Preserved Topic: attention oil painters!

Hi everyone. I bought myself a starter kit of oil paints at christmas time, and finally started to use them. first time I ever painted in my life really, and I couldn't stop painting! so I need to buy some supplies. what kind of easil would you recomment, and what brushes do you like best. could you also point out a brush or two that does something specific that you like... thats about as far as I am right now, so any info you can give me I would appreciate, thanks! btw, good thing I didn't try and scan in the painting to show everyone, its still wet after 2 days, that would of been hell on the scanner....

Ahhh oils, I can still smell the scent of linseed. It's been many moons since I used em. Whenever I get the urge I usually go with acrylc, different techniques but easier on the mind and body...ask Vincent!. Brushes, hmm so many to choose from....depends on the effects. Use bristle.hogs hair,sponges etc for roughing out and smooth and caress with $400 Windsor Newton Fine Red Sables, then again depends on the surface your painting on, stretched canvas or linen for fine portraits or as I used to like working on large stretched plain old coarse burlap heavily gessoed with fine home made marble dust. Then again you might want to pull a Jackson Pollack and just toss the stuff at the canvass...works too.
Easles, well depends on the size of that masterpiece, build your own if you are working large....2 two by 4's drill i'4" holes in them and put dowel pegs in em and prop them up against the wall....place your canvas or board on the pegs.
A good studio easle can run you a few bucks....again easy to build yourself for about 20$ out of cedar.
Paints, Windsor Newton for oils, and brushes, Hyplar for acrylic....use a Medium, Damar Varnishes mixed in with your oils to speed up drying time.

~edit...here's a link that may ad to and clarify somewhat.... http://campus.greenmtn.edu/courses/hans/art/art_2021_01/




[This message has been edited by kromaZ (edited 07-06-2002).]

Glass is an excellant easle. We used to use glass in class and it worked pretty damn fine. Talk about easy clean up.

I'll never give up my red sable brush. I've had it for over 15 years and I baby it. I'll never do ink work with any other brush.

Aren't oils a bit expensive to be learning how to paint? It's been awhile since I priced paints, though.




[This message has been edited by warjournal (edited 07-06-2002).]

Hey War, glass easle? I'm sure you meant palette...although a glass easle would be kingda funky looking.
Not too sure about the stability though.

Yeah, that's what I meant. My bad can't read. Up too early feeding the kid.

is there any specific brush set thats your favorite? did you make a mistake buying a certain easel, then ended up buying another one? thats mainly what I'm going after.

To be honest, I am ignoring the above posts due to laziness .

Ok....

Oil painting is, oh so fun. While painting you may ask yourself:

Q: What should I paint?
A: Well, if you are like me and have a fascination with something, find a photo or painting of that something and then have it next to your canvas and paint it!

Q: What do I do first? Just start painting?
A: Well you can. Several famous and most achieved artists have, but now a different techniqe is most commonly used. Purchase a couple of charcoal sticks at your nearest art store, actually walmart has them. Then, take what you are painting and draw it, line by line in contrast of color. Then take turpentine, and any color (personally I use yellow ocher) and mix on your pallete, and outline the charcoal lines. Then after the following is dry, paint!

Keep in mind that oil paint can take up to weeks to dry depending on the ingredients used to mix the color, the longest I have noticed is white, and much other light colors.

Me? Well I have been oil painting for about 4 years now. In the past 2 and a half years I have done about 10 paintings. The important thing is not to rush yourself when painting, unlike the late Bob Ross who has been painting for almost 30 years, had his own TV show, and can paint a beautiful landscape in 30 minutes. I started a drawing of an eye around Thanks Giving 2001, and then started to paint it around Christmas. It still isn't done and probably won't be done at the given deadline I had in mind. It will mostlikely be delayed for a year, I had plans to enter it in the Kentucky state Fair which begins sometime around august and all entries are being sent in right now, and I am 800 miles away from my painting in florida with my father untill august 5'th , but I still may have time to finish it for the Fair.

Goodluck with your painting!


___________________
tri-eye

That was lame, InSiDeR. Since when is laziness an excuse? And, for crying out loud, it's not like the posts were all that long. Pathetic...

Anyway, Inition didn't ask for help on techniques (although that may be useful as well). He asked for help on what supplies he should buy. Next time please read all the posts before you post yourself--especially the first post, if the person is asking a question. Rather than supplying your own questions, try to answer the question asked.

Well suho I was in a hurry and I thought maybe I could help .

Bob Ross? Beautiful Landscapes?
He was a nice guy...but beautiful landscapes I think not.

The only way you find your personal preference for brushes is to get a bunch try them out and keep the ones that feel good to you and gets the results your after. Don't limit yourself to just a few....I have even made my own for special
effects.

As far as the easle thing goes like I said sometimes it's better to rig up your own.
I have owned store bought studio easles wood and aluminium but they never worked well.
There are many designs to build your own studio, outdoor and tabletop varieties.


[This message has been edited by kromaZ (edited 07-11-2002).]

Five'll get you ten that the "eye painting" looks remarkably familiar when it's done too.


Inition: I usually warn people away from starting off with oils. Prep work, mediums, drying times, expense. All those things factor into it, and can usually be a bit of a fear factor for new painters.

However, since you're into it now we might as well get to the thick of what's what for starting. Since you'll be just getting into your work right now, start off with a few good square brushes (even hog whiskers are fine for now, you're not in need of the quality brush yet, learn your strokes and blends first) two decent round tips, at least one fine detail brush (which should honestly be your most expensive brush right now, since you want something soft, full, and precise) and a good fan (brush that is).

Squares are self explanatory, but rounds are best when working softer blends, and more blurred lines. The fan brush will be indispensible once you understand the power of rockering it for edging, as well as pulling it for flowing blends and sweeps. Test out everything, you won't be sorry.

For your first easel, stop looking at those delightfully light-yet packed French easels. You're a labourer right now boyo, get something sturdy, useful, moderately portable, and cheap enough that when you cover it in paint and it gets a touch wobbly you won't cry. Your first easel should be a workhorse, and go with you whenever possible. It should get muddy, dirty, and broken at some point. Once you learn your craft a bit you'll learn how to take care of your tools better. You'll also learn that you'll eventually need two easels

Keeping your brushes clean is the most important thing you'll have to learn. Getting a good brush cleaner as well as thinner for your paints first will save you a ton down the road. In the absence of brush cleaner, use a mild dish soap and water after removing most of the paint with your thinner. Always pull down your bristles with a good cloth, and never scrub against them. Don't squeeze too hard, as you don't want a bald brush from cleaning. Also...NEVER leave your brushes soaking in water, soap, or especially thinner (solvent). This leads to fanning of your bristles and makes them coarse. Coarse bristles will hold more paint, but your brushstrokes will go straight to hell.

Palettes are a personal preference. WJ is right that glass makes for a great oil palette though. I'd suggest a plastic, or plexi-glass in that case, as glass and pyrex palettes get damned expensive. Personally I still use an very thin cedar palette, which I've treated with linseed oil. Cleanup is easy..but that's about practice

Kromaz is putting you on the right track, but I think he's thinking ahead a bit. Finding the perfect brushes isn't for you quite yet. That will come after you get a feel for the medium. I want you to keep in mind that an artist can paint with rocks and concrete if necessary, so the hunt for "perfect tools" is beyond you right now. Play...fiddle...learn.

Come back when you're in a frenzy and pulling out your hair..that's my favourite part...then we'll talk more

Hope it helps.

Peter

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 07-11-2002).]

KromaZ: I liked reading your posts, and took them into consideration. from your information, I was able to do some searches (since I lacked vocabulary) and found some pretty good stuff. That was an extremely informative reply, the $400 brushes comment did scare me a bit. But as I looked around, thats life with oils....

WJ: I ended up getting a plexy <-sp? glass thing, glass is kinda high.

InSider: Hey man, thanks for going beyond and giving me some extra tips.

Peter: I pretty much had you in mind when I penned this question. I got myself a wood easel because it was cheap and pretty, some canvas boards to practice with, and a set of brushes to ruin. plus a big jug of odorless thinner. I read on a couple websites about the importance of keeping brushes clean. I recieved the set of oils for christmas, so I'll have some fun with them for now, but I can always pick up the cheaper acrylics when those run out. We will see.
on a side note, I don't know if you remember, but I emailed you about an art question in the photoshop section. That email changed the way I do things, and I think I improved quite a bit. So in other words, thanks for taking the time to write those big long reply's to my posts-erik



[This message has been edited by Inition (edited 07-11-2002).]

InSiDeR: OK, must've caught me at a bad moment I guess. No harm, no foul.

Yes I remember the emails, erik

And when I said "Hope it helps"...it's really nice to know that it did. That makes my fuckin' day.

Good luck, and email is always accepted.


Peter

DG if by familiar you mean it looks like my real right eye through a mirror, then you are absolutely correct because thats how I drew it, back in NOVEMBER.

Ok!

I forgot to mention, about an "easel" not easle. I don't use one because when I do my arm shakes because I position it in mid air, that and they are too expensive. I just put newspapers down on my desk and rest the painting there as if I was drawing, it is just easier for me. But if you think an easel makes it better for you then by all means purchase one and paint away!

If you really want to learn about painting and its tecniqes through oil, just do a google search and I am sure some sites may pop up with faq's and tut's. Good luck!


___________________
tri-eye

Correcting spelling in a thread that has the correct spelling more than once? Brilliant, kid.

Actually Inition I think you're going about this in just the right way right now. Interactive feedback will take you miles further, and a lot faster from professionals than just by looking up static technique and tutorials at google. Tuts are great, but it's so much easier to be able to bounce ideas and methods off people who have been doing this for years. I really can't wait to see your first efforts, it's going to be a great road.

Choosing an easel to work on is also one of the best ways to start. What most people don't know, (and useless 'artists' never see) is that drawing on a flat surface angled down from the viewing arc causes perspective problems in paintings. Easels are set at your angle of view to make sure that your level of sight keeps your perspectives right, and doesn't force the "swell depth" effect that drawing on a table or desk does. It's the same reason that you'll find most professional pencilers (or just longtime artists) keep their drafting tables at severe angles to cut down on that foolish mistake.

Now...show us the money

Heh, I didn't notice you spelled it the right way genius.

You're right, you didn't notice. That should tell you something. Now if you have your observation skills and spelling structure in hand, work on proper grammar and use of punctuation. Your commas and dangling participles are atrocious.


ANNNND back to the thread.

I thought of something else that really going to help you out Inition: A palette knife.

A good palette knife is indispensable both in mixing and clearing, as well as using as a painting tool itself. Getting sharp, hard lines is much simpler using knife techniques. When you're comfortable with it as a tool, you'll find that the palette knife is wonderful for smooth blends and sharp transitions. Just like brushes though it's all about finding the right one for you...so...get a cheap one, work with it, learn, then throw it away.

Heh.

Or rather find one that's more functional but adapts to your style well.

And on and on...



[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 07-11-2002).]

And adding on to DG's excellent advices:

Q-tips!

I find them very useful for some blending work, but above all to remove paint from the canvas if you've ..ehh.. misjudged a tone from the palette or something like that.

Just make sure that you get a decent quality so that you're not left with a fuzzy painting

Well I am not trying to win the Pulitzer Prize , I just like knowing how to spell things.

that part about the mistakes made with a desk makes me laugh. I wish I still had some of the drawings with the "dwarf legs" and huge heads to show. I used to be scared of easels too, before I started making my perspective mistakes.

I seriously never thought of q-tips, I'll have to give it a stab (and piss off my step mom in the process)

I was looking at the knives in a catolog, but decided not to get one for some reason. Dam I'll have to suck up some more shipping charges, no shops around here sell art materials of this type. I'm probably going to dirty up my pretty white canvas now, and look for a new job. sigh....

Staples, Office Depo, Target, K-Mart,

and of course, the dreaded W**mart carries art supplies somewhere

edit: I am guessing you live in illionois , if so why not take a trip to chicago!

[This message has been edited by InSiDeR (edited 07-14-2002).]