My first oil painting,9in x 12in
detail of aboveThis post is about my first session in oil painting.
Last night, I began. I finally chased the boys into bed around 9pm and then started this new adventure in oil painting.
What I Enjoyed
- The texture of oil paint is as wonderful as people say!
- Luscious, thick color is yours at the stroke of a brush, no endless back and forth with a tiny pencil tip.
- The feel of the brush in your hand is a good one, nice and thick.
- The excitement of a new adventure.
- Bells kept going off in my head of things that I had read before that suddenly made sense.
What Challenged Me
- Color mixing was a challenge. I used a limited palette - one red, one blue, one yellow and white. At the end I also added a green in, I had tried mixing several and just decided to give in.
- Manipulating paint was both challenging and rewarding. Edges are particularly "exciting" in this regard - sometimes I was thrilled with the result, other times I was disappointed - at this stage I can't really even describe what I did differently to achieve the two results.
- Keeping clean - despite my natural cautiousness, I had paint up my arm, on the desk, my hands, and later sadly I realized on my shirt! This morning, when photographing, I got paint on my hands again and somehow kicked the painting and smudged the paint.
- Color mixing - this painting is very dark, both the values and colors need work.
- Familiarity - I hope to grow even more comfortable with the medium and its handling.
- Edges - keep learning about what works and what doesn't.
- Composition - I think for my next piece I will do another "macro" like this, just to keep focused on values, edges, and color.
10 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! It looks like you had fun!
I must say, your first attempt was far from a failure. This came out fantastic. I wish my first attempts at oil had came out even a fraction of how well this one came out.
Now, about the mess. Another reason that I don't have room to do oil painting. I used to have a corner of a room that I used for painting oils. I had a VERY large tarp that I covered the floor and walls with. I had a single set of clothes that I used when I painted. Because I got it everywhere. I always had bits of oil paint in my hair and I could never get it all out from under my fingernails.
Yeah, I really get into my art LOL
Rose, this is great. You are off to a great start!! Don't know what to say about the mess, except you will figure out what works and what doesn't for you.
We will be anxiously awaiting the next painting.
Brava, Rose. You are off to a great start. Lovely brushwork.
I'm hoping for inspiration to get back to oils myself. Very much looking forward to following your journey.
PS - I find Baby Wipes wonderful for keeping my hands clean and removing oil paint splashes. I only use paper towels to wipe brushes and throw it out at the end of the day. I find that paint hangs around to 'get on things' if it is wiped on an old rag.
Thanks everyone!
Last night's session went better as far as mess...an old tee shirt and gave up rags for paper towels.
I'll post it tomorrow hopefully.
This painting has real impact Rose - I still need to encourage you to post bigger images though! ;)
your first painting is outstanding! feeling foolish about leaving a link on starting to paint for you in your earlier post :P
Really nice--much much better than any oil painting I ever attempted! I like the way the brushstrokes reinforce the shape of the petals, the way they catch and direct the light!
Ujwala,
**grins**Thank you for the compliment. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. And I do need links, books, videos, etc. I really don't know what I am doing!
THanks for visiting.
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