Oil Painting Techniques: Still Life on Paper

Oil Painting Techniques: Still Life on Paper

“Now it’s time for you to prepare your paper, experiment with different kinds, and see which of the two primers I’ve shown you work better. Once you have the paper ready and have the rest of your materials set, it’s time to set the still life! Remember to pick objects that speak to you, be it for their shape, color, or even their symbolic meaning. Set a space with enough light and arrange the various objects. Think of the placement of the objects and how they play off each other. The most important thing to think about is the abstract arrangement of colors and shapes that the whole setup produces rather than thinking of the placement by individual objects.

Then start by indicating the composition with some loose lines but without worrying about drawing every single object. Indicating the composition as a single unit. Then paint the large shapes and try to mix the color you see from the beginning. Ask yourself what hue is it? Green, yellow, blue? What chroma or intensity? And also what value, how dark or light is it? Mix it and compare it to the setup in front of you and then you can adjust from there. Always go from big to small, focus on getting the larger effects. We look out into the world by order of effects, not everything is in focus all the time. Look for the hard and soft edges. Where hard edges meet, the areas with a lot of contrast, and soft edges, where things seem to dissolve and merge into one another. Squint your eyes to avoid detail, view your composition as a unity, and find hard and soft edges. By squinting you also simplify details and remember that details come last. And finally, tighten the drawing and you can start to add more and more information as you go along. Adding smaller details where you want the focus of your painting to be to help draw attention there. Remember we don't see detail everywhere at the same time, but only where we fix our gaze. Finally don't forget to let your sketch dry before protecting it with wax paper and then putting it somewhere safe and free of humidity. Also, take your paper and paint outdoors or wherever you find inspiration, and don’t forget to share with the others and me in the forum! Also, I'm looking forward to seeing your Final Project! Don't forget to share your final result as well as the whole process. Remember that the journey is as important as the destination. Thank you and see you in the forum! ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final Project Dear students, we have reached the end of our course. You've learned how to prepare paper in order to make an oil sketch on it. We saw different kinds of paper and the possibilities of each one. Then, we prepared two efficient primers to coat the paper in order to receive oil paint. Then, we took a look at the basic materials for oil painting, what is oil paint, and the brushes I use in my personal practice. We also took a look at the colors I suggest in order to get a wide range from the spectrum. Finally, we composed with objects we have on hand as still life we painted on o...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Oil Painting Techniques: Still Life on Paper

• Level: Beginner
• 98% positive reviews (89)
• 2122 students
• 4 units
• 14 lessons (2h 18m)

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Fine Arts, Oil Painting, Painting