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Posted
One of the best books on oil painting is Vibrant Oils, by Haidee-Jo-Summers. Many of us on here have bought it, both experienced artists as well as newcomers to oils. You’ll find everything that you need to know, from materials to techniques, with some great illustrations and examples throughout. You can buy it on this website, navigate into ‘Store’ and you’ll see it.Thanks Alan, and Robert, I shall have to check both out. I also keep reading of some course(s) I think you host somewhere Alan is that correct? I saw people attempting a snow scene from your guidance but I am not sure where the original guide is can you point me in the right direction so I can have a go before it's too warm to be thinking about snow anymore!
Posted
I don’t host any art courses James, but you’ll find quite a number of my Work in Progress features which you can follow by going into the menu > tips & techniques > oils > Alan Bickley
There should be at least a couple of snow scenes plus a variety of other stuff which you should find useful.
Posted
Many thanks Alan, got them now can't wait to give them a try, this is exactly the sort of help and motivation I need!
Talking of motivation am I the only one that puts off painting purely on the thought of setting up and cleaning up afterwards? It genuinely stops me before I start which I really hate! Sadly don't have a studio or even a room I can devote to a permanent setup so everything is literally stored away until I finally brave it, which means I rarely get to paint!
If anyone has any handy tips on how they cope with setting up and cleaning up to make it less of a chore I'd love to know! Must be some way I can make it less daunting (lol).
Posted
Ha! I have access to a workshop/conservatory, but most the time I paint in my flat - oil paint in a wooden box that once housed a duplicator, stowed beneath the chest of drawers; acrylics in a big wooden box that held a wine shipment; watercolours stowed away in a disused fireplace; pencils, brushes, pens, in a mixture of old cigar boxes, and even in the wardrobe. Sketchbooks nicely poised to guarantee I'll trip over them .... long-handled brushes and painting knives in those tubes that housed whisky bottles..... I know where everything is, and I've become distinctly less inclined to over-clean my palette. My only tip is that you too should know where everything is - nothing worse than hunting for the right colour or brush when you're wanting to get going.
I've never had a proper studio - the Jones operation has never really been so big that I ever needed to produce regular work as a means of making a living - and now, when I need to sit down or even lie down for stretches of time while working, I'm quite grateful to have a chair or my bed nearby. Mind you, I do live in some chaos - some might say squalor....... helps if you live alone, I find: no one to tidy up, and lose things.
Tidying up is a chore, and there's no getting away from it. Palettes can be scraped, residue disposed of; there's no real need to return them to pristine condition. Paints need to be put away, or you're bound to tread or sit on them. That's easy enough -you can be fairly cavalier about it. But brushes - brushes must be wiped with a kitchen towel (for oil paint, and acrylic) and then properly washed; I suppose you could derive some pleasure from restoring them to clean and healthy utility - if your mind worked that way: mine sort of does, in fact. I don't use any solvents, either painting or cleaning up, so there's no poisonous fumes to worry about and also no need to find space for all those mediums and thinners which I don't need - just some good Linseed oil; a jar of stand oil; varnish (which reminds me..); and of course, plenty of kitchen roll.
So two tips arise out of that: the first one I've already mentioned - be sure you know where everything is. The second, keep it as simple as possible - brushes, preferably single medium, and paint. A third one would be, never put your easel away - its constant presence can hold a work in progress, or stand there naked, in silent rebuke - encouraging you to get on with it.
Edited
by Robert Jones, NAPA
Posted
Ha ha brilliant read Robert that made me laugh. I believe the term for your style of setup is "organised chaos"!
There was actually some really useful tips there though, I always wondered why whiskey came in tubes and now I know! Definitely going to start doing that.
It's also interesting you don't need solvents to clean brushes. That's by far my least favourite part naturally! And anyway I found no amount of solvents seemed to help, nor bashing brushes about the bathroom like Bob Ross. They always kept colour even after the 10th soak and rinse, still the colour runs into the sink, I'm sure we've all been there! Would you mind talking me through exactly how you clean yours, is it literally wipe with kitchen towel and rinse? (I'm only talking oil here I believe acrylic is a tad easier to clean up!) If that part can become less scary I can see the whole process becoming far less intimidating and who knows maybe I will finally unleash my artist potential on the world (well, this forum at least) :)
Posted
Unlike Robert, I do use solvents - refined turpentine for painting as well as linseed oil, plus white spirit and fairy liquid for cleaning brushes/palette etc.
I’m not talking vast amounts here (for painting), we know oil paint contains linseed oil etc as its binding agent (generally), but I do find that I need a small spot or two of both these as I progress through a painting. Michael Harding oils in particular are really quite thick to apply without a bit of help.
Turpentine is particularly useful for me in the early stages. I like to paint thinly and rapidly to start off with, so that I can cover a large area quickly and hope it dries in quick time. I apply drier and thicker paint as I progress.
I like the smell of oil paint and spirits, I’ve grown up with it for many decades although, and I know Robert will agree with me on this, if you are going to use them, use them sparingly and in a well ventilated room, they are hazardous products!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I find myself in agreement, for the most part, but I have picked up a tip or two from YouTube.
Wilson Bickford taught me how to paint rocks that are clearly under water. The same technique can be applied to cloud reflections. It was a few years ago, now, but I haven't forgotten how to do it. Since then I've pretty much rejected everything else. The lessons examining the mixing of colours can also be useful, especially for beginners.
I must confess to using Premium, Low Odour White Spirit to thin the thicker paints, usually mixed with linseed oil. It depends on the quality of the paint. However I only use a drop. When using Michael Hardings paints I find they don't need thinning and they appear to be oil sufficient. Dear though.
Bri
Posted
To reply to JJ - cleaning oil painting brushes; first, I wipe off as much of the paint as I can, and work the bristles into thick kitchen roll - the Bounty brand is best (don't use loo roll or tissues - they shred to bits). Then with lukewarm water and the plainest household soap I can get, I work the brushes into the palm of my hand, until all trace of the colour is gone (caveat below). I then rinse them - very thoroughly - shake the excess water out (which I find rather satisfying) and leave them to dry in a horizontal position.
The caveat - you could use almost anything you like, but some colours stain the bristles and you won't get that stain out: it doesn't matter - it won't affect the quality of the brush. The colours most prone to do this are the dyes - Pthalo Blue, Pthalo Green, and Prussian Blue. The only way to prevent them staining your brushes is not to use them, but - it really doesn't hurt.
I know what Alan means by working the paint without solvent, and it's not that easy, I freely admit, to get flowing lines with just paint and oil. But to make your paint as fluid as possible, mash it - use a palette knife (i.e. the stiff-bladed one, rather than a painting knife) gradually add Linseed oil in drops, and keep mashing and mixing until the paint is of the consistency you need. You can use a painting knife, but the palette knife is more robust and less easily damaged. I have several reasons for avoiding solvents - I even like the smell of Turps - but I probably have some secreted about the place; actually I know I have, I can see it now! I would use it if I really had to.
Brian J Mackay - "dear" isn't the word, is it? Some of them are fiendishly expensive. But they last for quite a while - and they are of such high quality that they have to be worth it; I used the MH Cobalt Blue a while ago - it was as if I'd never used Cobalt Blue before; yes, the price made me weak at the knees, but it's just a great paint.
Posted
Good point regarding the longevity of Michael Harding paints, Robert. I bought a few tubes of the "cheaper" colours about 18 months ago and I still have roughly half the phthalo blue left, a colour I frequently use. A little goes a long way due to the intensity of the pigmentation.
I have tried thinning paints with only oil and have found they dry with a distracting sheen, especially when viewed from the side. This problem tends to be solved by adding a solvent of some sort. The extended drying time doesn't bother me at all, but the glare does. Could be I'm thinning with too much oil; I don't know. Any tips, to help solve the glare problem, would be gratefully received, mainly because I find solvents give me a tickly cough after a while. At this point I always stop painting for a few days.
Brian
Posted
Not much you can do about the glare, other than ensure there's no light falling directly on the painting surface. In due course it will either become rather more matte, or the ultimate varnishing will even it out. That's not much help when you're working with it, of course. It doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you then a bit of turps might help. But none of these solvents is safe, whatever anyone says about them: genuine Spirits of Turpentine, Spike, Zest-it, Gamsol, Low-Odour thinners, Sansodor - they all get at your lungs. Someone suggested that white spirit was "safer" than genuine Turps - I doubt that it is, but in any event how they could live with the stink of it I don't know.
Posted
Well it certainly wasn’t me that said white spirit is safer, no way can it be any safer!
Well I’m really careful with the turps, just a splash or two in a small lid from a marmalade jar or whatever, and I’m still here after many decades of oil painting.
You’ve got to work in a well ventilated room, windows open whatever the weather.
I’m determined not to go down the water miscible route, unless there comes a time when I’ve no option, but I don’t believe that will happen.
Posted
I use both regular oil paint (mostly Jackson’s) and water miscible (W&N Artisan) To my amazement, I have found that you can mix them as long as you don’t add water. My main criticism of the water miscible ones is that they lack body, very hard to do impasto. The other thing is that the white never seems to dry in a realistic period of time.
Edited
by Linda Wilson