OIL PAINTING MEDIC

Blonde hair in oil painting often looks chalky, muddy or flat when the artist relies too much on white or browns. True blonde hair contains an array of hues — blues, earth colours and violets. By understanding how blonde hair behaves tonally and chromatically, the artist can mix cleaner pales, richer darks and convincing highlights. The True Colour of Blonde The portrait artist faced with painting blonde hair may automatically reach for titanium white and vary it with black or dark brown for shadows in the belief that these colors will create convincing blonde hair. Instead, the hair looks lifeless. What colors should the artist use for blonde hair? How Not to Paint Blonde Hair How to Paint Blonde Hair Rachel Shirley Before making changes to a portrait with blonde hair, the artist may identify what went wrong with the hair aspect of the painting, which could be any of the following: Making blanket assumptions about blonde hair in that it always contains lots ...

The artist assigned to paint a portrait of someone with brown hair may reach for any brown pigment in the hope that it will do, resulting in hair that looks flat, dull and wool‑like rather than fine strands. How can the artist paint brown hair realistically? How to Paint Brown Hair on Portraits Painting Brown Hair Rachel Shirley The artist may reflect upon what went wrong when painting hair. Any of the following practices could be at fault: Assuming any tube labelled “brown” will represent all shades from brunette to auburn. Illustrating every strand in a linear fashion with a fine sable, resulting in a synthetic wig‑like appearance. Leaving harsh dividing lines between tonal areas, making the hair appear solid or plastic. Mixing brown with white for highlights or black for darks, resulting in dirty grey colours. Treating the hair as separate from the face and omitting cast shadows over brow and cheeks, creating a cut‑out look. Tips on Painting Brunett...

The artist who strives for realism may feel dissatisfied if a painting of a dog or portrait looks cartoonish. Mountains or rivers appear look cut out, shadows resemble dark smudges and flowers idealised. How does the artist create paintings that look convincing? How Symbolic Thinking Ruins Realistic Painting Oil Painting with Realism Rachel Shirley The reason why a painting lacks realism is often down to one thing: the dictatorial part of the brain that overrides what the eye actually sees. This dictatorial part of the brain may insist upon illustrating symbolic versions of objects regarding lines, shapes, colours and tone, which could be some or part of the following: The sky is blue, all chairs have four legs, all fingers are long, children are scaled-down versions of adults, all shadows are dark, snow is white, the grass is green and all eyes are almond shaped. When it comes to what the eyes sees, the above is often not true: Skies can be silver or indigo, chairs can appea...

The artist striving to paint impressionist style may agonise over every brush mark, robbing the painting of expression and defeating the object of painting Impressionist. How can the artist create expressive paintings? How to Paint Impressionism with Freedom Before tackling the problems of the fastidious artist striving to produce an expressive oil painting, the following practices may be identified. Sitting too close to the painting, causing each brush mark to appear to have more significance than it actually has. Using fine sable brushes throughout the painting session. Sitting in one position during the entire painting session or not viewing the painting in any other way. Painting onto a white support, causing pale colours to appear dark by comparison and resulting in a pale painting. Over-mixing the colours until they are completely even. Not using vibrant colours or tempering bright colours with browns and greys. Overworking the painting until it looses life. The Secr...

The artist who ventures into oil painting impasto may paste the oil paint on thickly for impressionist skies or landscapes, using up lots of costly oil paint. The result is that there is little of the paint left in the tubes for another painting. How can oil painting be made cheap when using impasto? Impasto Painting Techniques in Art Producing an oil painting with impasto paint can work out expensive if the artist is wasteful with oil paint. This can be a problem if using a palette knife or wide bristle brushes for relief effects. The following practices could make impasto techniques costly. Using exclusively artist quality oil paints and applying liberal amounts over the oil painting to produce relief effects. Depositing liberal amounts of oil paint onto the artist’s palette and then simply disposing of the residue at the end of the painting session. Putting too much oil paint on the palette in relation to the size of the oil painting. For instance, if the impasto work is sma...

An oil painting of water may look more like warped sheet metal rather than liquid. Bright blue or slate grey interspersed with black intended to represent ripples on the water’s surface may spoil an otherwise vibrant landscape painting. What can the artist do to make ripples look convincing in oil painting? The Problem with Painting Ripples in Water The artist’s first encounter with painting the ripples on the water’s surface is often overwhelming, as there many elements to consider. This means the artist may not know where to begin. Before improvements can be made to an oil painting of ripples over water, the artist may try to identify the practices at fault, which could be the following: Giving in to the dictatorial part of the brain that insists upon rendering what the brain knows about ripples rather than what the eye sees. For instance, all ripples are circular in shape, they appear elliptical from an oblique angle; each concentric circle moves outwards at equal d...

A dog portrait otherwise beautifully painted could be ruined by a slapdash background consisting of dung brown or a cluttered backdrop full of unwanted focal points. What can the pet artist do about backgrounds to a dog painting? How to Choose the Best Background for a Dog Portrait Backgrounds to Dog Portraiture Rachel Shirley The background to dog portraiture could be improved upon with a few adjustments to the colour used or the oil painting technique. But identifying the culprits to a poor background will enable the artist to make improvements, which could be any of the following: Faithfully copying the dog painting from a photograph that features a cluttered background that draw the eye from the dog such as furniture or toys. Using flash photography for the dog, resulting in a bleached-out version of the animal. Against a dark background, the dog’s face will appear cut out and two dimensional. Applying paint over the background area as through glossing a skirting board, u...

An otherwise successful portrait painting can be spoiled by a background that jars with the subject. An element placed in the background may create an unwanted focal point, or a garish colour may make the portrait look amateurish. What is the best background for portraits? Portrait Backgrounds That Do Not Work Backgrounds to a Portrait Rachel Shirley Understanding the causes of unsuitable backgrounds in portraits or pet portraiture may help improve future work. The following practices often result in a portrait ruined by its background: Using photographic reference that includes incidental objects (washing machines, vans, clutter) and copying them exactly without artistic editing. Selecting a background colour too similar to the sitter’s clothes, hair or skin (pink/red, orange/pink, purple/blue), causing colour conflict. Choosing harsh or garish colours (yellow, bright green, orange) that advance toward the viewer and push the portrait back. Using a flat, o...

Muddy colour mixes may appear from nowhere when trying to mix red and yellow for trees or blue and red for flowers. Grass’s green has a brownish cast; pansy heads look almost black rather than violet, and sunsets look tarnished. What can the artist do to avoid dirty mixes when combining primary colours? How to Avoid Muddy Colours When Mixing Primaries How to Mix Clean Violets Rachel Shirley Understanding the causes of dirty colour mixes will help prevent dirty looking paintings in the future. The following bad practices will most certainly be the causes of unexpected colour mixes. Not understanding colour theory properly. Following a colour wheel diagram that does not display the true primary colours. Using the mixture of any red, yellow or blue to mix green, purple or orange. Having insufficient pigments in the artist’s arsenal to produce the desired colour mixes. The Colour Wheel Chart Theory Muddy colours often result when the artist mixes two colours that are not...

Trying to paint glass in a still life may seem impossible due to its elusive quality. The artist strives to make glass look solid, yet it is partially invisible. In other cases, reflections and shadows may confuse the painting. How does the artist make glass look real? How to Paint Glass Painting Glass in a Still Life Rachel Shirley Before improving a still life with translucent objects, the artist must identify the causes of unrealistic glass: Assuming glass is completely transparent and painting objects behind it without altering the palette. Ignoring refraction or distortion caused by curved glass surfaces. Outlining the glass with definite dark lines. Using neat white for reflections and highlights. Why Glass is Difficult to Paint Unlike opaque objects, glass contains multiple visual elements at once: Reflections on the surface (windows, people, furniture). Shadows cast onto the glass by neighbouring objects. The glass’s own shadow — solid ...

Dark deep and vivid colours often intimidate novice artists causing a diffident approach to painting. The resultant artwork lacks tonal variety, biased towards pales or insipid colour mixes. More often than not, the painting is difficult to discern from a distance. How can the artist get the confidence to use vivid colours in oil painting? How to Paint Rich, Vivid Colours in Oil Painting Rich Colours in Oil Painting Rachel Shirley The following problem areas are usually at fault when faced with colour mixing with oil paints for the first time. Working too closely to the painting often leads the artist to believe that small marks have more significant when viewed from afar. Using a fine brush when working over a large painting will also lead to a painting filled with small and insignificant brush marks that cannot be discerned from a distance. Painting straight onto a white surface will make even the palest colour appear dark and deep by comparison. Working under a b...

Painting white fur may compel an almost knee-jerk reaction of titanium white overkill on a portrait of a dog, cat or horse. The result may turn out to be a two dimensional cut out impression of the animal. How can the pet portrait artist paint white fur. Avoid Chalky, Flat Whites in Pet Portraits Horses with White Fur Rachel Shirley The idea of using dark pigments or those of a definite hue goes against what the brain knows about the fur, which is white. This may lead the artist into faulty practices, which could be any of the following: Exclusively using white paint or very pale colour mixes to illustrate pale fur, resulting in a washed-out pet painting. Using poor photographic reference of the pet, particularly flash photography that results in a bleached-out image. Darkening pale fur with black oil paint for shadows, resulting in dirty dead greys. Illustrating contours as dark lines, creating an illustrated effect that does not convey the true softness or texture of the ...

The artist aspiring for a smooth finish to an oil painting could be disappointed when patchy areas persist even after blending the oil paint with soft brushes. A blue expanse of sky or water betrays unwanted brush marks. How can the artist achieve an airbrushed effect with paints? Smooth Effects with Oil Paint Smooth Effects for Oils Rachel Shirley Achieving smooth effects in paint will create a high finish to an oil painting, desirable for realism, but the following practices may make smooth blends more difficult. Completing an oil painting alla prima or in one go. This initial layer of oil paint will often leave an unfinished or broken look, which gives oil painting its freshness, but is not compatible with creating a smooth paint layer. Using hog hair or bristle brushes are more likely to leave brush strokes or troughs on the oil painting, due to the nature of the stiff bristles’ scratchy effect on the oil paint. Trying to blend a thin layer of oil paint is...

Painting black hair for the first time may compel the novice into reaching for the black tube of oil paint and illustrating each strand with a fine line. The resultant portrait may appear to have had a transplant of black wires emanating from the scalp. How can the artist paint black hair convincingly? Why Black Hair Often Looks Harsh or Artificial Pigments for Dark Hair Rachel Shirley Before making changes, the portrait artist needs to address the mistakes when painting dark hair. The following malpractices are often to blame for dark hair in portraits that look artificial or unconvincing. Using only black pigment to illustrate dark hair and then expressing highlights by using white. Leaving tonal bands in the hair from crown to tip due to poor blending, suggesting a corrugated texture rather than that of hair. Over-blending the tonal divisions of the hair until the hair looks more like one solid object rather than one of separate strands. Not rendering shadows beneath hair...

Viewing a glossy oil painting can be difficult if the artwork is placed adjacent to a window or other light source. Some artists may prefer a matt finish to an oil painting, for example if it is abstract as opposed to traditional art. How can the artist get a matt finish to an oil painting? What Makes Oil Painting Shiny? Matt or Gloss Varnish? Rachel Shirley Oil paints consist of two elements: the pigment and the vehicle. Pigments may be organic or mineral‑based, and modern synthetic pigments offer equal tinting strength and permanence. The pigment is suspended in a vehicle — in the case of oil paint, this vehicle is oil. Shiny and Matt Oil Paint Oil by its nature is shiny. Pale colours, particularly titanium white, are often blended with sunflower oil as it is non‑yellowing. Most other colours are blended with linseed oil. This high finish gives oil paint its lustrous, rich appearance, especially suited to detailed work and traditional oil painting. Wh...