Oil paints are made with the same pigments as watercolor except that the “binder” they mix with is an oil. The only way to make them opaque is to use white along with them. The water colorist does not use any white, only the whiteness of the paper. Interesting, isn’t it!!

Oil paint is very versatile and can be used in many different ways. The most common is Alla Prima which of course simply means painting wet-in-wet. We apply color thinly to thickly toward the finished task. Yet, there are other ways of using oils such as glazing, under-painting, scumbling, and dragging.

The old masters did mostly glazing, that is, to put a transparent layer of color over a monochromatic under-painting. In my opinion, they probably did this to use their colors sparingly as they were difficult to get. But glazing provides a luminosity and glow like no other and it is what draws me to totally be in awe of them.

There are many books out there to explore all these techniques and I would encourage you all to go the library and read about them.

I thought today I would write to the tremendous and overwhelming task of getting to the end result while staring at a blank canvas. It seems an extremely daunting task. I know it is for me so for all you new people it is probably the major “block” you encounter.

First, I know when I teach I am constantly saying, “This is not the finished product, Let’s just get something on this canvas to play with”. I know you have heard me say this. To expect our paint and brushes to arrive at a masterpiece at the first sitting is not possible. It takes many layers. A wonderful artist by the name of Helen Van Wyck had a wonderful quote that I just love and it is “Layers of paint are layers of thought.”
First we must have the inspiration and sketch it on, next, as I usually do, do a tonal composition,next comes the color and then finally the details, darken shadows and lighten lights etc. So right there are four layers of paint and thought.
If we all would take more time to think and paint and not be quite so worried about getting “done and hung” our work would be so much better.

I have been enjoying my classes with senior adults so much.  A discussion was held recently on the marvels of modern technology and the uses of it for the modern day artist.

I feel strongly that life evolves and that art should evolve along with it.  Why not use modern technology available to us today,  such as the digital camera.  The cameras available now have tremendous capabilities that have advantages for the artist.  In my opinion,  an artist with vision uses what is available to him to get the project underway.

It is also my opinion that the old masters would have been thrilled to have the technology that we have today.  The fantastic paints, mediums, canvas etc.  So let’s not get hung up on the term “artist” and allow it to stand in the way of great artwork.

I don’t ever encourage a new student to use student grade anything;  by that I mean brushes or paint.  Someone who has painted for a long time can produce fabulous work using inferior brushes but a student needs the best tools to start with to prevent frustration.  It is difficult enough at the beginning to know how to work a brush let alone trying to work a very poor quality brush.

Price does not factor in to the quality of a brush!!  Some manufacturers price a line of brushes very high because they contain some special hair but that does not mean it makes it good to paint with.  Other manufacturers make outstanding brushes at very reasonable prices.   Brushes become the most personal tool and by learning about them you can choose the right brush for your style.

Purchasing the kits in the hobby stores which advertise “these brushes are good for watercolor, acrylic and oil” , in my opinion is wrong and misleading.  You must pick a brush according to the medium you are working in.  A general rule : the thicker the medium, the shorter and stiffer the brush should be.  Therefore it would be very difficult painting in oils with a  very soft watercolor brush that won’t even pick up the paint.  That being said, of course, the brushes you choose are a personal preference.  Consider though, if you are in a class and not getting the results the teacher is getting, you may be using the wrong kind of brushes.

Snap is also very important in the right brush.  Snap is the speed and quality at which a brush returns to its original shape after loading and completing a stroke.  Too much snap will make the brush stiff and hard to control,  too little snap will be very limp.   You will after some time figure out the right brush for you!