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Message
Posted
Thankyou everyone for your encouraging comments, they are all appreciated.
I agree, Alan and Dixie, when you say it could be taken further. I may well do so at a later stage. The painting is still wet, you know what it like when you can get on we'll poch forever. I did draw the tree in and then painted over it, I think that would have been a bit to much for me, at the moment. I'll have another look at it when it dries.
Baring in mind I have a limited amount of oil paints.
Alan, I would have liked to have made my darks with a blue and an earth colour, but couldn't achieve what I wanted with what I have, so. for the greys I used cerulean blue, titanium white and lamp black. I used the same blue and white with a touch of black for the sky.
I'm off to London in December, and will be visiting the London Graphic Centre, a few more oils are on the list.
Tessa, I was going to post it into the gallery, something I'm still pondering over.
Denise, not an easy medium to master, however, I will continue practicing, I did enjoy working on this painting.
This was the under colour, not what I planned,
and the drawing. Diluted oil paint done with a no4 rigger.
and the drawing. Diluted oil paint done with a no4 rigger.
Edited
by Carol Jones
Posted
Thanks Carol… once you have a few more colours in your armoury, you’ll be able to get more subtle warm and cool shades of grey.
I had a feeling that there was white and black in the mix… it can be a bit of a flat ‘dead’ colour combination in all honesty, but the blue has helped a little!
You don’t need dozens of colours, stick with around 8 or so to start off with, and learn the all important art of mixing!
However, a promising start to oils, you’ll get tremendous enjoyment from them I’m sure.
Posted
Carol, ifyou're going shopping (I just have: spent too much, but I love art deliveries) - greys can be made with, deep breath: Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna (a classic mix); Ultramarine and Burnt or Raw Umber; Pthalo green or - better - Viridian with Quinacridone magenta or violet; or with a few unorthodox mixes - eg Mars Violet Deep and Cobalt Blue; Cadmium Red Deep, Cobalt Blue, and a touch of Yellow Ochre - all of these will give you greys you can manipulate by leaning towards one colour or another; and there are many more of course. Black and white does give grey, but as Alan says, and as you obviously know, it tends to be very flat - fine for painting battleships, maybe. Your addition of the Cerulean was an intelligent choice - but the use of black in the mix tipped off the eagle-eyed Alan.
Many artists - too many in my never very humble opinion - take refuge in Payne's Grey: it can work very well in watercolour, and in acrylic, and there's more than one kind of Payne's Grey - but in oil, I've never been able to make it work without encountering a gritty sludge; as bad as straight black (though I do sometimes use black - whether that's a recommendation or not is another matter entirely). They're much better mixed - a combination of violet and orange can also work ... even mixing primary colours can give a range of greys, plus, usually, white.
I like your painting, the use of black only really jars with me a bit in the foreground - the underpainting/imprimatura of red will have helped, though.
Posted
I definitely agree with Alan and Robert with regards to mixing. I really love mixing my colours and spend some time mixing my colours before I start. I tend now to mix my own greens rather than using the greens I already have. It's also great when you want to add some warmth or cool a colour down. With 8 colours there would be a few thousand colour combinations so never think your palette will be limited. I sometimes might use a lemon yellow to lighten a colour rather than use a harsh white. These are things you just come across when you do a lot of mixing. It's also a very enjoyable part of the process. I do have Ivory black but I rarely use it, I tend to mix Raw Umber and Ultramarine, I will then add to it, to get a variety of values that suit what I'm doing. I mainly do this with everything I mix. I always want to have light, mid and dark tones including transitional tones on my palette. By mixing your colours, it starts to become second nature. Of course, I didn't start out this way, it's been learned by doing.
Posted
Thanks Carol… once you have a few more colours in your armoury, you’ll be able to get more subtle warm and cool shades of grey. I had a feeling that there was white and black in the mix… it can be a bit of a flat ‘dead’ colour combination in all honesty, but the blue has helped a little! You don’t need dozens of colours, stick with around 8 or so to start off with, and learn the all important art of mixing! However, a promising start to oils, you’ll get tremendous enjoyment from them I’m sure.Alan you are certainly right about using black, I've read this many times within books I have purchased 'don't do it'. I've used watercolour for so many years the mixing has become second nature, when I tried the same with oils I couldn't get the same results, I think if I practice mixing oils and paint small studies, even make a chart, I'll become more confident. A while back the, Oil Painters Color Handbook was recommended. I've got it out this evening, I'll be reading the mixing section with more interest. Thankyou for your help.
Posted
Carol, ifyou're going shopping (I just have: spent too much, but I love art deliveries) - greys can be made with, deep breath: Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna (a classic mix); Ultramarine and Burnt or Raw Umber; Pthalo green or - better - Viridian with Quinacridone magenta or violet; or with a few unorthodox mixes - eg Mars Violet Deep and Cobalt Blue; Cadmium Red Deep, Cobalt Blue, and a touch of Yellow Ochre - all of these will give you greys you can manipulate by leaning towards one colour or another; and there are many more of course. Black and white does give grey, but as Alan says, and as you obviously know, it tends to be very flat - fine for painting battleships, maybe. Your addition of the Cerulean was an intelligent choice - but the use of black in the mix tipped off the eagle-eyed Alan. Many artists - too many in my never very humble opinion - take refuge in Payne's Grey: it can work very well in watercolour, and in acrylic, and there's more than one kind of Payne's Grey - but in oil, I've never been able to make it work without encountering a gritty sludge; as bad as straight black (though I do sometimes use black - whether that's a recommendation or not is another matter entirely). They're much better mixed - a combination of violet and orange can also work ... even mixing primary colours can give a range of greys, plus, usually, white. I like your painting, the use of black only really jars with me a bit in the foreground - the underpainting/imprimatura of red will have helped, though.Hi Robert, I too like buying on line, its so easy, and I do like browsing the various products. Its also nice to have something to look forward to. I like the classic mixes, you have mentioned some colours I have but never mixed together, Mars Violet Deep and Cobalt Blue, and Veridian and Quinacridone Magenta or Violet, these I will be trying, soon. I'll take your advice about Payne's Grey, I do use it in watercolours, I'll give that one a miss. I had Alan in mind when I used the black, my thoughts 'I'll bet he'll spot its use a mile off' :) Thankyou Robert for your input and advice with the colours.
Posted
I definitely agree with Alan and Robert with regards to mixing. I really love mixing my colours and spend some time mixing my colours before I start. I tend now to mix my own greens rather than using the greens I already have. It's also great when you want to add some warmth or cool a colour down. With 8 colours there would be a few thousand colour combinations so never think your palette will be limited. I sometimes might use a lemon yellow to lighten a colour rather than use a harsh white. These are things you just come across when you do a lot of mixing. It's also a very enjoyable part of the process. I do have Ivory black but I rarely use it, I tend to mix Raw Umber and Ultramarine, I will then add to it, to get a variety of values that suit what I'm doing. I mainly do this with everything I mix. I always want to have light, mid and dark tones including transitional tones on my palette. By mixing your colours, it starts to become second nature. Of course, I didn't start out this way, it's been learned by doing.I can remember when you first came to the forum, Denise. You have come on in leaps and bounds. And have passed on good advice over the years about the mediums you have used. I'll be keeping in mind the use of lemon yellow to soften the white. Mixing will be my main aim for a while, I'll be writing the colours down and what they are capable of producing. Another thing I'll have to remember is the colour bias, there was mention of this in another thread, I'm sure. Thankyou Denise for your help and encouragement .