Tag Archives: Oil Painting

‘May Chills’ – another 2 part painting

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‘May Chills’

The last painting (here) was in 2 parts. The first part included sky and horizon and was allowed to dry before finishing. For a beginner this makes the task a little easier if trees and foliage are to be painted onto the sky. Painting delicate branches and leaves onto a wet sky does not allow for mistakes and corrections usually requiring scraping off, repainting the sky and trying again. A little solvent on a tissue or cloth will completely remove wet paint from a dry layer allowing multiple attempts or corrections.

This painting was completely covered in the first stage and allowed to dry – easier still. Remember using Alkyd Fast Drying Oils by Winsor & Newton in the initial stage means you can paint the second stage the following day – faster in warmer weather. If you feel the need to use a medium (I don’t) use Liquin which is also fast drying. Don’t forget to thoroughly clean the brush when finished.

Because the first stage contained some dark colours these, as usual, dried matt and consequently a little lighter in tone. Before proceeding in the second stage I ‘oiled out’ the surface by rubbing a very light coating of W&N oil painting medium into the surface with a cloth. This gives the dry painting the appearance of a freshly painted surface. This wetting of the surface will also help the application of the fresh paint. As a rule I don’t use Liquin to ‘oil out’ as it dries very fast and could seal and retard from drying, paint which was not fully dry in the under layer.

Here is a video of the process. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD. This painting uses 4 colours (Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Sap Green, Cobalt Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used in the first stage, only White Spirits (Petroleum spirits). W&N painting medium was used in the second stage. 2 brushes used – No. 12 Filbert bristle & a Nylon liner. Ground is Fredrix Canvas Pad 10″x8″.

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Summer Afternoon

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Summer Afternoon

This painting uses only 3 colours (Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits.

The size is 16.5″ x 12″.

To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

Corn Thieves

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Corn Thieves

This painting has kept me occupied over the last few days. It was painted in the traditional way, i.e. layers allowed to dry before the next are applied. I usually paint in a single session in 1 to 2 hours and the painting is small (12″ x 16″ approx). This large size (30″ x 24″) needed several hours, so it was completed in 3 sessions of about 3 hours each. The under layers are painted with Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colours. The final layers were applied with traditional oils and Liquin medium. The colours used were Cadmium Yellow, Indian Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson plus black and white.

Sorry I could not video the process due to time and size restrictions. The method is basically the same as my usual. Loads of transparent under colour applied unmixed with loads of solvent. The entire canvas was covered with colour and while still wet the first stage of the sky and distance were painted. The following day this had dried (because of the Alkyd Colour + Solvent) and the sky and distance were painted to completion. The foreground initially was painted very dark greens and browns over the dry under colours of crimson and ultramarine blue.

I used Liquin to speed up the drying process and to add a bit of substance and flexibility to my paint layer. This is important as this is a stretched canvas which is a very flexible substrate. I normally use ‘solvent only’ on loose canvas which I later laminate onto a rigid board. This is a very stable surface with very little flexing, quite different from the stretched canvas.

See you soon.

Early Summer

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Early Summer

The soft clouds of summer.

It is difficult to paint the softness of clouds directly as you would paint solid objects. I place the colours on the canvas first and use a clean wide filbert brush to blend by cross-hatching. I do not use a medium, just a small amount of solvent to spread the colour. I use a pipette to add the solvent, a drop at a time as I mix the colours, so I don’t add too much. This helps the blending process as the small amount of solvent evaporates leaving a ‘dryish’ layer of paint. I avoid medium because the colours would spread into each other producing a single featureless colour. The process does take a bit of practice but the final effect makes it worth it.

This painting uses only 3 colours (Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Cobalt Blue) plus black and white. The black and white are Alkyd Fast Drying Paints. The colours are Artist Quality Traditional Oil Colours. It is recommended to use Alkyd colours under traditional oils as they dry faster. They can be mixed together if the mixing is thorough and the paint applied in a single thin layer. Avoid having distinct layers of different paint types. If the drying rates in the upper layers are faster (as with Alkyd) than the lower layers, paint might be prone to flaking off. Thick paint, varnishing, removing varnish, cleaning etc exacerbates the problem.

There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″. This was painted in a single ‘wet on wet’ session in about 2 hours.

Here is the process. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

 

The Crossing

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The Crossing

Still in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

This painting uses only 3 colours (Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits.

Here is a video of the painting process. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

Glenbarrow

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Glenbarrow

Glenbarrow in the Slieve Bloom Mountains is the source of the River Barrow. Along with the Massif Central in France, these mountains are the oldest in Europe. They were once also the highest at 3,700m. Weathering has reduced them to 527m. On a clear day, one can see the high points of the four ancient provinces of Ireland.

This painting uses only 3 colours (Indian yellow, Permanent Rose, Prussian Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″.

Here is the video of the painting process. To view this video in realtime change speed setting to .25. Quality can also be increased to 1080HD.

Near Maganey

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Near Maganey

Late afternoon sunshine illuminates the trees on this high bank of the Barrow River. The Barrow Drainage of the 1920’s deepened the river along its length and the dredged material was deposited on the banks. In many places, like here, this material is still intact, creating interesting landscapes of sun and deep rich shadows.

The sunlit green of the trees against the sky was produced with a transparent mix of yellow and a little blue. Normally highlighted areas in oil painting contain white and are opaque. In this case a transparent film of colour was placed on the wet sky colour. Where this background was mostly white it made the colour glow. Notice when the same colour is placed on a background with less white, how muted it is. To match the tone white was added to the mix used in these areas.

There are 3 colours used in this painting (Indian Yellow, Permanent Rose, Ultramarine Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″.

Here is a video of the painting process. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

Long Evening

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Long Evening

This painting uses only 3 colours (Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue) plus black and white. All paints are Alkyd fast drying oil paints. There is no medium used, only White Spirits.

The size is 16.5″ x 12″. The substrate is primed un-stretched canvas. Brushes: A single No.8 Filbert Bristle & Nylon Liner. A No.12 Filbert Bristle was used to blend sky colours. It was painted in a single ‘wet on wet’ session of about 2 hours.

To view in realtime change speed setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

April Skies

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April Skies

Sunshine and showers, April is here.

This painting uses only 3 colours (Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue) plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″ and was painted in a single ‘wet on wet’ session of about 2 hours.

I am using a mixture of traditional artists oil paints and Alkyd quick drying paints. The white and black are Alkyd paints. Traditional oils are used when the required colour is not available in the Alkyd range. For example: Cadmium Yellow is not available in the Alkyd range, except as Cadmium Yellow Hue, so I use the standard oil version.

Mixing these two paint types in multi-session painting is only recommended if the Alkyd colours are used in the under layers and allowed to dry – which suits most painters. However, Alkyds or Liquin on top of standard oils will dry fast and retard the drying of standard paint underneath.

‘Wet on wet’ single session well mixed paints produce a homogenous layer which dries evenly and fast, in under 24 hours. My lack of medium dries very matt and dull but I can ‘oil out’ after the initial 24 hours drying.

Here is the painting video. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.

Beside the Lake

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Beside the Lake

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
(WILLIAM WORDSWORTH)

The yellow blobs of paint in the foreground needed to be recognisable as daffodils. These ‘explain’ the yellow blobs in other areas of the scene – they must also be daffodils.

I truncated the daffodil stems in the foreground to suggest we are looking over them and along the lake shore to the gate and further into the scene.

As usual I’m using various elements of the composition to draw the viewer into the painting. Diagonal lines, repeated shapes and colours. Like the strong yellow of the foreground flowers repeated in the reflections in the water and further to the sunlit trees in the distance, reinforced by the patch of bright sunlight in the top right corner of the painting, or the ‘scratchy’ line of the fence wire leading us to the ‘scratchy’ gate or the ‘zig-zag’ route through the daffodils to entice us in.

There are 3 colours used in this painting, Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson & Ultramarine Blue plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″ of primed un-stretched canvas which will be laminated onto a stiff board when the painting is dry.

Here is the video of the painting process. To view in realtime change setting to .25. Quality can also be set up to 1080HD.