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Just a reply to Stephen Sweeney: glazing need not compromise the paint film in any way.
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I agree, Peter, assuming the glaze is executed properly. My initial comments were extracted from the Fearmonger Shop Manual because I wrote in the context of the basic inquiry with which the thread began, and I thought a cautionary note was in order so that folks inclined to begin experimenting with the technique didn't needlessly suffer disappointing results. The hazards are minimal and the benefits rewarding if the process is carried out in the manner you described. I intended only to highlight that the new practitioner would do well to become informed about factors such as transparency/opacity of the pigments used, permanent/fugitive quality of those pigments, whether a particular glaze is intended to be a workable or a "finish" layer, whether the relative fat/lean characteristics of the glaze and the layers above and below it are compatible, and so on. Doubtless there are some "happy accidents" that occur, but I'd wager that the most successful glazing is that which has been planned for some time before the painting was ready for it, and planned for a specific effect in the overall picture. The cautionary tone would be worth it if even a few painters are dissuaded from applying, say, multiple layers of corrective "glaze" using an opaque paint thinned to excess with whatever medium might be used in order to achieve transparency.
Part of the "problem" is, as often happens, definition and semantics. What one writer means by "glaze" may be quite different from another's understanding. My devil's-advocate attempt elsewhere to deal with the variously-interpreted term "painterly" was not the highlight of my forensics experiments, and I won't try to top it here.
An end-note G'day to Wollongong from a one-time expat Sydneysider who did his first oil paintings around the Harbour in '95. Loved Arthur Streeton and the Heidelberg School so much, I published an article on them in the U.S. after I returned, to virtually no acclaim (well . . . my mum liked it), but I had a good time with it anyway.
Cheers,
Steven