Oil painting is REALLY difficult for me so far, but with practice, good books and videos, I'm making progress. I'll share some of what I'm learning as I go!
The great John Singer Sargent apparently often repeated, "DEMONS!" as he painted!
And Van Gogh cut off his own ear. Was it the sheer frustration of oil painting? We may never know...
I painted this in oil recently after watching Alex Tzavaras excellent Youtube channel, Simplify Drawing & Painting.
He’s a UK artist and teacher, and his concise tutorials are the best I’ve found.
I tried his blue underpainting, though he pulls it off much better!
It’s also the first painting I tried softening some edges. I’ve tried it with a fan brush before, but it never seems soft enough and leaves streaks. Most painting instruction cautions against softening and blending too much. Unless you’re Bob Ross!
But a few variable edges can add interest and depth, so I found this sort of makeup brush and it worked much better.
Gregory Manchess’ post helped me understand edges a bit more:
https://www.muddycolors.com/2022/03/10-things-about-edges/
I tried to soften the edges where it seemed appropriate, remembering Richard Schmid's warning from his great book Alla Prima II:
“Remember- soft edges in a painting are not an end in themselves. They must be appropriately soft and should conform to what you perceive them to be in your subject. This is what will make your edges look authentic. Arbitrarily softening everything is like intentionally mumbling when you speak.”
Posts
