OIL PAINTING MEDIC

Painting portraits is considered to be the artist’s last frontier, but the beginner may make the mistake of paying insufficient attention to noses in favour of eyes and mouths because noses have the same skin colour as the rest of the face. Furthermore, the artist’s dilemma of dealing with the nose’s foreshortening effect may result in a nose that looks lopsided or having edges that don’t exist Common Mistakes in Painting Noses The most common error the beginner in portraiture and figure painting  is delegating the nose as virtually invisible, in preference to the other facial features. When the portrait is finished, however, the artist may discover the importance of the nose, in that it holds the rest of the portrait together. The artist may make the mistake of thinking the eyes or the mouth is wrong, where in fact, the problem lies with the nose. The following practices should be avoided: Painting the nose as a tubular form with two nostrils at the bottom Illus...

Painting eyes within a portrait may instil fear in the beginner, causing a diffident approach. Eyes may end up lacking colour or shading, except in the irises and the pupils, resulting in a blank look. The slightest inaccuracy around the eyes may result in a portrait that does not look quite like the subject. How does the beginner tackle painting eyes for the first time? Problems with Eyes in Portrait Painting How to Paint Eyes The eyes are the focal point within any portrait, and are therefore the most crucial. Unless the eyes have been rendered accurately, the portrait may lose its likeness to the subject. Common problems with eye painting may be due to the following practices: Painting eyes with the simplistic belief that they should always be rendered as follows: they are almond shaped, are surrounded by eyelashes, have a circular pupil and part of a half-moon iris in view Dividing eyes into three main colours: blue, green or brown, and using one of these colours to ...

The beginner’s floral artwork may portray flowers as having bright colours such as pinks, oranges and reds. The flower heads look flat and idealistic, the same flower head shapes echoing throughout the painting. In an attempt to give the flowers form, the artist may introduce black or dark brown into the colour mix, resulting in dirty colours. Troubleshooting Floral Art The culprit of an unsatisfactory oil painting of flowers will often result from the following practices: Painting flowers with the preconception that flower heads always contain bright colours Representing the foliage around the flowers with one green pigment , or a mixture of one blue and yellow throughout Trying to darken a bright colour with black Painting flowers with preconceptions about the shapes of the flower heads, resulting in an idealised flower shape A profusion of too many bright colours may rob the painting of any focal points A cheap artist’s selection box that does not contain the true...

The background to a painting is often a forgotten element when a composition is set up. An empty and featureless area could be a problem unforeseen until the completion of the painting. This could ruin the artwork, regardless of how well the objects have been painted. How does the beginner overcome the problem of empty backgrounds in a painting? How a Background can Ruin a Painting The following practices are often the causes of unsatisfactory backgrounds in painting. Giving sole consideration to the objects within a composition, without thinking about the background shapes, for exmple when composing a still life setting . Viewing non-solid objects, such as clouds, reflections and shadows as incidental Using a neutral or pale colour for backgrounds. Similarly using one colour to represent a background within a painting, such as green for landscapes or blue for the sky Having too much going on in the background, causing loss of focal points within a painting Painting the ...

Painting shadows may tempt the beginner into darkening the colour with black or dark brown. The resultant effect may be a painting that appears to contain solid black pools beneath trees and foliage. The beginner may represent shadows in the same way, making each shadow appear to repeat throughout the painting with a jarring effect, taking the eye from the intended focal point. The Causes of Poorly Painted Shadows The problem with shadows is that because they are not solid objects, the beginner may not treat them with as much importance. The following practices will often spoil a painting containing shadows: Using black or dark brown on its own, or mixed with another colour to represent shadows Darkening a colour with black Using one colour for all the shadows within a painting Illustrating shadows as having a definite shape with harsh outlines Assuming that all shadows point the same way from a particular viewpoint, making shadows appear to “sprout” from objects at th...

The colour green in landscape painting often poses big problems for the artist, because it is found in abundance within trees, grass and foliage. The beginner may fall into the trap of using just one green to express what should be an abundant variety of greens in nature. The resultant painting may fail to convince the viewer. How To Mix Greens for Landscape Painting and Botanical Art The problem with green is that is it often viewed as a colour of convenience for backgrounds, or for when the artist runs out of ideas of what to do with a particular area. The following practices are the culprit of unconvincing greens: Using only one green to paint foliage within a painting, merely lightening the colour with white, and darkening green  with black or a dark brown Again, using only one blue and one yellow to mix green and using it throughout the painting Failing to observe the subtle varieties of green which may contain reds, violets and earth colours, resulting in a hars...

Trees that resemble green-headed lollipops are often the result of a painter with preconceptions about how a tree should look. The greens look garish and uniform; the trunks and branches illustrated by thin brown lines. A green splodge serving merely to fill an empty area within a landscape painting is sure to spoil the effect. How can the artist paint trees effectively? Causes of an Unrealistic Painting of Trees The following practices are often the culprit of common mistakes when painting trees: Having preconceptions about how a tree should look, for example, tree trunks are brown and leaves are green Using only one green, or even worse, a garish green, to illustrate the foliage in trees Not observing the tree sufficiently to make it look realistic Using trees merely to fill an empty area of painting Trying to illustrate trees within an impressionist painting, by drawing each branch and leaf, for example A painting with too many trees ending up as a solid block of gr...

Capturing flesh colours in portraiture is a common problem. Skin can look artificial or too uniform, and subtle tones may be elusive. Facial contours are sometimes painted as lines, making the portrait look harsh and amateurish. Portrait painting is often viewed as the artist’s last frontier, with the fear of producing an unsatisfactory portrait greater than that of an unsatisfactory landscape. Common Problems with Portrait Painting The following practices often cause unconvincing flesh colours: Including pigments labelled “flesh tint” or “flesh hue,” creating an idealised impression of skin. Using black or dirty earth colours to darken flesh tones. Painting with presumptions about skin colour, such as mixing red with white. Using delicate tones throughout, resulting in a bleached or flat portrait. Failing to observe the subject closely and simply “finishing” the painting. Painting lines to delineate facial features such as wrinkles or cheekbones. Tips on How ...

An oil painting containing skies could end up looking featureless and lifeless if the sky element is poorly observed. The colour blue looks artificial and unconvincing; idealistic cotton wool clouds ruins an otherwise good landscape painting. How can the artist make the sky look realistic within the painting? The Causes of a Bland Sky Painting The following practices are often the culprit of a sky sketch that fails to convince the viewer, and which may contribute to an idealistic landscape painting: Overuse of the blue pigment Ultramarine Using only one blue pigment with varying amounts of white for the whole sky Painting with presumptions about the sky: the sky is blue, clouds are white, etc. Not treating the sky element with equal importance as the landscape Using only pale tones for the sky, resulting in a washed out sky Painting the sky element lastly when tired, which will result in a rushed sky that looks completed as an afterthought Lack of awareness of opaque c...

Colour mixes in oil painting could end up looking dirty if the colour theory is poorly understood. The most common problem occurs when painting shadows , silhouettes or trying to darken a bright colour. The resultant colour mix ends up looking muddy and lifeless which could ruin a painting. How can muddy colour mixes be avoided, and how can this problem be put right? The Causes of Muddy Colours Understanding the cause of dirty colours will help find a solution. The following bad practices will create dirty colour mixes: Trying to darken a colour with black Using more than four colour within a colour mixture Overworking a painting or fiddling too much within a particular area The inclusion of too many earth colours, ochres and greys within the artist’s palette Introducing too much dark colour in a colour mix at once and trying to lighten it again with white, causing the colour mix to lose life How to Avoid Dirty Colour Mixes The following simple tips on colour ...