The Met: Study for Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts, National Gallery of Art: Sketch of a Cottage Yard, and National Gallery of Art.

Paint types used by Winslow Homer

Homer used watercolor to record light and weather, sometimes adding gouache for opaque passages, while oil served larger, more worked scenes.

Watercolor

Watercolor appears throughout Homer’s works on paper; in Hudson River, Logging he laid watercolor over graphite on wove paper. His watercolors often leave the sheet visible to carry light and atmosphere, unlike the more fully worked scenes he made in oil.
Gouache

Homer sometimes combined gouache with watercolor, as in Warm Afternoon. Opaque passages strengthen forms over transparent washes and exposed paper, documenting a mixed-media approach on a sheet rather than oil on canvas. The National Gallery of Art records both media in the work.
Oil paint

For The Gulf Stream and other seascapes, Homer used oil on canvas to construct substantial, closely observed scenes. He revised this painting over several years, building the storm, waves, and stranded figure into a carefully balanced composition. The museum record identifies its canvas support.

Sources: National Gallery of Art: Hudson River, Logging; National Gallery of Art: Warm Afternoon; National Gallery of Art: Homer and his oil paintings.

Painting surfaces used by Winslow Homer

Homer used paper for watercolor, canvas for major oil paintings, and rigid panels or board for selected studies and finished works throughout his career.

Paper

Homer’s watercolors use paper, including Hudson River, Logging, cataloged as watercolor over graphite on wove paper. In later sheets he often left paper visible to carry light and atmosphere, unlike the more fully worked oil paintings he made on canvas.
Canvas

Homer used canvas for oil paintings such as The Gulf Stream, a substantial seascape revised over several years. The flexible woven support carries the storm, waves, and stranded figure in a large composition, distinct from his smaller watercolors on paper.
Wood

Homer used wood panels for selected works recorded in museum collections, including compact studies. The rigid support differs from canvas in his large oil paintings and paper in his watercolors; these collection records identify particular panel works rather than imply one support across his practice.
Painting Board

Homer also used painting board, including academy board, for studies and finished pictures. This rigid surface supported compact painted compositions, distinct from canvas for major oils and paper for watercolors; museum records identify board in particular works and distinguish it from panel.