Start Oil Painting - Glazes, Scumbling, Impasto

The second of my beginners oil painting class  built on the underlayers we'd  prepared the previous week - oils need time to try.

In the morning on the primed board we  first applied glazes of  Alizarin diluted with  thinner and linseed oil mixture - the idea being that the underpainting shows through . Then glazes of grey   and yellow ochre- at last the kiwi fruit started to take shape

Then adding highlights using a pale pink ( a little white goes a long way and lots of mixing involved from starting point of Barbie pink!)

These were left to dry  and similar process of glazes added to red and green sketch on paper.  First glazes of alizarin and yellow ochre, also some cadmium red with a teeny bit of white to make it opaque rather than transparent.

The addition of bright greens and then greys made a dramatic difference - I really liked how the complimentary colours  make the apples 'pop'.

Then after lunch   with glazes partially dry we 'scumbled' dry paint into the glazes ,built up layers with small brushstrokes of concentrated colour, and scratched out areas with palette knife. I loved how the brush marks from my imperfect priming of the board show through. And look how good my palette control was ! It helped that I'd brought lots of my own palette knives and brushes with me - you really need a separate brush for each colour as you don't clean them until the end of the session

I was really pleased with the results considering it was just 2 session, I tried to use different techniques for each piece of fruit, some more interesting than others. I look forward to applying them in my 'advanced painting ' course which starts soon.

Considering we were all working from the same subject with the same materials there was a wide variety of paintings produced.  From across the room  Julia captured my concentration in her charming study ( even my earrings!)

Starting Oil Painting - The Importance of 'Palette Control'

Earlier in the year when I was  'Reading a Paint Surface' at City Lit, apart from the challenging exercises of  making art in a variety of different and unusual ways, I  reported on the struggles of using oil paints for the first time since 'A' level art at school!  

So ahead of a 10 week advanced painting  course, I booked a 2 day course on Starting Oil Painting  and had the first session on Saturday.

We started out with preparing surfaces  by sanding and applying layers of primer to pieces of hardboard  and  doing sketches  in charcoal and then oil paint on paper of a simple still life of apples and kiwi fruit.

Pinned on the wall, the different viewpoints and approaches  by the group of the same subject was interesting. The main focus though was on the actual techniques , with emphasis on 'palette control'  

 I'm used to working with acrylics and  the difference between fast drying acrylics  and slow drying oils dictates a  completely new approach which took some getting used to. Only a small amount of paint was squeezed out on the palette at a time and using different palette knives for each colour, small amounts were transferred to other parts of the palette, the 'control' element keeping dedicated areas for red or blue. 
Rather than using water or mediums to thin  paints, only tiny amounts of the low odour thinner were used. Most importantly, this was not used to clean brushes etc , instead we  kept hold of the brushes and palette knives  used for different colours , only cleaning them at the end of the day.  While I managed to keep  my palette in reasonable order, the same could not be said for my brushes resulting in  some strange colour combinations! I will do better next week 

'Sketching' with oils on non-primed paper was surprisingly satisfying, almost like doing watercolours, with the advantage that you're using the identical  colours for the actual  painting. We started with just white, Indian Red and Ultramarine, using the red to sketch out the mains elements and then introducing darks with a grey mixed from the red and blue moderated with white , producing essentially a tonal study. Only then was yellow ochre added to the palette for highlights.  

After  repeating this study on the board itself (below) in preparation for next week , we then did another quick oil sketch on paper using complimentary colours ( above) of 'Red' ( Indian Red with a touch of yellow ochre) and 'green' ( ultramarine with lemon yellow)

I really like this use of a restricted range of colours, it means you concentrate on contrast in shape and tone and less likely to get 'mud'.

 The downside is that it takes quite a while to clean up ( not helped by  the small  studio not being one of the usual painting ones so higher standards required!)
I  could have done without Holborn station being closed : an  additional half hour walk to St Pancras  trying to control  a carrier bag containing a wet painting is  not what you want at the end of a tiring day. I revived later when Ian met me from the train and treated me to delicious Tapas at Jittermugs .

Next week we will be building on our underpaintings , I'm already regretting my initial painting being so strong as it limits the changes I can make. But that's all part of the learning process, knowing how you would do it differently next time!

Reading a Paint Surface 4: Working on 2 pieces at once.

   My favourite section so far on the current  piece of work on 'Reading a Paint Surface' at City Lit.  I have strict instructions no matter what else I  alter to leave this alone. The earlier exercises paid off - the layers and textures that have accumulated are so subtle yet interesting  and I love the hints of unexpected colours at the edges . Coloured grounds rock!!

 Arrived at the classroom yesterday to find easels with enormous boards (A0)  set up, larger than I could lift ( love the accidental marks) . The idea was to have 2 paintings going at the same time, side by side , using different methods on each. Some people started 2 new paintings  and a few besides me were continuing with  one  we'd started last week

 Having worked  from a photo upside down last time, I now was working on it sideways  so it would fit on the board, then put a drippy green cast  acrylic ground on a second piece of  A1 paper  and for my subject was  zooming in on the middle section.

Once dried I added some areas of orange underpainting that had caught my attention in the photo

Over the  day , I built up layers of oil paint glazes - I particularly like the section below. It will need a lot of work next week concentrating on the negative shapes between the boats. I might work on it upside down as well - it's getting a bit 'boaty' rather than concentrating on the shapes.  It's working title is 'Green Libra' ( the name of the boat)  and  Tony's  suggestion last thing was to put on a layer the same colour as the brushed over lettering  and work  into that next week. 

Meanwhile  my first job on 'Red Libra'  was to knock back the background with some paler glazes - once dried the orange-red ground  was too prominent .  In various critiques everyone loves the middle section and the implied shapes of the tops of the boats  so that is being left  but the dark areas top right are too dominant.

Another critique, pairing up with another student , this area is still not working so suggestion was to return to source photos - the boat wasn't in the  right position.

Much better now I've  corrected it  and I'm liking the remainder of the shape that was left  from before - this is where the responding to the painting itself is beginning to kick in.
One other criticism was the need to vary the brush marks in different areas of the paintings. This week   I was really struggling with the brushes provided - next time I'll be bringing my  own in!
We had an inspector observing the class  - it was a bit disconcerting as she listened into our conversations  ( she  didn't know anything about painting). She did like my colours though, especially the purple.

Very tired  when I got  home  as besides standing at the easel most of the day, trains were delayed  because of flooding trains and they stopped people getting on the platform as they were getting overcrowded .  There was then  a last minute dash for the train and  I had to stand until Rochester.  Getting off at Faversham found Ian had been in the same carriage!! ( I did ring his mobile but he  hardly ever has it on).