What Every Serious Oil Painter Needs to Know About Artist Oils
Oil paints are made up of pigment which has been ground into an oil base, also called the vehicle. The most commonly used vehicle is cold-pressed linseed oil, however, it can be made with walnut oil, poppy seed oil, safflower oil or other less popular ones.
Linseed oil comes from the flax seed and gives oil paints a longer drying time. This allows the paint to be worked with for longer periods of time, sometimes even up to several months. The advantage of a longer drying time means the artist can develop a painting by making changes and corrections at the artists leisure. A disadvantage of longer drying times, is the painting might take months or years to completely dry depending upon how thick the paint was applied to canvas. This might be an issue if you have a customer anxiously waiting for the painting to dry so he/she can take possession it.
The pigment is where paint gets its color. A paint color gets its name from the pigment that is used. We first got our pigments from the earth in the form of rocks or powder, but now it is also manufactured from synthetic materials. Some of the oldest pigments known to man are made from colored earth like Yellow Ochre, Sienna and Umber. Other pigments are derived from mineral salts such as White Oxide.
Color Studies – Color Applications and Definitions – Part 1
Sheri Lynn Boyer Doty CPSA -Biography 2010
Sheri Doty received a B F A degree in 1972 from the University of Utah with a painting and drawing emphasis. Having experimented with non-representational styles during her student years, Sheri preferred classic realism as thought by professor Alvin Gittons. He and the professors, under whom she studied, emphasized strong drawing and painting skills. Sheri is a faculty member of Salt Lake Community College and Peterson’s Art center where she teaches Fine Art and Design.
Sheri’s paintings have earned her awards in regional, national and international art exhibitions and invitational shows including purchase awards and permanent museum acquisitions. Sanford Corporation has used her artwork to showcase its PRISMACOLOR colored pencil product line internationally. Sheri is a charter member and signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America [C.P.S.A.].
Sheri’s artwork has been published in numerous books including The Encyclopedia of Colored Pencil Techniques by Quarto Publishing, London England;Most of The Best of Colored Pencil series by Rockport Publishers, Creative Colored Pencil Techniques by Rockport Publishers, Creative Colored Pencil Portraits byri’s art work is included is Rockport Publishers and The Best of Portrait Painting by North Light Books, Dear Sisters by Covenant Communications Inc. Sheri’s artwork is published on book covers, in newspapers, periodicals, and exhibit catalogues.
What Is There to Know About an Artist’s Oil Painting Palette? You’d Be Surprised
Palette (noun):
- A thin board or slab (traditionally made of wood) on which an artist lays and mixes his/her colors.
- The range of colors used by an artist for a particular picture.
The word “palette” can be used to refer to the actual tool you use to mix your colors on or it can refer to a selection of colors used to make up a color scheme. For the purpose of this article, when I mention palette, I am talking about the surface an artist uses to mix his/her paint on.
How to paint an Impressionistic Seascape with Acrylics
About the Artist
I’m Will Kemp, I’m an award-winning professional artist and teacher.
Prior to painting full time I’ve worked in Museums, taught in schools, set up and ran my own gallery for 5 years and have taught hundreds of people to paint and draw.
Portrait Painting Lesson – 2 Tips For Painting Lips
Tip One: Place The Lips in their Right Place.
Convincing lips are always in a believable location on the head. (In art, “Talking through your hat”, must remain only a colorful figure of speech.) You can make this satisfactory placement with the aid of some easily determined guideposts of the face: the eyes and the nose. If the eyes, nose and lips are all mutually supportive, the desired likeness will likely follow.
First, in the size you want, roughly indicate the basic shape of the head, yours, if you are working in front of a mirror. Is it an egg shape? A basketball? Peanut? What? Second, indicate the position of the eyes with simply two small circles, whose sizes are roughly proportional relative to the head and to the distance between those two eyes. Are those eyes approximately halfway between the base of the chin and the top of the forehead, as is typical? If not, move them up or down as needed. Third, indicate a rough nose. Is the top just below a line between the two eyes? Where does the bottom of that nose end? One third (approximately) down from the eyes to the chin? If not, make the small adjustment. Drawing a small box shape, indicate how wide the nose is, using the eye-to-eye distance as a yardstick. Remember, all these are approximations; you’re not a land surveyor and it’s important to just get started, started with just your best estimations.
How does all this look, so far? If you are working from a photograph, turn both that and your sketch upside down and compare them, judge it all again. Make any needed adjustments. Now that you have your main benchmarks in place, now that your eyes and nose are indicated roughly, what next? The next thing to do is to establish a very few further guidelines from these eyes and that nose. That is, the next step is to establish vertical reference lines, dropping them straight down from the eyes and the nose. After determining what is straight up and down, very lightly sketch in a vertical line from the inside point of the right eye. Then do the same from the inside point of the left eye. Next, do two vertical lines from the OUTSIDE of the eyes, making now four vertical lines. Using these four lines as well as the location of the bottom of the nose, estimate where the ends of the mouth lie, left and right. Place a faint dot at each and draw a faint line between those two dots.
Oil Painting Tutorial – Glaze and Mist
About Julie Duell
Julie Duell (nee Henderson) is a 6th generation Australian going back to the First Fleet of English convicts to arrive in Sydney cove in 1788. She also has a drop of American Shoshone Indian heritage for good measure! Julie was born in Sydney in 1941 and continued to reside in Sydney environs thereafter. Julie was named after the month of her birth, July.
Over many prolific artistic years, Julie has painted under the names Julie Ferguson and J. Ferguson-Duell before simply signing her works Julie Duell. As a child, she studied art at St. George Technical College, Kogarah and singing with a private teacher in Rockdale, entering numerous Eisteddfods as a soloist with some success.
Adult years saw Julie resume her art studies, once again at St. George Technical College and then numerous short courses on the Central Coast where she has been a prolific practising artist and art teacher since around 1970.
How to Paint a Landscape in Oils Step by Step
About the Artist
Ross Bowns is an artist and art instructor working in California. His interests in art are in semi-abstract figurative art but he enjoys teaching broad range of subjects from basic drawing techniques to painting the landscapes.
He received an MFA in Fine Arts from The Academy of Arts University and a BA in Studio Arts from CSU, Sacramento. Ross currently lives and works in Sacramento, California.
Visit His Websites Today:
http://www.paintdrawpaint.com/
Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper – Step by Step Lesson
“My true passion is free-flowing, bold watercolor. I use large round brushes and a lot of paint and water. I welcome watercolor to be what it is – to run, to mix, to bloom, to drip, to splash – to play like a happy child! My current work revolves around the exploration of an alternative painting support – Yupo synthetic paper. I am fascinated by its qualities – such as the ability to keep the paint looking fresh and vibrant.”
Yevgenia Watts
Artist Bio
Alternative Views on Artists Brushes for Oil Painting
This article describes some unorthodox methods for using paint brushes when painting in oil. None of these are intended to replace traditional advice. It is more a list of additional things to consider when painting, and hopefully get results from. It may or may not be relevant to your method, but I hope for some it is interesting, and even useful to consider. This article is perhaps more relevant to artists working in a relatively uncontrolled and rough manner.
Cheap brushes are often dismissed for failing to retain their shape, and leaving loose bristles behind in the paint. I have found most cheap brushes are ok, although some I admit are useless. Being so cheap, it is affordable to experiment with different brands and throw bad ones away, taking note not to buy them again. I have some expensive brushes that I keep separate, and use when required. But for the most part, I use cheap ones.
I’m not sure what the difference between oil and acrylic brushes is, but my favourite brushes for oil painting are acrylic brushes. They seem to last just as long, cope with oil paint fine, and are an inexpensive brand.
How to Paint an Apple with Watercolor
About John Fisher
I was born and educated in England, graduating from the Luton School of Arts (now Barnfield College) in 1945. It was my hope to become a graphic artist, but at the end of the Second World War returning service men and women had first crack at the few jobs available, and rightly so. I took a number of jobs while I tried to break into my chosen field, and ended up being a reluctant carpenter. Many years passed and I emigrated to Canada in 1952, married a Canadian woman, started a family, and in 1955 finally started on a career which took in graphic arts, owner of my own graphics arts company, art director at an advertising agency, and careers in marketing, advertising and public relations.
I wish I could claim that my passion for art burned brightly throughout those years, but alas, the need to make a living took prominence. As with many people, I always promised myself that when I retired I would get back to painting again. That time came in 1989, when my wife and I were living the winter months in our condo in Destin, Florida. Robert Long, a talented watercolour artist, was offering private lessons from his nearby condo. He was my mentor, and made my retirement years infinitely richer.
In those days Robert taught only technique, and there were rarely more than four to six of us in those early classes. From Robert I regained my interest in photography as an adjunct to painting, and as the cliche goes – I never looked back. I have had many paintings accepted and hung in exhibitions in Florida and Ontario, where I now live. I’ve won some prizes, come first in some exhibitions, and occasionally won the Citizens’ Choice awards. But I mainly paint for fun – hence the choice of name for this site.
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