Hey Guys,
This is my first ever blog on tricks and tips in my series “All about Oil Paintings” and just to let you know that I am going to make more such blogs from now on that will really going to help you a lot in understanding the tricks behind the scene and to get more professional results in your paintings. In the near future, I am going to do a lot more blogs on comparisons, such as Oil Paintings vs Acrylic Paintings, as well as other things like how to mix colors, how to paint various skin tones and all the other features that are required for different kind of paintings using different equipment and techniques. So, I would request you to please subscribe today so that you won’t miss out on anything and will get our weekly newsletters.
Tip 1: Invest in quality products only
Okay, so my first tip is to invest in some really good quality bush lines and mediums, also use at least an artist-grade color to make yourself understand the right knowledge and tone of each color and their mixtures with other colors. I know that people tell beginners that you should go for cheap quality products to start on with, but I really think that in getting class paintings that is just not the case. Cheaper brushes have such bad bristles that they may often get out of the holder on the very first use that makes it useless to work with. Even if they are firm with the grip still, they will come in such bad condition after 1 or 2 paintings that it could not be workable anyhow. So, when I got into paintings, I also bought very low-class brushes that really made my life difficult while painting and it took so much more time to do what can easily be done by a good quality brush. I am not promoting any brands here but I really want you to avoid the mistakes that I did in my past, that is why I am gonna put some links down below from where you will find some of my favorite brushes I found so far those are just awesome to work with and in the most competitive price in their category. I select a few of the more expensive brushes as well because in their area we must have such a good brush to make clear strokes for example the liner brush. So please do not get frightened up that it’s too expensive and how can I buy, coz if you are a dedicated artist then in the long run, you’ll find that it’s the least expenditure that you have ever made.
Now secondly, we need to spend good in the medium like paint thinner, and other kinds of oil mediums for different purposes during painting. These products have some chemicals that their fumes can be injurious to your health that is why it is necessary to buy good quality odorless mediums or else you need a very ventilated or open space where you can paint.
And finally, you need to buy good quality paints, at least an artist-grade so that you can feel the tone in the paint and can easily differentiate the different shades of the color.
So, the good thing about getting really good quality products straight away is that you know its not the material that can limit you from doing the great paintings. If you buy the cheap ones, then you might be limited because they cannot give you a real feeling and a sense of getting a good quality result even after your 100% work on a piece. But with more expensive ones you know that you got professional-grade ones so you can produce really good paintings. I have provided all the necessary links down below of my choice, but you can go for any other good brands as per your convenience. If you have skills for it and it would be only your skills that are restricting you from doing those really good paintings so therefore I think its really good that you invest in really good quality products straight away which will eventually be more economic because the bad quality product life is very short.
Tip 2: Canvas
All right, so my second tip is about the type of canvas you are using for your paintings. For oil paints, I would recommend using quite an expensive good quality canvas whereas for the acrylics most of them would work just fine. So, I generally use the same kind of canvas for both the type of paintings. Winsor & Newton works great for me as it has fine threading that really helps in the easy flow of paint which is quite a bit expensive if you are a beginner but once you are on these qualities of canvas you will never look back as it will rapidly improve your work and its definition. It’s a double primed pre-stretched cotton canvas. I put some of the other links of my choice of canvas in the description but you can buy any of the same or upper quality if you can as available in your region. You can go to your local art store and buy some initial small-sized canvas to test for yourself which one works best for you. I wouldn’t recommend you buying lots of expensive canvas in the first shot coz if it will not work for you then you could have wasted a lot of money. So, it’s better to first try and then give it a bulk shot as per your requirements. The reason why I recommend qualified canvas is because most of the low-grade canvas has a very poor quality of threading that not only tore off sometimes but also not very easy for the flow of paint that is required. Especially for oil paints, you need to have a kind of canvas that is smooth enough to let your paint flow easier while layering it should keep the previous layer intact without any damage to the texture. Also, it would be better to have a Deep Edge canvas rather than the normal one so that you can paint till the end of the canvas which is quite uneasy in the non-deep edge canvas. I will surely make a separate video in the near future on this topic but so far you need to stick with the Deep Edge canvas if you want to have good results.
Tip 3: Time
Here is my third tip is about one the most important but underrated thing that is “time”. A lot of people don’t spend enough time building up layers, blending, and adding all the details from their reference photos that they could have. So just by spending more time doing all those three things you can really improve how realistic your painting looks. So definitely spend time making it 3 dimensional by building up a rich color tone and by adding lots of layers and just focus more on your reference photo and just don’t rush it. It’ll be really worth it, in the end, to spend that extra few hours really building up the details and layers.
Tip 4: Layering and Blending
So, my next tip about layering and blending in the oil/acrylic paintings. It is really important for you to understand the way to put different layers and why it is so necessary. It is important because you need you to build up a rich tone in your painting to look more defined, more high-lightened, and catchier in the end result. Also, it’s very necessary not to over layer which could spoil all the hard work you had done so far. You need to understand the process of layering that goes different for each and every painting. The same image in different light and times of the day or weather condition can look totally different in terms of its shades. That is why you need to make sure which color shade would match exactly with the reference photo you are working with to make it more realistic. Blending the layers is as important as creating them. Without blending the layers would go off the subject line and could not be able to provide you the effect you are looking for. For blending you can use a 2 inch or a 1-inch brush as per your requirement and the size of the painting. Also when layering doesn’t limit yourself to use in shades of one color so for example for the skin you would see only a very bright burnt sienna or a light orange tone but do you know that some parts of the face during different lighting could have yellow, green or even blue in it, all of which together make it look mind-blowing realistic. To get the idea that you need to keep practicing and experimenting. Coz each skin has a different tone and the same skin could have different tones in different lighting. I will create videos on these topics soon enough for you to learn quickly and ineffective manner.
Tip 5: Lighting
My final tip is to do with lighting. I really got lucky in that coz just after finishing my first ever oil painting when I hang it on my living room’s wall it looks too dark that even from a very near distance I couldn’t be able to see anything while the same painting looks awesome when came into contact with proper light. Thus, I came up with a conclusion that lighting plays a great role in the impressive-looking paintings. So, let me tell you the secret when we paint in very bright light, we automatically use dim colors to justify its picture in our eyes and mind but when we paint in a medium-light, we use brighter colors to justify the same reason. But the painting with more bright colors can now be visible in any normal room lights which will make it clearer and astounding. Therefore, I would recommend you paint in the natural daylight, near to your windows or doors which is the best light and environment to paint in. But if you really have to paint in a closed environment then you can use a daylight lamp which can be available on different e-commerce sites at a very economical price. It actually provides you somewhere the same natural light which you can get outside. Light from it is very much symmetrical from every side so you need not worry about shadows. Also, it is very much good for your eyes, like if you need to work for hours then it’s a must accessory you have with you. But please remember you should paint in a ventilated environment only coz the fumes from the medium, thinner and other stuff we use in oil paintings are hazardous in nature and can be injurious to health if used in a very closed environment.
BONUS Tip: Failure
Here is a bonus tip for you and it is about the most important thing of all which is about the fear of being a failure. But the real key to success is that you should not be afraid of being a failure. Many people quit painting just because they are afraid of being a failure. Afraid of being failed to produce good art pieces, fear of not getting any recognition even after so many hard works, fear to start. But everybody needs to start from scratch so you need to understand that fear is not at all an option if it draws you back from what you can do. Life is all about experiments and we need to experiment till the time we reach a level that we always desire for; we always dream for. Everyone makes cracks in the beginning but what matters is what you learned from your mistakes and then just try to improve your techniques the next time and that is the only way to succeed. You have to keep an eye on your mistakes and do not just let it go but try to analyze it and then make the way to correct it in the future works.
So that is it. Hopefully, my videos in this series will help you with some of those issues so yeah definitely keep painting because eventually you will get better and you will get the results you need to see in yourself. As a wise man said, “have a little faith”.
Thanks, guys, for watching and I really hope you enjoyed this video and found it helpful in some way. If you like this type of content then please subscribe and if you like the idea of any of the videos, I ventured up doing please subscribe as well so you don’t miss out on anything. Please like and let me know in the comment about which all subjects you want to have videos on. I would definitely try to come up with them in my upcoming videos. And please share this video as much as you can that would really help me my channel to grow and allowing me to create more such informative content for you guys regarding art. You can follow on my other social networks through the links in the description. Thank you again for watching and have a great day.
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