?

I recently started painting and always thought impasto was simply using the oil paint thickly.

Now I see there's this impasto gel stuff.

Is it simply used to shorten drying time/lower paint cost?

They say Van Gogh used impasto, surely he just used the paint in excessive amounts and let it dry for up to a year instead of using any 'gel types'?

I'm talking the medium texture like f.ex. Van Gogh...with painting knives/palette, not the overly textured such as this: http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5622907/il_fullxf...

Would you say she is using an impasto gel here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtgIxYerI2s

Last night I saw a meteor, shooting across the sky and burning so brightly white that it had the 'star flare' without squinting.

As it came closer to the ground it changed to more and more orange hues.. and then, to my surprise, it slowed down a lot and started to drop more like a flare.. Doesn't really match my (limited) understanding of physics.

It didn't break up into pieces.

I wasn't a flare or plane (or UFO..) for sure. I have seen plenty of the first 2 to judge that.

I'm about to begin my first oil painting.

I have studied various sites on order to get some tips and avoid the biggest beginner mistakes.

I have some good quality 'tube sets' and this siccative:

http://www.kamapigment.com/images/AC-SI0075-A.jpg

I want to first paint a 'background' which is slightly textured and then paint other motifs on that background after it dries, avoiding any wet-in-wet painting between the layers. 3 layers total and preferably not waiting 6 months between each layer.

The background will not be a very thick layer, but still enough to show some texture and the brush strokes.

I have read about backgrounds often being made by several layers of thinned down paint - this is not what I want.... I think ;)

How do I use this siccative to achieve my goal?

Do I use the siccative on all 3 layers of paint for quicker drying of each layer, before applying the next - without following the golden 'fat over lean' rule? Or do I mix every new layer by that rule and then apply a few drops of siccative for quicker drying?

The siccative smells of turpentine and should therefore (according to my logic) make a leaner paint mix, preventing me from following the fat-over-lean rule?

All quite confusing..

Also a measurement tip on how much siccative to use would be appreciated.

Only replies from experienced oil painters please and not googled know-how :P

-Thanks in advance