Improve Your Paintings With This Simple Technique
Glazing is one of those painting techniques that often sounds more complicated than it really is. Many painters hear the word and assume it’s advanced or easy to mess up.
In this short tutorial, I walk you through what glazing actually is, when to use it, and how to use it—simply and safely. It’s a subtle technique, but when used correctly, it can quietly improve depth, atmosphere, and color harmony in your paintings.
Watch the full video below, then use the notes that follow as a guide while you practice.
What a Glaze Really Is (and What It Isn’t)
A glaze is paint mixed with a higher ratio of medium, applied thinly over a dry layer of paint. The goal isn’t coverage—it’s adjustment.
Glazing lets you:
Nudge color temperature
Add richness or atmosphere
Make subtle corrections without repainting an entire area
Common beginner mistake:
Treating a glaze like regular paint and applying it too thickly. Subtlety is the whole point.
If it looks obvious or heavy, it’s probably not a glaze anymore.
Why Transparent Colors Matter
Not all paint colors behave the same way when glazing. Transparent and semi-transparent pigments allow light to pass through and interact with what’s underneath—this is what gives glazing its quiet power.
You can usually tell by checking the paint tube:
Open square = transparent
Half-filled square = semi-transparent
Solid square = opaque
Opaque colors can work in certain situations, but they fight against what glazing is meant to do.
Think of it like this: Glazing isn’t about repainting an area—it’s about refining what’s already there.
When to Use Glazing in a Painting
Glazing works best near the end of a painting, once your main structure and values are established.
Because glazes use more medium, applying them too early can cause issues with the fat-over-lean principle. Save glazing for final adjustments, not early problem-solving.
If you’re not familiar with fat over lean—or want a quick refresher—I explain it in more detail here:
👉 Fat Over Lean — what it is and why it’s important
Here’s a simple rule: Block in first. Adjust later.
What Glazing Is Best Used For
In the video, I demonstrate a few practical uses for glazing that come up all the time in landscape painting:
Warming foreground elements so they come forward
Cooling background areas so they recede
Adding atmospheric perspective
Introducing subtle color shifts from reflected light
These are the kinds of changes that would be frustrating to repaint—but easy to handle with a glaze.
This often shows up when painters try to fix “something feels off” late in a painting.
Why You Should Use a Medium for Glazing—Not Solvent
This is an important one.
Solvents can thin paint, but they don’t provide the flexibility needed for long-term stability. As a painting dries and ages, solvent-only layers can shrink or crack.
Using a proper medium:
Keeps the paint film flexible
Respects fat-over-lean
Helps your painting age well
Remember, solvent’s primary role is to break down paint.
Whereas mediums are intended to enhance the working property of paint.
If you’d like a deeper explanation of this (and why it matters long-term), you can read more here:
👉 Why You Should Use Mediums in Oil Painting
How to Apply a Glaze (Simply)
Glazing doesn’t require fancy brushwork. In the demo video above you'll see how I mix the glaze. You’ll also see that I often:
Apply the glaze lightly
Then wipe some of it off
Adjust until it’s just enough
Important reminder: Be sure the underlying paint is dry before you glaze so you don't risk reactivating the paint layer.
Glazing Is a Final Adjustment Tool
Glazing isn’t meant to fix bad structure or weak values. It’s a refinement tool, not a shortcut.
Think of it as tuning an instrument that’s already built—not rebuilding it.
That’s why glazing works best when the painting is already solid.
Want a Clear Foundation Before You Glaze?
If glazing has ever felt confusing, it’s often because the underlying fundamentals aren’t quite locked in yet.
If you’d like a clearer, step-by-step foundation for landscape painting, so techniques like glazing actually make sense, I recommend starting with my free workshop:
👉 Secrets to Painting Beautiful, Realistic Landscapes
You’ll learn my four-stage classical approach that helps painting feel simpler and more enjoyable.
