OIL PAINTING TIPS
Val Johnson F.R.A.S
It is always better to paint too dark. Work can be made lighter more easily than it can be darkened, especially when it is wet. Always work from dark to light. Keep dark areas thin, (lean) lighter areas can be thicker. (fat)
Use many tones of a colour when going round an object rather than trying to smooth it all out. Tonal relationships should be maintained at all times. Cool colours recede, Warm colours come forward.
Mix the colours and try to maintain a record on the palette of all tones and colours mixed.
Lines may be lost where tonal values are similar. If you don’t see a line, don’t show it.
In composition it is more likely to be better to have more air on the side of the painting from which the light comes.
Brush strokes can be more effective if they run in the same direction from which the light comes.
WHEN PAINTING WITH OIL COLOURS.
Start with the darkest areas first.
Cover the largest areas.
Find all the shapes.
Use a minimum number of tones.
Find the sharpest edge, all the rest are less sharp.
Look at the range of tones and the amount of dark and light.
ASK YOURSELF.
Is the drawing bigger or smaller?
Is the tone lighter or darker?
Is the tone warmer or cooler?
Are the edges harder or softer?
ALWAYS CONSIDER
Composition
Tone
Atmosphere
Depth
Contrast
TONE
Tone is the value of colour in the painting.
It relates to the key that the painting is painted is/ high key or low key. If the overall colour used in the painting looks dark it is low key, if the overall colour is pale, it is high key.
The tone of the painting relates to its darkest darks. If your darkest darks are really dark, every other tone will relate to that dark- hence the overall look of the work will be a dark painting. If the darkest dark is a medium tone then the painting will be in a higher key and will be lighter in tone.
TONE also relates to the warmness or coolness of the hue of the colour. Hence we must always look to see if the darks are warm or cool. This relates to all the colours observed as we paint.
With oils, you always begin with the darkest darks, putting all these in first. Then follows the mid tones and lastly the lights. If you try to begin with the lights you will have trouble getting the correct tonal values. If the painting is too dark you can always lighten it, but if it is too light, it is difficult to darken it, to achieve the correct tone.
NEVER MIX WHITE IN YOUR DARKS. You will not get the correct tonal contrast in your work. You can lighten with another colour like yellow or even red or ochre- depending of course on the colour you are mixing. The dark areas should always be thinner than the lighter areas so the thicker paint will go over the top- The darks will dry quicker and allow you to work ‘fat over lean’.
MID TONES can have some white in them, but will appear chalky and monotonous if too much is used.
LIGHTER TONES can be thicker in texture and have more white added.
Pure colour is exciting to use, but again there must be a tonal relationship between the colours.
The use of complimentary colours together is one way of doing it.
Oils are a forgiving medium. If you are not happy with an area- don’t go on trying to add more colour and try to paint over and over- you will always get too thick and make the colour muddy.
SCRAPE BACK the colour with your palette knife and let dry. Begin again.
Oils are best laid on with a hog hair brush. Soft brushes don’t hold the paint. They are OK for line work or detail only, when you do not have a large area to fill in.
The main thing to remember about painting is- DISCIPLINE; PLAN, OBSERVE,
PAINT and STOP every half hour or so -walk away and come back to it- you will see what needs to be done.
OTHER TIPS FOR OIL TECHNIQUES
Stretched Canvas- Use gesso, impasto medium, material textures pressed into the gesso, to build up a textured surface on the canvas. Can be all over or in one area only.
Oils can be used as a wash- Thin with turps.
Oils can be washed on then let dry then overlayed with another transparent colour to give multicoloured effects similar to watercolour.
Surfaces of thin paint can be built up with solid colour over the top and areas left to show the underpainting.
Draw onto a canvas with charcoal- spray three times then paint over with transparent oil colours and let dry. Use scumbling into some surfaces - Scumbling is using a dry brush with paint to lay over another colour to give a broken effect.
Glazing is the use of transparent oil colour over another colour to send in back (viridian, ultramarine) or bring it forward (alizarin, Indian yellow, raw sienna) You can mix transparent colours together. Transparent colours can bring a glow to a painting.
It is best NOT to draw onto canvas with pencil: charcoal is much kinder and can be dusted off to show a lighter mark. Pencil is hard to hide.
Do not try to glaze with solid pigments.
If a painting has ‘bloomed’ as it might if there is rain about, wait for it to dry and varnish over the top with a number 1 medium or original Liquin. This will bring up the tonal values again.
If you start with thick (fat) oil paint instead of working Thin (lean) to thick, it will increase the risk of paint cracking off.
Experiment with various techniques and note the results.
