LYNNE GIBSON is now working as a freelance lecturer on History of Art. Lynne originally trained as a fine artist and has taught painting, drawing and printmaking in higher and adult education. She lectured as an art historian for the universities of Sussex and Bristol where she introduced 'Understanding Art' to the Lifelong Learning programme and residential summer schools. She gives talks, lectures and guided tours to a wide range of organisations and institutions including ARCA colleges, the National Trust, National Gallery, art museums and art societies. She has worked as a professional artist specialising in oil painting and etching. Solo and group shows have included the RWA, British Museum and the Barbican.

When you look at a painting, what do you see? A view, a portrait, something abstract maybe? It is, of course, nothing of the sort: just an illusion made from a skin of paint! Buon fresco allowed artists to decorate the vast new Christian basilicas, Renaissance palaces and civic halls. Tough egg tempera was ideal for altar panels. Rich gouache was the perfect paint for illumina<ons on vellum and paper. Without oils the Mona Lisa would not be mysterious, without modern manufacturing processes Impressionism would never have existed, and Jackson Pollock could not have ‘splashed and dripped’ without industrial car paints. By examining some key works from Western Art history we will discover the important role materials and their techniques play in our understanding and enjoyment of Art.