Any tips on oil painting?

Question

How should I create depth w/out smearing, how to dry the canvas & how to get it off brushes? This is my first time painting!!! Help please!!!

Answer 1

To create depth in oil painting always paint the background first, such as the sky, clouds, water. Gradually layer from the most distant to the closer in foreground. With oils, you can lay texture as thick as you want for dimensional appeal.

For example, if you have a tree in the immediate foreground paint the trunk and limbs first with Van Dyke brown. Using the palette knife--not waiting for any paint to dry--lighten the next application with raw sienna, then burnt sienna. Finally, with that same clean knife, ever-so-lightly apply a sparse coating of ochre or cream color followed with off-white for contrasting the shadows.

That would be layer texturing with all colors showing if done right with the palette knife. When you're satisfied with the trunk and limbs, daub with a one-inch brush the foliage, starting with a dark green. After rinsing the brush in odorless thinner, shake the brush dry and then apply a yellow-green mixture to highlight where the sun strikes.

Let your canvas dry in time--never rush it because if you do, it could be disastrous. Blowing dry by a hair drier may help, but I wouldn't recommend it. The paint needs to dry from within.

Use odorless thinner when painting inside and make sure you have a dropcloth spread around your working area because you need to shake off the brush thoroughly dry before using it again.

I also recommend the "wet-on-wet" approach as shown by Bob Ross and his son on television. A starter kit using his methods and patented paints can be bought from around $70.

Answer 2

There are many books on the market such as 'Oil Painting for the Serious Beginner' by Steve Allrich. That book has helped me a lot through the years. This book will help you with depth and many other problems.

Here is a website with a demonstration from beginning to completion of a landscape painting which shows how to create a lot a lot of depth and will address your other questions. http://www.donaldneff.com/demo/oildemo.html

This website has several other step by step oil painting lessons. http://www.creativespotlite.com/oil-painting-lessons.htm

Good luck in your painting. I hope this helps you.