Beginning painter.
richard bailey
Hello everybody,
I've been cartooning most of my life, and have recently done some
computer design for a local T-shirt shop. I have always loved all kinds
of art, and have recently started studying painting. Many painters that
I have learned about; Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, just to name a
few; have influenced me to finally pick up a paint brush.
I have just purchased a set of Winton Oils, and a set of Liquitex
Acrylics. Now I am going through the trial and error phase of learning
how to mix colors, blend, etc.
Any help or advice from experienced painters would be greatly
appreciated. Right now, I'm mainly having troubled with blending a
gradation between two colors on the canvas with oils. Also, any
reccomendations on brushes, mediums, books, etc. would be helpful.
Thanks,
B.C. Bailey
a.bucsay
Welcome! This group is great, keep posted. I like the advise I have gotten here, and 'The Artist's Handbook' by Ray Smith.
~~~~~~~~~~
Anita Bucsay
a.bu...@ix.netcom.com
1st Water Fine Art
The Original MICROGALLERY TO GO
http://www.netcom.com/~a.bucsay/1stWaterFineArt.html
~~~~~~~~~~
Larry Seiler
richard bailey <rba...@iamerica.net> wrote in article
<34D61C...@iamerica.net>...
> Hello everybody,
>
> Now I am going through the trial and error phase of learning
> how to mix colors, blend, etc.
Hahaha....Richard....this trial and error phase will take about the next
15-20 years my friend!!
>
> Any help or advice from experienced painters would be greatly
> appreciated. Right now, I'm mainly having troubled with blending a
> gradation between two colors on the canvas with oils. Also, any
> reccomendations on brushes, mediums, books, etc. would be helpful.
For myself as both an acrylic and an oil painter...I use acrylics and thin
and can do multiple washes and control it much like a "drawing" media and
gradation is very controllable..though one still has to learn and pay
dues....in other words...its not EASY ! Acrylic can be mixed with "Gelex"
to give it oil like thickness and drag...or thinned with water almost to be
used as a watercolor. It is very versatile.
Oils I see as a means to escape the detailed careful work of acrylics being
that it is thicker, holds its texture....makes it suitable for more
painterly impressionistic work....in which case...you don't want to blend
the colors perfectly on canvas, but applied the brush strokes in such a way
that the viewer's eye blends them together at some distance....and creates
dynamics. Its more alive that way, less stagnant.
A rule of thumb here not to discourage you is that the joy of painting and
being a painter is a choice which requires a lifetime commitment. You
won't learn this overnight. A friend and fellow painter told me that it
takes about 120 bad paintings done and out of the way before you are a
painter, and about 500 paintings to develop a style!
I'm going to give you a basic approach saying you have no access to books.
First of all...I would encourage you to put away either the acrylics or the
oils...one or the other and work with one until you've developed some
expertise of handling. They work differently, and the mindshift will drive
you crazy if you don't fully understand their properties.
Secondly....when you begin to paint..whether it is still life or landscape.
Ask yourself first what most caught your eye...and write that
down....because all your other concerns of mixing color, brushstrokes,
etc., are trivial if you lose the main source of excitement which drew your
eye. If at the end of the painting one has to asked what it was that
interested the artist and it can't be discerned, it will be of no interest
to the viewer either.
Next....squint your eyes to lose ALL sense of detail. Detail.....those
nasty pesty little things that demand attention from the get-go...shoo..run
away, get out of here!!! Now...with eyes squinted, look for shapes,
shadows, negative space and block in with thinned paint boldly those
shapes...arranging where everything will go. Then work your way up the
value scale, dark to light blocking in...blocking in ..blocking in. Then
highlights.....and finally details.
If you paint trees.....don't paint trees!!! I would suspect you're not a
tree expert, so don't pretend to be. Squint your eyes and as an artist,
(not a tree expert), what is the shape of the form, the height, the
width....and block-in....later when paint is dry.....squint eyes again.
What is penetrating that blocked in shape or form....(negative space) that
will define it. Instead of painting leaves, paint skylight poking through
the leaves carefully to accurately place the light. You will sculpt the
trees by painting sky rather than the trees.....and it is easier to become
an expert at seeing negative space that defines, rather than an expert at
trees....etc; The principle works with all other subjects as well...USE
YOUR NEGATIVE SPACE to define!
Now.....use the absolute largest brush you possibly can...reserving rounds
only for finishing details and highlights. In my landscape painting I use
a palette knife for about 60% of the initial painting. Sounds crazy, and
especially if you knew I painted wildlife for nearly 20 years with smaller
rounds, wash upon wash...imitating every exact detail of feathering....etc;
But....it will free you up to be a painter instead of just an
illustrator. Illustration is fine.....and when you become a great
illustrator, you will find yourself greatly equipped to then become a fine
painter.
If you use acrylics...buy the cheapest synthetic brushes.....use cold water
and mild soap like Dove for dishes or shampoo and clean well. Don't use
warm or hot water as the warmth loosens the glues that hold the hairs in
the furrel and will start falling out.
With oils....I mix 1/4 Damar Varnish with 1/4 Stand Oil and 1/2 turpentine
as a medium...I use very little mainly as a washing in....and less and less
as I get more into the painting.
Hope some of this helps....
You can look at my site, and compare my wildlife to my landscapes. Click
onto "Gallery" and then an applelet will appear at the top of your monitor
accessing you to various portfolios. Each image can be clicked on 3
different times. Both my wildlife and landscapes look highly
realistic...but the wildlife took 150-300 hours to complete a large
painting, and the landscapes were done roughly in 2 hours to two full days
of painting. No doubt the dues paid painting the wildlife gave me the
eye, the understanding of color...attention to detail, anatomy..etc; but
I'm having much more fun now feeling like a painter and attacking my
canvas!!! Have much fun........good luck!
Larry Seiler
http://cwinc.net/larryseiler