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Showing posts from March, 2010
Oil Painting Medic is a practical guide to oil painting techniques, materials and troubleshooting. NOTHING ON HERE IS AI. Begin with Home or Start Here. Browse my Artbooks and Whats Trending. With copious articles covering portraiture, landscapes, still life, and problem solving, this blog helps artists improve technique and overcome challenges. Navigate by theme in the sidebar.

What are the Main Oil Painting Techniques?

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Confronting art techniques for oil painting for the first time may overwhelm the beginner on the diversity on offer. Fine art painting books would suggest that oil painting requires complex practices and materials, but this is not necessarily the case. The beginner may enjoy simple oil painting techniques with effective results, and which will give the fledgling artist satisfaction. High detail when working in glazes when painting the Beatles Abbey Road Basic Oil Painting Methods Every Beginner Should Try The beginner in oil painting may begin with alla prima, which simply describes a painting completed in one session and therefore in one paint layer. Quick oil painting sketches of landscapes or skies, for example, are typically completed in alla prima. Such a technique requires the application of neat oil paint straight onto the painting surface. Oil painting impasto complements alla prima, in that impasto describes a thick paint layer, and one which may enhance the painting with...

How do I Darken the Colour of Snow?

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Because the colour of snow is inherently white, this knowledge will be carried into snow paintings, resulting in a flat portrayal of snow. The beginner in painting snow in landscape art will stick to pale colours, or just white, creating a painting that appears unfinished for the white patches that abound. Some artists make the mistake of darkening the colour of snow with black, resulting in dirty-looking snow that lacks atmosphere. What Makes Snow Colours Look Bleached Out or Muddy An unsatisfactory painting of snow could be avoided if certain painting practices are avoided, which are Restricting the colour of snow to white Darkening the colour of snow with black or dark brown Portraying snow as a quilt-like layer lying on every perceivable surface portrayed in the painting, resulting in an idealistic painting of snow Trying to paint snow from memory or using poor reference material Toning down dark and contrasting colours that are actually in the resource material, resulting in ...

My Cumulus Clouds Look Like Cotton Wool

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The beginner in landscape painting may try to make a sky sketch more interesting by filling it with idealistic puffy white clouds. Such a cumulus painting is likely to be expressed with white paint upon a stark blue sky. The contours of the clouds will have a bubbly or candyfloss look. A painting of cumulus clouds of this nature could spoil an otherwise accomplished landscape painting. How to Paint Expressive Clouds Why Clouds Often Look Puffy, Flat or Cartoonish The following oil painting practices will often be the culprit of an unsatisfactory portrayal of cumulus clouds: Trying to paint the clouds from memory Using a colour palette that is imagined rather than what is real, for example, restricting the colours to mere white or cream and black Painting clouds merely to fill an empty space within the painting Working from an inferior photograph Blending the colours of the clouds too much Using the same brush marks throughout the sky painting Using a flat (or bright) to blend ...

How do I Erase a Mistake from My Painting? A Guide to Tonking

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An otherwise effective oil painting can be spoiled by a garish tree, a black splodge or a grey expanse of water that clashes with the painting’s vibrant colours. In trying to fix the problem, the artist may fiddle with the area, overworking the paint until it becomes a muddy mess. What art technique can the artist use to remedy the error? Correct an Oil Painting Culprits to Making Mistakes in Oil Painting Few things are more frustrating than completing a satisfactory oil painting except for one particular area. An oil painting is only as good as its weakest point. No matter what the artist does, the offending area continues to draw the eye. Scrapping the painting may seem the only option. The following may have led to this point: Completing the painting in one go, causing the final part to be rendered when tired or rushed. Guess-working an area, such as using green paint straight from the tube for grass or trees. Working from a poor photograph. Fiddling too much with an area, ca...

How to Make Water Look Like Water in My Oil Painting

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Painting reflections in water within a landscape painting can often cause problems for the beginner. They are sometimes illustrated as simply an inverted image of the object above, often misaligned or too idealised. In other cases, water is painted as harsh blue or slate grey with repetitive wave marks. Such portrayals tend to look naïve to the viewer. Realistic Water Painting How a Painting of Water can Go Wrong By identifying common painting practices that cause unrealistic water, the artist can begin to improve. Frequent issues include: Using any blue or grey at hand and applying it neat over the water Painting identical waves all over the surface Giving the water a definite, unnatural edge Ignoring weather conditions when judging tonal values Painting reflections misaligned or not vertically true Using identical colours and tones for reflections and the objects reflected Adding edges to reflections that do not exist Tips for Painting Water and Reflections A reflection will al...

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ART ESSENTIALS

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PAINTING OBJECTS

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STILL LIFE & RESTORATION

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ART POSTS FROM MY OTHER BLOG

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BOOKS & RESOURCES

Artbooks by Rachel Shirley
Explore practical guides on oil painting, materials and colour mixing.
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Winsor & Newton Art Materials
Professional-grade paints, mediums and brushes.
Shop Materials
Mirror Image Shattered by Madeleine Watson
An identical twin's true story of her dark toddlerhood.
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The Shuttered Room by Charles Jay Harwood
A gripping thriller about a house that seems ordinary on the outside.
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