pears study for SV Intro to Oil Painting lesson - featured

Still life study of pears

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Recently when I bought a group of Sadie Valeri’s video lessons, I went ahead and purchased her Introduction to Oil Painting video. Even thought I’m not a total beginner, it seemed like a good way to ease into her oil painting instruction. I’m really happy I got it! Even thought I’ve been painting with oils for a little while now, I learned new things from her. Her simplified explanation of the types of brushes (grouped into hog bristle and sable) was clarifying for me, as well as a process for which type of brush to use when. The approach she…

oil painting of mandarin orange Mar 15 2020 - featured

Simple mandarin orange still life painting

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Every time I took one of these mandarin oranges out of the bag to eat, I had the thought that I’d love to paint one of them. Since this was the last one in the bag, today was the day to make it happen! I’ve been studying classic oil painting a little bit and wanted to try this with an old-masters-classic feel. I used an 8 x 10 oil primed linen panel that had been toned with burnt umber to a light value. To begin, I brushed a thin layer of burnt umber all over the panel and wiped out…

Value to color studies of apple still life

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Still life study in values, color temperature, and brushwork Study topics Value study from still life; color study based on value study; lost edges; mark-making; color temperature Process notes Set up two green apples with colored papers near a window with afternoon sunlight. Painted a 7-value black and white study (5 main grey values plus black and white for accents only) on Arches Oil Paper. Used Gamblin Portland Greys for the middle 3 values and mixed the remaining ones. Divided my palette into 5 columns, one for each of the main values with the coordinating grey mix at the top…

“Twisted Twenties” exercise

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The bottom two were timed at 20 minutes each, and the top two weren’t timed (I’d guess about 30–40 minutes each) Study topics “Twisted Twenties” exercise from Sarah Sedwick (three-color palette, quick studies, simple subject) Process notes Set up the first three subjects near a window but no direct light, and the last one with a direct light. Rotated the subject with each study for slightly different views and shapes. Trying out my new Arches Oil Paper with synthetic brushes and solvent-free gel medium. Scrubbed some Gamsol/Safflower mix onto the paper before starting each study with a synthetic brush to…

Ten-minute apples challenge

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Ten-minute apples (minus the upper left) Study topics Ten-minute apples exercise from Daily Painting by Carol Marine — Painting from life; color mixing; time limit; simplified brush strokes Process notes Divided an 11×14 sheet into 12 units and toned it with a warm mid-tone color. This sheet was a poster board that had two layers of acrylic gesso, lightly sanded, plus a layer of acrylic matte medium to reduce absorbency. Premixed the basic colors before starting. Sketched in each apple with same color I used for the toned background on a size 2 Silver White filbert brush. Used primarily a…