Painting advice ........
The address of this blog is >>> letspaint24.blogspot.com
Learning to paint might seem like a major challenge.
Its an exciting challenge that anybody with an open mind can not only tackle but succeed and thereby open the door to countless hours of entertainment. The advice below is aimed at steering the beginner in the "right" direction and making your challenge a bit easier.
Try not to be self critical - paint like a child ........ understand that there is no right or wrong. Its a hobby - a passtime - no matter what you paint there are people out there who will love it ..... That said .... DON'T paint to please others................
Preparing
Here we will look at the following
Painting surfaces
Which paints to buy
Brushes
The Palette
Light
1. The SURFACE you paint on
Right now four 12x12in canvas boards in TK Max for €10.....
Evans Art Supplies
Buy online - they will deliver. ... or visit the shop - Red Luas from Talbot St - get off first stop and walk ....>>>> Meetinghouse lane... you will need Google maps!!!
Shopping list below.\
*** Evans Canvas panels 10x12 and 10x14in perfect sizes Get 4 of each.
Scroll down on web site under Surfaces. Less than €3 each
Cheap canvas needs to be treated with 3 coats of GESSO. Buy a tub from Evans. WHEN DRY lightly sand between each coat.
Masonite board or ply is a great choice of surface.
Buy 8x4ft 0r 4x4 and cut into desired sizes.
What sizes? We all need a lot of practice surfaces especially ones that we did not spend much on and consequently do not feel precious about.
In inches - small - mainly 8x10 and 10x14
Boards need to be Gessoed also 3 coats + light sanding after every coat
You can also buy OIL PADS that are suitable for oil painting. These are good value and great for experimenting. Experimenting is essential
Pads come in Various sizes 12x9 ; 16x12in. All 300gsm2
LET IT DRY
Painting wet on wet (Alla Prima) is not for the beginner!
When it’s dry paint your next layer on top of the dried layer. This is much better idea when starting out. And is referred to as “Indirect painting”
How to get oil paint to DRY FAST
Two steps here
1) As you gesso your surface (board or canvas) - mix chalk(whiting) from Evans into the gesso.
3 parts gesso to 1 part whiting. You can also add a little whiting to your paint mixes as you go.
PS it would be worth your while to visit “Norfolk school of painting” and hear artist Martin Kinnear wax strong on the benefit of what he calls a “ short ground”.
Here is the link: Click > HERE
It would cost you £75 to join his oils programme {TOP} for 3 months...... well worth it.
I was a member for a year. Even though you may not like his style he is a great painter. It is so important to be open minded as to what "good" painting is ......
With the short ground Your painting will be dry in hours / definitely by next day.
2) Step two has to do with the medium you use to paint. Below is Martins method
Use a fast drying Alkyd medium
GAMSOL is designed to be used with Galkyd
How does that work?
Prepare a 50/50 mix Half Gamsol and half Galkyd.
This is your fast drying medium
Gamsol is the solvent - is odour free and safe as in non toxic
{LIQUIN is also a fast drying medium but can get too sticky. Try Liquin Light.
Let’s Stay with the 50/50 mix……..}
So what you have now is a combination of using Whiting as described above plus using the 50/50 mix to paint with. This combo will give you a fast drying job.
{Martins advice: avoid water based oils.}
2. PAINT ( I am dealing with oil paints only here)
The usual advice is buy the best paint you can afford!
Good paint is very expensive!!
My advice: Buy 200 ml tubes from Evans (€8.95 ea) - their own brand - of a limited palette.
Why? Because it if is super important to get used to using LOTS of paint - thick and creamy!
This will not happen if you have spent loads on expensive paint - you will use it very sparingly.
Which colours?
Minimum 4 : white Cad Red Cad yellow and Ultramarine Blue (UMB)
0r all 7 below gives you 3 warm and 3 cool of the 3 primary colours.
Titanium white
Cadmium Red Light (cool) [Alizarin Crimson (warm)}
Ultramarine Blue (warm) [Cerulian blue (cool)]
Cadmium Yellow (warm) [Lemon Yellow (cool)]
Ivory black (Beware! Use black very sparingly - get a small tube - it dulls everything)
Red + Yellow = Orange. Add white to give you many shades.
Red + Blue = violet. Add white to give you lots of shades.
Blue + Yellow = Green. Again... add white ......
Black + Yellow = olive Green
You can add various amounts of white to any colour to give you a huge variety of tints.
[Later you will need a warm and cool version of the 3 primary colours. See brackets above]
3 Don’t put a lot (too much) medium in the paint to the point where it becomes watery which makes it hard to control. Its meant to have a creamy fluidness.
3. BRUSHES
NB Use the biggest brushes you can.
Why?
There are a few considerations here
When painting something like an 8x10 board which is quite small, you may be tempted therefore to use very small brushes. DON'T.
For a person who is beginning to paint the objective, should be to use a lot of paint and to produce what they call bold loose paintings. You do not want your painting to look like a photograph.
If you want a photograph get a camera.
Have a look online at www.boldschool.com >>> Click here
With Charla Maarschalk - this is BOLD SCHOOL - beautiful work. Worth joining Bold School for a few months - 7 day money back. Excellent and beautiful work.
It is important not to get bogged down with technique.
Painting should be an artistic experience and not a technical experience full of rules. Allow yourself to paint like a child - at least sometimes.
You will not progress if you are worried what others will think of your efforts.
OK Brushes. A single brush could cost over €45 ......... you don't need one of those.
Buy a set of brushes >>>> These >>
"Icon Long Handle Brush Set of 12 - Firm White Bristles" €10.80 from Evans
5 LIGHT
A north facing large window would be ideal. Whats important here for the beginner is to have plenty of light - any kind of light -- esp. when painting at night.
LATER .....You can buy daylight bulbs - must be at least 4000k
2000k is too warm a colour and 7000k is too cold.
Affordability + placement are important considerations
Do some research - lots of advice on YouTube
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The BASICS
Use large brushes
Use lots of paint
Paint very simple easy stuff even a few abstracts to get used to large brushes and lots of paint
Use a limited palette of about 6 colours
Get yourself a colour wheel - better still make yourself a colour wheel using only the limited paints you have chosen.
Keep it Simple ........ Attempting complex work will frustrate you.
Join a local class after you have done a few months work on your own while following the people I have suggested esp. Bob.
Shopping List .... all available from Evans
Cheap canvasses f
One tub of Gesso - use a cheap 2 in. brush to spread it. get some fine sandpaper.
The Icon Brushes (see above)
Four Large 200 ml tubes of White Red Yellow Blue
Bottle of Gamsol
Bottle of Galkyd (glass jar for the mix)
Glass palette from a glass cutter shop
HERE Who to watch on YouTube
YouTube offers hundreds of Demos and Tutorials on all aspects of painting - an Aladdin's cave.
Some are advanced - most are free -
BOB BLAST. (He uses Acrylics)
He works on simple, loose - easy to follow themes.
Don't underestimate Bob. He is very good and explains well. Hundreds of videos all free.
You will learn a lot about value, colour choices and composition from him.
Here is an example "Turning the lights on in your Landscape" Click HERE
The Paint Coach Chris Fornataro
He is excellent. One of his many videos on YT is called >>
"A Simple Beginners guide to oil Painting" also
" 10 best oil painting tips you should know".
Click > HERE for a Chris video
Malcolm Dewey
South African coach - big into loose brush work with lots of paint.
Click >>>> Here to see one of his videos.
Here is a lovely sunset exercise from him > Click HERE
Malcolm has lots of excellent videos which are easy to follow and paint. Big on impressionistic work.
Rod Moore Click > HERE
Learn to Paint Academy - run by Brisbane artist Rod Moore.
Lots of free stuff here and it’s very doable for beginners. Mainly landscape.
Any video that explains and stresses VALUE is worth studying.
Once you have a grasp of whats involved buy (or make yourself) a value chart. It is simple but essential _ VALUE is how dark or light a piece is on a scale of 0 to 10.
Robert Mee
1 A beginner oil tutorial. Click HERE
2 A suitable subject and advice to a beginner oil painter - Full tutorial
Robert is very good. Works in watercolour and oils. Good explanation as he paints.
To see examples of the type of paintings you like try Pinterest (App)
Search e.g. Abstract Art or Floral Art or Abstract Art Landscape .......
So what are the important elements of painting? Probably in order of importance......
Composition
Values
Colour choices
IMO the easiest way to come to terms with those three is by learning from the FOUR artists named above. These are very important areas and will take some time and brush hours to grasp.
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My email is ≥ seankent1@gmail.com
My painting blog is jkpaints21.blogspot.com
Click HERE to go there now.
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