Inside a Hand-Painted Oil Studio: How Each Piece is Made

There's a version of "hand-painted" that means a machine did most of the work and a person touched it up at the end. That's not what happens at Zeydrt. Every painting starts with a blank canvas and ends with a single artist's hands having made every mark on it. Here's exactly what that looks like.

| 01. The Canvas

Every Zeydrt painting begins with artist-grade cotton or linen canvas stretched over a wooden frame and primed with gesso. The primer seals the surface and gives the oil paint something to grip. The quality of this foundation matters: cheap canvas absorbs paint unpredictably and ages poorly. Artist-grade canvas is dimensionally stable, takes paint evenly, and is built to last.

| 02. The Composition

Before paint touches canvas, the artist works out the composition — where the main elements sit, how the eye is meant to move through the piece, what the light source is. For figurative work like Chen Yuzhe's Americana pieces, this might involve reference sketches. For Ning Yuan's textured abstracts, it's more intuitive: a decision about where to begin and a general direction, with the painting itself doing the rest of the deciding.

| 03. The Underpainting

Most oil paintings at Zeydrt begin with an underpainting — a thin, fast-drying layer that establishes the tonal structure of the piece before color is added. This layer is usually in a single earth tone (raw umber, burnt sienna) thinned with medium. It dries within hours and creates a mid-tone base that makes subsequent layers easier to judge.

Working over an underpainting is one of the techniques that separates trained oil painters from beginners. It gives the final piece a depth and coherence that's very difficult to achieve by starting directly with color.

| 04. Building Up in Layers

Oil paint is applied in layers, from thin to thick, following the principle of "fat over lean" — each successive layer contains slightly more oil than the one beneath it. This prevents cracking as the paint cures. For textured impasto work like Ning Yuan's, thick paint is built up in the final layers using a palette knife. For Lin Siyu's florals, successive transparent glazes are added to deepen color and create luminosity.

| 05. Curing & Quality Check

Oil paint doesn't dry — it cures, through a chemical process of oxidation that takes weeks to months depending on paint thickness. Zeydrt paintings are allowed to fully cure before they leave the studio. Each piece is inspected before shipping: surface quality, edge treatment, and overall integrity are all checked. Pieces that don't meet the standard don't ship.

| Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to make a hand-painted oil painting?

A single painting typically takes several sessions across multiple days or weeks, depending on complexity and the number of layers required. Curing time adds additional weeks before the piece is ready to ship.

What canvas do Zeydrt paintings use?

Artist-grade cotton or linen canvas, stretched over a wooden frame and primed with gesso. The same materials used in professional and museum-quality painting.

What does "fat over lean" mean in oil painting?

It means each successive layer of paint contains slightly more oil than the layer beneath it. This ensures the layers cure at compatible rates and prevents cracking over time.

Want to meet the artists who make these paintings? Read Meet the Artists Behind Zeydrt, or browse the full collection.