Transparent Oils and painting water. Some friends on FB know that I have posted in the past on technique and tips, and I have had a couple of people comment on that. I stopped because I did not want to appear as either an expert (on anything! lol), or that there was necessarily one way--my way--to do something. Lets keep the following in mind before I discuss painting water, and that is: I am a student every day in the world of painting, and what I accomplish in art is on the shoulders of giants before me. So, I took a couple of photos to illustrate some tips to make your painting work with you, vice fighting to achieve certain effects in your work. I love to paint water. Since we know most water is colorless (except in New Jersey), then as artists we know that all color we see is reflected. I am a firm believer in using the right tools to make your life easier in the studio. First off, notice I am painting on a white, lead primed surface. It is linen, but board would have the same principle. It is also linen mounted to board which also is a joy to work on. What is terrific about painting on lead is that it has just the right amount of absorbency to allow you to lay down a wash, then wipe out what you need to, plus it takes just enough color in a transparent wash to remain permanent, but--and this is important to me--it has a luminosity beneath a wash that you just cant beat. I love to use a panel for plein air work that is tinted with say, a yellow ochre, or warm orange, but NOT here. Look closely at the first wash of color in the photo on the far left. To achieve that wash and luminosity you need to do a couple of things. One, use the right oil paint. There are many manufacturers of transparent oils. What the term means is that the pigment particles inside the paint can be thinned to a wash and still maintain a true paint film that can DRY as you see it. Remember, most oil paints can not reliably be thinned to a wash without compromising the paint. If you need an initial recommendation, look at Schminke Mussini paints. Secondly, use the right brush. In the middle photo, you can see that I am using a full bellied watercolor brush. I have many of these, though they are expensive. Manipulating these thin washes with the right brush is a joy and just plain fun. Also, for me personally I use a traditional copal oil medium thinned with real turpentine. This allows the colors to become tacky fairly quickly, and allows you to go back into a wash in a short period of time, building up the layers. I know that some mention copal oils limitations in regards to yellowing, but remember one of the greatest landscape painters-John Carlson--taught all his students to use it, and if you look at one of his paintings today, they have aged very well. Now for a note of caution. Painting a whole piece in thin layers often produces a lackluster painting that never achieves the full range of emotion and volume that you see in a masterful painting. My initials washes are just that, a beginning. I keep painting wet in wet and save my impasto for the bravura sections I admire so much in skilled artists of the past. I use these techniques in many sections of my work.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 01:25:29 +0000
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