[nws]The Traditional Art Thread: Let's Get Our Hands Dirty

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > [nws]The Traditional Art Thread: Let's Get Our Hands Dirty

jarofpiss: May 16, 2009

i'd like some oil painting advice on getting brush strokes like you see in keevan donahue's stuff:

im brand new to painting and haven't really done anything creative since middle school, so i'm really trying to get my bearings with oil. i'm having a difficult time finding the right medium/ratio to keep a defined brush stroke. i've tried linseed oil and safflower, using hog bristle filberts, and it seems like i'm getting either too much or too little flow on the paint. i saw some advice that was basically "paint like a millionaire" and am i being too stingy with the paint?

here's my first painting i've done:

i overblended and got a lot of mud in the skull, and my brushwork looks flat and overworked to me. i know most of my practice needs to center around my values and color matching but if i could get some advice on medium ratios to help me get the style i'm looking for i'd very much appreciate it.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2020 16:16

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 19:51

jarofpiss: May 16, 2009

Chernabog posted:

That's actually pretty good for a first painting. I haven't used oils in years but I can give you some general painting tips.

-Don't be afraid to display your brushstrokes. When people first start they tend to over blend everything because they want everything to look "perfect", but those imperfections are what give it life.
Look at this sketch for example, DaVinci didn't bother to finish the hair but that's actually what makes it interesting. It also helps to direct all your attention towards the face which is the important part.

So in short, use the textures to your advantage and don't try to outright eliminate them. Smoothness =/= perfection.

-Along the same lines, don't be afraid to use more colors. If you look at the plums(?) in the painting you posted they have a lot of reds but also purples and blues. The same goes for the bottle. It is generally olive green, but you can see some blue, brown and gray. More colors is usually better. Obviously these rules are meant to be broken, but if you do so it must be intentional and for a purpose.

-It's hard to tell from your picture but it is generally a good rule of thumb to avoid pure black or pure white, or if you are going to use them, do it sparingly just for a few accents. In Donahue's paintings I don't think you can find any pure black and just a very tiny amount of pure white on the highlights.

-Compare your background to Donahue's. Which is more interesting? You'll probably agree that the latter. While I like that you used the darkness to really set apart the skull and candle, I think you can still add some detail to it for more visual interest. This goes for the other stuff too, I'm not sure what the box and book(?) are. Since they are at the front of your composition you can afford to put more focus (via details) on them.

I appreciate it. I definitely think I'm going to continue working on it and try and get more definition in the detail in the box of weights and the book. I was having a really hard time not muddying everything up painting wet on wet but it's dry now so I can go work back over it now. I've done some reading and I think I'm using too heavy of a hand with the brush and it's over blending when I paint wet on wet.

The black is mixed but I think you're right that there's too much and there should be some more tones in the background to make it interesting. Thank you for the advice.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2020 18:18

jarofpiss: May 16, 2009

que sera sera posted:

I don't think the painter in your examples is using a ton of paint. It looks like he paints the backgrounds using using a thinner like mineral sprirts or galkyd, lets that dry, and then paints a thin layer over it, using a thinner to lift out additional color from the backgrounds. Stuff in the foreground is a bit thicker so you might not be able to do that alla prima.

More generally, a sense of paint handling will come with experience and judging from your first painting you are off to a good start. You will get the hang of it soon enough!

yeah, i've only been attempting alla prima up to this point and managing the paint feels extremely difficult. i'll try getting a couple of paintings started and coming back to them to build layers up like you described. thanks for the advice!

HopperUK posted:

I've been messing around with watercolour tutorials this weekend and my goodness I enjoy how little setup and teardown there is compared with oils.

i've got a dedicated workspace that i installed an exhaust fan in so i haven't had a ton of setup or teardown. i found out sugar ants love safflower oil so i've got that going for me too.

jarofpiss fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Apr 27, 2020

# ¿ Apr 27, 2020 12:56

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