Robin Sealark - Oil Painting Every Day: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide to Painting the World Around You - Develop a Successful Daily Creative Habit

Oil paintings radiate in our art history. When I was a younger student, the tool used to create master works drew me ina vehicle for awe, with a creamy, rich, and vibrant color depth. Oils slow-drying property allows for seamlessly blended sunset gradients, soft glowing subjects, and dreamy surface texture. While Ive worked in a variety of mediums, I hallow the unique abilities of oils and forever return to this magical tool. When used with skill, oils command attention and transport the viewer, blurring the line between painting objecthood and experience.

Here are two important tips for success:

1. Figure out the rules.
2. Make whatever you want.

As a wee schoolchild, I liked to learn requirements. Once I knew what I had to do, I could get to the fun of doing it my way. Entering a hands-on, skill-building creativity class, art and I became immediate friends. Art would teach me, and we surprised each other. A relationship and bond formed.

Tune into yourself as you paint through this book. Your relationship with art is your own. If you want to alter an exercise, use your own reference photo, experiment with the style, cut out images, paint over my workdo it! You are both student and artist, so rock on, dear creative one.

In this chapter, well discuss oil painting supplies and review basic color theory to prepare you for your creative journey.

To be an oil painter, you should be equipped with the necessary supplies. In this chapter, youll discover what you need to begin: useful paint colors, medium, brushes, painting surfaces, and tools. Youll learn how to use these supplies with information and exercises covering basic color theory, brush cleaning, and medium use.

This chapter contains key color-mixing information and skills that should be used to guide future projects. Even if youve used basic oil materials before, I encourage you to review this chapters color theory lesson and exercise as a refresher and confidence builder for color mixing. This basic complementary color lesson took me years to internalize, but its simple and critically useful now that I grasp it. Make the lesson an easy grab in your tool belt so you can feel comfortable wiggling outside the formulas of the projects to achieve colorful, personal images, customized to your liking. With simple foundational knowledge, youll access greater freedom and creativity in personal work.

UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF OIL PAINT

Oil paint is a slow-drying paint made from pigment suspended in oil. Unlike acrylic or watercolor paints that dry quickly and mix with water, oils are hydrophobic, or water repellant. To modify the viscosity of oils (i.e., thin, clean, or otherwise manipulate them), artists use alternative solvents such as medium and turpentine. Varnish is not uniquely used on oils, but its commonly added over the top of dry, complete paintings for increased gloss and deepened tonal range. More information on using these tools is covered in .

Oils are considered advantageous for their delayed drying time and workability. Other types of paint require you to work quickly to layer and mix colors, but with oil. you have the luxury to wipe away mistaken marks, thoroughly blend shades, and use the same paint for hours. Palettes can be reused for days if you freeze or refrigerate them between use (this slows drying); otherwise, wet paint can sometimes be salvaged from under dried paint skins using a palette knife.

PREPARING PAINT SURFACES

When working with oil paint, be aware that the slow-drying oils can seep into and deteriorate unprepared surfaces. Commercial oil papers are treated with a barrier that allows oil paints to stay on the surface while absorbing water and solvents. If youre not working on oil paper, surfaces need to be prepared by priming, which is coating a surface with water-based paint (gesso or acrylic) to seal and protect it. When priming, apply additional layers of gesso as needed for full coverage, optionally sanding between dried layers to achieve the desired surface texture.

Surface material and texture are a matter of personal preference. Options include bouncy, bumpy stretched canvases; more solid canvas boards and sturdy, flat wood panels; and lightly textured paper. Alternative surfaces include primed cardboard, book covers, and even rocks. Different surfaces have various textures, and priming can be used to further alter that texture. Layering thick gesso builds an interesting face, while thin, smoothly applied gesso forms an even one.