Quick answer: No single person created oil paint. It was developed gradually by anonymous craftsmen who learned to bind pigment in drying oils such as linseed and walnut. The oldest known oil paintings, at Bamiyan in Afghanistan, date to around the 7th century CE. In Europe, Jan van Eyck is often credited, but he refined an existing medium in the 15th century rather than inventing it. Later, color merchants and paint makers turned it into the tube paint artists use today.
Oil paint has no single creator in the way the light bulb or telephone is linked to named inventors. It is a recipe: colored powder ground into an oil that hardens in air. That recipe was worked out, improved and passed along by many hands, most of whom never signed their names to anything.
Still, the question of who created oil paint has a useful answer if you break it into parts. Who first used drying oils as a paint binder? Who wrote down the method? Who made the medium famous? And who actually mixed the paint that artists used? This article answers each, and then explains how oil paint is made, both historically and now. Painters who want to move from history to the easel can jump to our practical guide to oil paintings and supplies.
What “Creating” Oil Paint Actually Means
Oil paint has two essential ingredients and a few optional ones.
- Pigment: finely ground colored particles, from minerals, earths, plants, insects or synthetic chemistry.
- Drying oil: an oil that hardens by reacting with oxygen. Linseed (from flax) is the classic; walnut, poppy and safflower are also used.
- Optional additions: driers that speed curing, stabilizers that stop separation, and fillers that adjust texture.
None of these was new when oil paint emerged. Pigments had been used since prehistory, and drying oils were known in the ancient world. “Creating oil paint” really means discovering that the two make a durable paint film and learning to control how it dries. That happened slowly and in more than one place.
The People Who Shaped Oil Paint: A Quick Guide
| Who | When | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown painters at Bamiyan, Afghanistan | c. 7th century CE | Earliest known surviving paintings using oil-bound pigments |
| Theophilus Presbyter, a monk | Early 12th century | Described grinding pigment in linseed oil in a written treatise |
| Anonymous medieval workshops | 13th–14th centuries | Used oil for decorative work and improved drying with heat-treated oils and driers |
| Cennino Cennini | c. 1400 | Included oil painting instructions in an Italian workshop handbook |
| Jan van Eyck and Early Netherlandish painters | 1420s–1440s | Perfected layered oil glazing, making oil the leading fine-art medium |
| Workshop apprentices | 15th–18th centuries | Ground pigments into oil daily by hand |
| Colourmen (color merchants) | 17th–19th centuries | Prepared and sold paint commercially |
| John Goffe Rand | 1841 | Patented the collapsible metal paint tube |
| Modern manufacturers and chemists | 19th century to today | Synthetic pigments, consistent formulas, lightfastness standards |
The First Makers: Anonymous Painters at Bamiyan
The oldest known oil paintings are Buddhist murals in caves near Bamiyan, in central Afghanistan, generally dated to around the 7th century CE. A 2008 scientific analysis of samples from these caves reported drying oils in several paint layers, probably derived from walnut or poppy seed.
We do not know the names of the painters. They were likely working along trade routes that connected Central Asia, India and China, where knowledge of materials traveled with merchants and monks. Their work shows that the basic idea of oil paint was in practical use centuries before Europe’s famous oil paintings.
The First Writers: Theophilus and Cennini
Written instructions tell us who understood oil paint, even if they did not invent it.
Theophilus Presbyter, writing in the early 12th century, described grinding pigments with linseed oil in De diversis artibus. He also noted the main problem: each layer took a long time to dry. That comment tells us oil paint was usable but impractical for detailed figure painting at the time.
Around 1400, the Italian painter Cennino Cennini wrote Il Libro dell’Arte, a workshop handbook focused largely on tempera and fresco. It also explains how to prepare oil for painting and how to apply oil colors, showing that Italian artists knew the method before they adopted it widely.
The Refiners: Jan van Eyck and the Flemish Masters
Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441) is the name most often attached to oil paint. The 16th-century writer Giorgio Vasari credited him with inventing it. Historians today agree that this is an overstatement, but van Eyck’s real contribution was enormous.
Van Eyck and contemporaries such as Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden built paintings from many thin, translucent layers of oil color over a bright white ground. Light passed through the glazes and reflected back from the ground, creating rich, luminous color and fine detail. They likely used carefully prepared oils and driers to make the paint behave well, though their exact recipes were not recorded.
So if the question is “who made oil paint a great art medium,” van Eyck and his circle are a fair answer. If the question is “who created oil paint,” the honest answer is that they inherited it. For a closer look at how oil painting styles evolved from this period to today, see our guide to oil painting techniques and styles.
Who Mixes Oil Based Paint? From Apprentices to Factories
The people who physically mixed oil paint changed a great deal over the centuries.
Workshop apprentices (15th to 18th centuries)
In a typical painter’s workshop, apprentices ground pigments daily. They placed powdered pigment on a stone slab, added oil a little at a time, and worked it with a flat-bottomed muller until the paste was smooth. Because paint dried out, it was often made fresh for each day’s work.
Colourmen (17th to 19th centuries)
As demand grew, specialist color merchants began preparing paint for sale. They sourced pigments, ground them in oil, and sold the paint in small pig-bladder pouches. This let artists, including amateurs, paint without running a full workshop.
Tube paint makers (19th century onward)
After John Goffe Rand patented the collapsible paint tube in 1841, color makers could sell paint that stayed fresh for months or years. London firms such as Winsor & Newton, founded in 1832, were among the color makers that sold paint in tubes, and mechanical grinding mills gradually replaced hand mulling.
Modern manufacturers
Today, oil paint is made in factories using three-roll mills that disperse pigment evenly through the oil. Manufacturers test for lightfastness, consistency and drying behavior. Some small brands still mill by hand or in small batches, and some artists make their own paint as a craft.
How Oil Paint Was Made Historically
- Source the pigment. Earth pigments such as ochres and umbers were dug and washed. Mineral pigments such as lapis lazuli (for natural ultramarine) were crushed and purified. Others, such as lead white, were manufactured by chemical processes.
- Grind the pigment dry. Pigments were crushed to a fine powder, often in a mortar.
- Prepare the oil. Linseed oil was pressed from flax seed, then often washed, sun-bleached or heated to improve drying and clarity.
- Mull the paint. Pigment and oil were combined on a slab and ground with a muller until smooth.
- Add driers if needed. Lead-based compounds were commonly added to speed drying, especially for slow-drying pigments.
- Store or use immediately. Paint was used the same day, kept under water, or stored in bladders.
Many historical pigments, including lead white and vermilion, were toxic. Workshop grinding was hazardous work, which is one reason modern manufacturing uses enclosed equipment and safety controls.
How Oil Paint Is Made Today
- Weigh pigment and oil according to a formula for each color, since different pigments absorb different amounts of oil.
- Premix in a mechanical mixer to form a rough paste.
- Mill on a three-roll mill, where steel rollers break up pigment clumps and coat each particle with oil.
- Adjust consistency with additional oil or small amounts of stabilizers.
- Test color, texture, drying and, for artist grades, lightfastness.
- Fill tubes and seal them.
Student-grade paints often contain more filler and less pigment to lower cost, while artist-grade paints generally have higher pigment loads. The core recipe, pigment in drying oil, remains the same one the Bamiyan painters used.
Can You Make Your Own Oil Paint?
Yes, and some painters enjoy it as a way to understand their materials. The basic method follows the old workshop process.
- Tools: a glass slab or tempered glass sheet, a glass muller, a palette knife, and empty paint tubes or small jars.
- Materials: artist-grade dry pigment and refined or cold-pressed linseed oil.
- Method: place a small mound of pigment on the slab, add a few drops of oil, mix with the knife, then mull in circular motions until smooth and buttery. Add oil slowly; too much makes the paint runny and slow drying.
- Safety: wear a dust mask and gloves when handling dry pigment, avoid toxic pigments such as lead or cadmium unless you have proper ventilation and protection, and clean up powder with a damp cloth rather than sweeping.
Hand-made paint often has a different texture from tube paint because it lacks stabilizers. That can be part of its appeal.
Artists Who Changed How Oil Paint Was Used
Although they did not create the medium, several painters changed what oil paint could do.
- Jan van Eyck: luminous glazes and precise detail.
- Leonardo da Vinci: sfumato, soft transitions between tones built from thin layers.
- Titian: expressive, textured brushwork on canvas.
- Rembrandt: thick impasto in lights and deep transparent shadows.
- The Impressionists: fresh, direct painting outdoors, made practical by tube paint.
These approaches still guide painters. For example, wet-into-wet blending and soft edges are central to atmospheric subjects, as shown in our guide on how to paint fog in oil.
Why Linseed Oil Became the Standard Binder
Oil paint’s makers experimented with several drying oils over the centuries. Linseed won out in most of Europe because flax was widely grown, the oil dries relatively quickly, and it forms a tough, flexible film. Other oils survived for specific jobs.
| Oil | Source | Drying speed | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linseed | Flax seed | Relatively fast | General binder, especially darks and earth colors; strongest film |
| Walnut | Walnuts | Moderate | Historically popular in Italy; less yellowing, good for lighter colors |
| Poppy | Poppy seed | Slow | Whites and pale colors; can be more prone to cracking in thick layers |
| Safflower | Safflower seed | Slow | Modern whites and blues because it yellows less |
The tradeoff has always been the same: oils that dry faster and form stronger films tend to yellow a little more over time, while paler oils stay clearer but dry slower and form softer films. Paint makers today still balance those properties color by color, which is why the label on a tube of white may list a different oil than a tube of burnt umber.
Common Misconceptions About Who Created Oil Paint
- “Van Eyck invented oil paint.” He perfected its use; the medium existed before him.
- “Oil paint is a European creation.” The earliest known oil paintings are in Afghanistan.
- “Artists always bought paint.” For centuries, workshops made their own.
- “Oil paint has always come in tubes.” Tubes appeared only in 1841.
FAQs
Who created oil paint?
No single person did. Oil paint developed gradually as craftsmen learned to bind pigment in drying oils. The earliest known oil paintings, at Bamiyan in Afghanistan, date to around the 7th century CE.
Did Jan van Eyck create oil paint?
No. Van Eyck refined oil painting in the 15th century, using thin glazes to create luminous color. Giorgio Vasari later credited him with its invention, but oil paint was in use long before.
Who mixes oil based paint?
Historically, workshop apprentices ground oil paint by hand, followed by color merchants called colourmen. Today, most oil paint is made by manufacturers using roller mills, though some artists still make their own.
What was the first oil paint made of?
Early oil paints combined natural pigments, such as earths, minerals and plant-based colors, with drying oils such as walnut, poppy or linseed oil.
Who invented the oil paint tube?
American portrait painter John Goffe Rand patented the collapsible metal paint tube in 1841, which made oil paint portable and longer lasting.
Is homemade oil paint as good as store-bought?
It can be, if you use quality pigment and oil and mull it thoroughly. It may separate or dry differently because it usually lacks the stabilizers in commercial paint.
Next Step
Oil paint was created by many hands over many centuries: anonymous painters at Bamiyan, medieval craftsmen, writers such as Theophilus and Cennini, the Flemish masters who perfected it, and the color makers who put it in tubes. Knowing that story makes the medium less mysterious and helps explain how it behaves.
If you are ready to work with oil paint yourself, our oil paintings guide with expert tips and supply picks covers techniques, styles and the materials worth starting with.
