Pollard - Discover oil painting: easy landscape painting techniques

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This book is dedicated to my girls, my daughters Tammy and Traci and granddaughters, Danielle and Cassandra. And I cant leave out my step-daughter, Jessica.

TWILIGHTDESERT SPRING

24" 24" (61cm 61cm)

Oil on canvas

If youre just beginning your painting journey, welcome! It truly is a wonderful adventure! Ill let you in on a little secret. Ive been painting for most of my life, and professionally for nearly thirty-five years and I still find it challenging. There is a lot to learn and a lot of mileage you need to put on your brush before you are able to paint the way you truly wish. Push yourself but be gentle with yourself as well. Realize that there is a learning curveyou would certainly expect that if you took up violin, say, for the first time. Painting is no different. There are things to learn and with patience, practice, perseverance and a bit of coaching, you will.

Dont be daunted by these words. My theory is that those of us who are drawn to painting are the kind of folk who thrive on challenge. The good news is that theres enough to learn to keep us challenged and on our toes for the rest of our lives. Andthere is no prerequisite except for an attitude of joy in the act of painting!

If youve been painting for a while Im sure youve already discovered that what I say is true. While continuing to set the bar a bit higher for ourselves as we absorb and improve, we continue to learn and grow from our own practice, examining and delighting in the work of other painters, reading and absorbing books on painting and above all, learning from our subject, the glorious landscape!

Before we go any further, let me dispel any notion you may have that there is such a thing as the right way to paint. There is only what works and what doesnt work, which can vary greatly from one person to another. While we do tend to fit into categories, there are still as many ways to paint as there are painters to paint. You have your very own, individual painterly handwriting. Some of what does or doesnt work for you, you will discover on your own. However, there are many time-honored methods, techniques and design principlesyou dont have to re-invent the wheel. I will show you several approaches that I personally find to be applicable and relevant for myself and the people who attend my classes. Come along! Lets get startedand begin with an adventurous spirit!

THE RED GATE

8" 10" (20cm 25cm)

Oil on canvas

Youve probably heard your local art supply store fondly referred to as the candy store. How apt! Strolling down the aisles to see all those luscious colors, intriguing tools, that beautiful new tight-as-a-drum canvas just waiting for ministrationsmy mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Yes, we artists love our tools, and painting is pretty equipment intensive. However, I will try to simplify things for you as much as possible. Basically, all you need to get started is several tubes of paint, brushes, a palette and palette knives, canvas or board, solvent and a couple of containers.

I have divided the list of oil paints I use between opaque and transparent. Because we can paint light over dark, (a white object on top of a black background, for example) oil is generally considered to be an opaque medium. Therefore, you might find it surprising that many of the colors are actually classified as transparent or semi-transparent. Oil paint is usually divided into four categories of transparency/opacity: transparent, semi-transparent, opaque and semi-opaque. These categories are important to understand in order to get the most from the characteristics of the different paints you will be using.

Its difficult to get good coverage from a transparent or semi-transparent color unless its mixed with an opaque color or white, which is opaque. Therefore, when you require coverage (hiding power) use an opaque or semi-opaque mixture. Transparent colors, on the other hand, often have great tinting strength and are good mixers with opaque colors. Additionally, in the beginning stages of a painting the transparent colors make beautiful medium to dark tones over which to lay opaque colors later in the painting process. They have a gorgeous glow to them as they allow the canvas to shine through.

You will eventually learn which colors are transparent and which opaque. In the meantime, read the labels. Many brands of paint use a circle or square as a symbol. An open circle indicates transparent, a filled-in circle indicates opaque, an open circle with a line through it indicates semi-transparent and a circle thats half-and-half indicates semi-opaque. Some brands simply state the opacity/transparency of the color in words somewhere on the label. The opacity of a color can often vary from one brand to another. For example, in the particular brand of paint I use, Ultramarine Blue Light is not light in value. In this particular case, light designates the color as transparent. In that same brand, however, Ultramarine Blue Deep is opaque. So always read the labels!

I have found that some semi-transparent paints can be used as transparents, and some semi-opaques are opaque enough for many situations where I need good coverage. Ill explain why Ive used either transparent or opaque paints for each painting demonstration later in the book. You will need to experiment and decide for yourself how the different opacities work for you.

Other than these suggestions, I have no secret formula. With practice, it will all become instinctual.

Some oil paints are water mixable and some are not. Its OK to use water-mixable oils along with regular oils. According to HK Holbein Inc., Basically, there are no restrictions except that traditional oil color should not be blended to a proportion of more than 30% if tools are to be cleaned up with water.