Rembrandt built up colors and textures in his paintings through the use of layering. Rembrandt sometimes used multiple layers of color. Some paint was thickly applied--a technique known as "impasto." Other layers were just thin glazes. Many of Rembrandt's best-known portraits are built from a somber palette of browns, whites, grays and blacks. At other times, as in biblical portraits, Rembrandt used brighter colors.