Biography

Scott Burdick was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1967 where his mother and father early on encouraged his interest in Art. “I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a child and remember my mother showing me how to transform simple shapes like circles, triangles, and squares into objects like planes, helicopters, and fish. It seemed such a magical thing and made spending so much time in casts and on crutches much more bearable.”

In high school, Scott began taking life-drawing classes at the American Academy of Art under the legendary Bill Parks. “Though I’d always loved drawing, it was Mr. Parks who filled me with the enthusiasm and discipline necessary to improve my skills. His love of painting and creative expression infected us all.” After finishing the Academy, Scott continued his study at the Palette and Chisel Art club, where he met his wife, painter Susan Lyon. “It’s a wonderful thing being able to paint together all the time and grow as artists together,” Scott says.

His ideas for paintings come from everywhere. “What makes a subject attractive to me are the same things that attract us all. The beauty of a young girl, the character of a weathered face, the solitude of a farm at sunset, or even the story itself behind someone or something that makes it interesting.” Scott believes it is the job of the artist to recognize this when it happens, analyze why, and use his technical skills to convey the feeling to someone else. He notes that some paintings are as simple as stopping at the sight of something interesting, while others may take more time to research than to actually paint.

Today, Scott and Susan live in a rural area of North Carolina. Surrounded by forests and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, their house is a perfect resting place after the many trips they take throughout the world in search of subject matter to paint.

Artist Statement

“I see painting as both a way of exploring the world and then as the vehicle of sharing those discoveries with others. I travel to find subjects to paint as much as paint so I can travel and expand my horizons. Through this unique language, one can say things that are impossible with words.”

Scott’s Website

Be sure to visit Scott’s Website to see more of his work and to learn more about him.

http://www.scottburdick.com

Secrets of Drawing

Be sure to also check out Scott’s drawing video, “Secrets of Drawing”, where Scott discusses the technical aspects of measuring, values, shapes, and all the considerations in drawing a portrait. You will see two portrait demonstrations, in addition to numerous side examples to illustrate the various points covered.

Follow This Link for a Preview  of this Video

Ordering Details

Portrait Painting Demonstration – “Brittany”

Once I’d figured out the correct size of my canvas (26″ by 50″), I started with a few basic charcoal marks to place the head and make sure I had it approximately life-size. For this painting I didn’t draw out any of the features since the subject is simple enough that I can just paint and work out the details as I go. The main advantage of this approach is that it keeps you from painting up to lines and ending up with stale brushwork. To paint this way requires a great deal of drawing practice since you are basically thinking about your drawing and proportions with every brushstroke, rather than concentrating on drawing first and then painting next.

Here you can see the underlying, large shapes that I started with. I’ve already started laying in the smaller shapes of the eyes over the top of the tone of the face, but you can still see the underlying shapes of the nose, mouth and chin before the details of those areas have been placed. Getting these large shapes correct before going into the details are the most essential part of your painting.

Now I continue working out the medium sized shapes of the nose and lip area. Notice how I’m not dividing the lips along anatomical divisions, but by the large light patterns, treating the upper and lower lips as the same shape both in the light and shadow. Always start with the largest, simplest shape you can and then go onto smaller shapes on top of this.

Each new element that I add is carefully compared to what’s already on the canvas. To determine the exact placement of the ear, for example, I first held up my brush horizontally across the photograph and checked where the top and bottom of the ear came in relation to the eyes and nose. Then, to find out how far to the left the ear should be, I measured the distance from the side of the model’s left eye to the outside edge of the ear (on the photograph) and compared that unit to portions of the face I’d already drawn. For instance, the distance from the outside edge of the model’s left eye to the outside edge of the ear is the same as the distance from the outside edge of the model’s left eye to the inside corner of her right eye. Since I already had the eyes worked out on the canvas, I simply used my brush to measure that distance and then made a mark where the outside edge of the ear will be. I do this constantly whenever I come to something new in a painting (especially if it is a large distance). Measuring and drawing will eventually become so natural that you do it almost without thinking and it takes but a couple of seconds.

As I slowly define the boundaries of the face, I’m constantly holding my brush up horizontally and vertically to see where landmarks line up with things I’ve already painted. Notice also how nice a variety of edges you can achieve when working into paint already there.

I just slowly and methodically keep working from one thing to the next. With a palette knife, I block in some red strokes for the shirt.

Now I paint in the details of the lips and continue refining the features. You can leave things loose the way they were at the earlier stages or just start refining them until you have a very polished and detailed rendering. It’s really just a matter of what you’re going for in that particular painting.

Here’s a close-up of the lips and nose so you can see the brushwork. Be especially conscious when doing the darks in areas like this that are surrounded by light lest you make the accents too dark. Squint and compare them to large areas of darks. Photographs will often push many of the darks into pure black, regardless of their actual relationship in real life. Think of these small dark accents the way you would if painting a tree branch against a light sky. The thinner the branch gets, the lighter it appears because it is more and more influenced by the value of the sky around it. This is what is happening with small darks like nostrils and the accents at the corners of the lips. The same is true, by the way for lights surrounded by darks. Think, in this case, of sky holes in trees. The smaller the openings, you must actually mix up a darker color.

Here is the face for the most part finished, though I do end up doing little adjustments throughout the rest of the painting as I see them.

Here I start blocking in the hand and arm, starting with the large shapes first and measuring, measuring, measuring!

Getting into details in the hand and deciding to go with a lighter color for the shirt.

To make sure I get the left arm right, I take a few measurements and sketch in with my brush a few main shapes.

Once again, just slowly going from one shape to the next, fitting in each puzzle piece of the subject. I’m not thinking any differently when paining a tree, arm, or eye — they’re all just abstract shapes, of a certain value and color, in a precise place.

Using some mineral spirits, I think down the paint and wash in some colors to go behind the bamboo on the left. This is mainly just to kill down the white so I won’t be struggling to paint in between all the vertical shapes of the bamboo later on.

Changed my mind; I think the girl’s shirt was better the darker red, after all!

Here’s the final painting.

By Michael Orlando

Deciding to practice the art of oil painting was a great one, but now you’re faced with what you need to buy in order to get started. Oil painting materials can be very expensive and a vast majority of materials to choose from. This materials list will carry you long into your early years of painting and is budget conscious.

Choosing a good easel can be difficult. But the most important characteristic is that it is STURDY! When I got started oil painting, I did not have the money to buy the kind of easel I needed. So I went to the local home fix it store and bought an 8 by 4 sheet of ¾ inch plywood for about $15.00. I put it up against a wall in my basement and put some support screws at the top of the board and into the ceiling joist and instant easel! The reason why it works so perfectly is that it’s big, so you can put up any size canvas, and it does not get much sturdier than that!

You also never had to adjust anything, because you put the canvas where you want it. This brings me to the next important note though. I staple gun my canvas to the easel flat and stretch them after the painting is done. That’s another reason why the sheet of plywood worked so well. I have used it for years and years and painted many paintings on it, so I have gotten my $15.00 out of it.

But I do also have a portable easel that I spent about $180.00 on. I use that for when I paint upstairs or outside etc. The next things are white bristle brushes (get a variety of them) some sable brushes (get a variety). I would suggest getting REAL animal hair brushes, no synthetics. The real animal hair brushes are the best, they handle the pigments better, and it’s more natural. I had a bunch of synthetic brushes early on and I got rid of all of them, garbage in my opinion. One of the most valuable things I have near my brushes is REAL cotton Qtips. They are way better than some of my good brushes. You can create very subtle strokes with those and soften edges. Get a box of 500. Once you start using them, you will go through them fast! But get some wire cutters and cut them in half. It’s tedious, but trust me, if you don’t do it, you will waste more of them and start getting paint all over the place. You will be glad you did this, and don’t forget some kind of jar or tin to put them in.

This may be preference, but I would suggest getting disposable palettes. They are pads of wax coated paper. When you use one up, tear it off and your ready to go. I also suggest getting two of them. One is for putting your colors down, and the other one is used for mixing only. Trust me, your going save a lot of paint and disposable palettes this way.

There are a variety of oils you can mix with your pigments and you should experiment, but start with COLD PRESSED Linseed oil. In brief, it’s extracted from trees differently and is a great general purpose oil. I use it all the time and that’s all I use. You will need a palette knife to mix the oils and resins into your pigments. An alkyd resin will be needed in order to speed up the drying times of some pigments. There are a variety of brands but just ask for one that is for general purpose until you know which ones you want.

Paint thinner or mineral spirits are essential, but be sure to get a type that is not too smelly or strong; it’s not good to breathe it. You will also need a brush washer to put the paint thinner in and wash your brushes. Get some rags for messes and cleanups.

There is a large selection of pigments to choose from, but the first consideration is making sure you buy pure pigments/colors. Brick red is not a real pigment. Here’s a list of the pigments you need to get started and will carry you well into your early years of painting. Titanium white, raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna, ivory black, alizarin crimson, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, cadmium green cadmium orange, chromium oxide green, cobalt blue, viridian, dioxazine violet, French ultramarine blue, paynes grey, charcoal grey, yellow ochre, sap green, pliers to untwist stuck paint caps, and toilet paper to wipe your palette knife, and those little artist cups with caps so you can put your linseed oil and alkyd resin in.

If you’re using your own prepared canvas, you will also need blue masking tape and a square so you can draw out the size of the painting you’re making and mark it with the tape. Get a color wheel. They are a huge help until you start to know what certain mixes will do etc. It’s important to have a good artist soap to wash your hands because you never want to get any artist materials near your mouth and eyes etc.

You will also need some plain ivory bar soap for washing your brushes. An important item is a metal trash can that can be made air tight. This is where you will put all your oil painting trash! Curing resins, oils, pigments and thinners are all very flammable and given the right conditions, they can spontaneously combust! But in a metal garbage can that’s air tight, you have nothing to worry about.

Lastly is the canvas. You can get canvas boards, stretched canvas etc. The canvas boards are good to practice on, but I also suggest preparing your own canvas and buying it unprimed. I have another article out about this and I will have a “how to” video about it on ustream. But you can also buy the pre-stretched canvas. You can just start painting on them, but they are way overpriced.

This list should get you oil painting immediately and carry you well into your early years of painting.

Michael Orlando is a veteran motion picture visual effects artist, and most recently has been concentrating on his oil painting career and building his art business. His original fine art oil painting can be seen at http://www.etsy.com/shop/orlandoart.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Orlando
http://EzineArticles.com/?Basic-Oil-Painting-Materials-For-Beginners-and-Purchasing-Tips&id=4018448

About Brian Oliver

Living in Orange County has been a joy for me. The hills, the ocean, and everything in between begging to be painted. I strive to give my paintings emotions which are generally happy and uplifting although nature can have a terrifying side. Nature’s beauty and power is one of the best subjects an artist has.

I believe that art comes in many varieties, but feel that true art is made to trigger a feeling from inside the viewer, and is not true art if that feeling must be described to the viewer by anything other than the artwork.

A strong sense of light and color are the aspects I most often try to capture in my paintings. In the end, I paint because it is a true joy, and a unique experience for other people to be involved with.

To learn more about Brian and to see more of his artwork, please visit his Website by following the link below:

===> http://www.brianoliverfineart.com/

Seascape Painting Demonstration By Brian Oliver

This demonstration will be about creating a warm glowing scene at the beach. Using what you have already learned about color and value, we’ll create a complex scene with simplified shapes and color/value relationships.

The relationships of color are very important, you must gauge everything off the major color in a scene. In this case, the major color is brown, and everything will be in relation to it. The light of the scene influences the color of every object. Greens you will mix might look tan when compared to pure blue, purples and blues may appear gray. When these colors are put together, they form the relationships that we subconsciously understand.

Above is a generalization of how this color scheme will work with the lighting of the scene. To the left are the colors of cool shadows and reflected highlights. To the right are the colors of the warmest, most brightly lit areas. Reflected highlights are a great way to add interest and variation to the lighting in a painting.

The palette foundation is cadmium yellow light, cadmium red, maganese blue, burnt sienna, and titanium white. The colors mixes are (1) white+blue (2) white+yellow+blue+red (3)red+yellow
(4) blue+red+white (5) yellow+white+red (6) burnt sienna+blue (7) yellow+burnt sienna.

I sketch in the main outlines to plan the painting using a light color. This step is important to keep very basic proportions correct from the beginning rather than at the end.

Paint the foreground sand with (4) in the areas near the water and to the back, and (7) near the left. Mix (3) + (4) and white to get a nice gray and include that color as well. Cover most of the area with the gray color.

Blend the sand colors together somewhat where the edges meet. Then add streaks of white in front of any place where the foam might stick out some. These will be reflections on the wet sand.

Use a soft brush, a nylon filbert works well, to blend the sandy colors together. Use very little pressure and sweep back and forth horizontally. This will imitate blurred reflected colors.

Fill in the sea areas with a purple gray (4). The middleground sea can be slightly lighter in value.

Use the purple gray (4) and mix with green (2) to get a nice gray for the background peninsula. Keep the diagonal near the edge of the painting. At the base, use short vertical strokes. Some strokes should be of the purpl (4), and others should be of orange (7) as seen in the next step. Also add the orange to the line of rocks.

Next, place small amounts of the orange at the upper edge of the distant penisula, and along the base. Use a gray green (2) in some of the peninsular and on the top of the middleground headland.

Fill in the middleground headland with a tan color (5). Add stroke of other browns and grays,

(7) at the base, and (3) near the center. The rock casts a light gray shadow on the headland. Mix the shadow color with (7+6). It should be lighter than the darkest area of the rock. Add the same shadow color to the edge of the headland where it creates its own shadow.

Use a brown color (7 + burnt sienna) to fill in the background rocks and the foreground rock areas. Also put the brown color in small strokes in the middle of the foreground wave. Don’t create one solid mass.

Add the distant sea with a light blue (1). Then add white to the same color to paint in the sky. The beach color should be a light tan (7+5+white). Some white strokes in the distant hills adds depth and interest.

Finish the foreground rocks with darker browns. The closest rock should have the darkest shadow. The next furthest should have more burnt sienna in the mixture to lighten the color. Put short, choppy strokes with the same color at the base of the wave as it recedes.

The shady areas of foam should be light gray, so use a mix of purple (4) and white. Add to the foam on areas of the rocks and also mix in with the brown color in the wave. Now this middle area of the wave can become more massed.

Next, add a light blue (1) at the foam’s base near the front rock. Use the same color and small, shallow, “U” shaped strokes to the ocean to create wavelets.

Add the light color (3) to the rocks to complete them. Also add some of the orange color to the brown parts of the wave.

Use a rigger brush to add warm, light color (7 + white) to the edges of the foam, all around the white area edges. This will keep the white in the center more pure and warmer at the edges.

Now, use a small round brush to smooth clean white paint over all the foam areas.

The final touches are straight forward. Add purple
(4) or light blue (1) to the shady areas of foam. Touch up the rock color with varying shades of orange. With pure burnt sienna, dab at the lower left corner to create a felling of broken reflections. Lastly, paint in another layer of very thin water in front of the foam with light blue (1), blend it back towards the wave and foam.

About Jason Morgan

My love of animals has been there for as long as I can remember, along with my desire to draw and paint, so looking back it now seems inevitable that I would become a Professional wildlife artist

I strive to paint wildlife as accurately as I can, so where possible I like to see the animals in their natural environment, and this has, of course, lead to some very exciting journeys and experiences.

It’s these exhilarating and very personal experiences that I believe help me so much in my portrayal of wildlife in it’s natural environment.

It’s the hidden things that you can truly only experience by being there in person.

My Personal Endorsement

I highly recommend that you explore Jason’s websites by following the links below. On his websites you will find more free demonstrations, original paintings, prints and instructional ebooks for sale.

I have known Jason for quite some time now and not only is he an honest, reliable and all around good guy, but he is also an exceptional artist, as you will soon find out by viewing the wildlife demonstration below.

If you are ever in need of Wildlife Art or Wildlife Painting Instruction, I highly recommend you consider Jason as your source. You will not find higher quality or better value anywhere else!

Jason’s Websites:

===> http://www.onlineartdemos.co.uk

===> http://www.jasonmorgan.co.uk/

Mountain Gorilla – Free Demonstration

	This large painting will certainly need a plan if I am to do the subject justice. The pencil sketch left shows the important things I have in mind to make the eyes the center of interest.
	The first stages are always the same no matter what the subject – get some paint on the whole canvas. I don’t worry too much about the correct colours, but I do always paint in the direction of fur growth, even at this early stage. As per my usual technique a very thin coat of Liquin painting medium was applied to the whole canvas before I began painting in to it whilst it was still wet – this allows the paint to slide more easily.
	With the first coat blocked in and dry I know paint another thin coat of liquin over the fur area to be painted. I then select one of my old bristle brushes (or age one yourself by rubbing the bristles along glass paper) and dip just the tip into thick oil paint (no liquin) in this instance I used white plus a little ultramarine blue and burnt umber. With a very light touch and flowing strokes I then simulated the first (under-layer) of fur texture.
	This image shows the whole fur area textured, it is obviously much too light at this stage but it will be knocked back with glazes later.
	To apply a glaze I once again painted a thin coat of liquin over the fur area, then whilst still wet I glazed a very thin transparent dark over the top.
	With the underfur knocked back with the glazes in the previous stage (which is now dry) I begin to paint in the fur details (see the shoulder area) this is done following the same technique of liquin then a bristle brush with a little paint on the surface
	After the second layer of fur texture has been applied and is dry it is then time for more glazes and perhaps another coat of texture in places I feel needs it. I also strengthen the background.

This is Part 2 of Sierra Splendor, a Landscape Painting Demonstration by Mike Callahan.

Please click here to view Part 1 of this Demonstration.

Sierra Splendor Landscape Painting Demonstration Continued

31.) With my thin underpainting in place, I can now begin to paint the trees that cover it

32.) And so it looked when I was about half-way done with the trees…

33.) The trees too, I paint alternatively employing knife and brush…this a great technique for anything that has a lot of texture…

34.) Here it is, about 6 a.m. as I leave my studio once again to get ready for the day job…

35.) Coffee is a great ally for these early morning painting sessions…those of you on my email newsletter probably remember this shot that I sent out when the painting was still in progress. I’m roughly a little past half done at this stage…

36.) A shot showing the tree covered area mostly done…

37.) I now begin to concentrate on the manzanita-covered, sun-bathed area to the right of the painting. The values on this side of the “bowl” are much brighter because one, it’s in the full sun, and two, manzanita is much lighter in color than the pine trees that are to the left…it is also a much lower-growing plant and will receive more top-lighting from the Sun as well adding to it’s lighter appearance in the painting…

38.) I now begin to work on the shoreline of Lower Sardine Lake…

39.) As I begin to paint the reflections in the water, I must keep mindful of several things. First, the viewer’s eye is pretty high in this composition and as such will see a steep reflection in the water meaning that from this perspective one wouldn’t see the entire mountain reflected, only a very small portion of the nearest ridge as the mountian recedes fairly rapidly even though it’s so incredibly steep…Secondly, I have to be careful with my values, lights will be darker than the areas they reflect, and darks will be lighter than the areas they reflect in general. the closer an object to its reflection, the more closely in value that reflection will be to the object’s values…I know, that’s a lot to wrap your mind around…let’s move on…

40.) Here’s the the progress with the lake mostly done…

41.) I’m now going to move on to the “foreground” section of the painting…I paint in the tree tops that are peeking up behind the near ridge using a two value block-in process as well…I paint in the “darks” first…

42.) …and then come back and paint in the “lights”…

43.) I continue with that process untill I have not only the tree tips peeking up from behind the ridge, but also the larger trees that are growing near the top of the ridge…I now begin to concentrate on the manzanita covered ridge itself…

44.) The large, foreground rock has a lot of texture, so once again, I’ll alternate between brush and knife…

45.) As I begin to paint the rest of the ridge, I start by scumbling in a thin but darker burnt orange to bring that part of my underpainting a little more contrast giving the illusion of closer proximity to the viewer…

46.) I follow with my two-value approach, laying in the darker green value…

47.) …then the lighter green values and a few grey bushes and rocks…

48.) …following that with some warm and cool tones in the outcropping of rocks that border the trail…

49.) Once I finish with my initial two-values, I can then go back and put in highlights and accents to finish things up…

50.) I then lay in a couple of values for the path using mostly my knife…

51.) And here’s the painting as it nears completion…I’m probably about a week away from being totally done now…

52.) I’m sure you are probably tired of the phrase “two-value” by now, but that’s exactly the approach I use to paint in the remaining trees, dark under paint first,…

53.) …and then lighter values on top…

54.) I paint a darker value for my underpainting in the foreground bushes to allow for more contrast once I apply the lights…things in the foreground most always have more contrast than things in the background…

55.) And here I begin with a middle value…I’ll come back with highlights later…

56.) I’ve one last rock to paint, the one in the bottom corner, so I block it in and then texture it with knife, etc. as you’ve already seen…

57.) I then paint in the foreground foliage and am just about done…

Click the Image Below For a Larger Version of the Final Painting!

Sierra Splendor
40″ x 60″ Oil on Canvas
SOLD!

This tutorial is by Artist Mike Callahan.

Please click here to visit Mike’s website to learn more about him and to view more of his work.