Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

46
Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 1 Burning the Midnight Oil Notes on Oil Painting with Tonal Composition and Colour Composition by Terry Clare

description

Technical treatise on oil paint application for artistic landscapes, portraits, still life, for realist, impressionist, academic, traditional, or abstract artist. Simple method to create a professional look and finish to your paintings.

Transcript of Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Page 1: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 1

Burning the Midnight Oil

Notes on Oil Paintingwith

Tonal Composition

and

Colour Composition

by

Terry Clare

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2 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 3

Burning the Midnight Oil

Notes on Oil Paintingwith

Tonal Composition

and

Colour Composition

Traditional Australian Impressionist Academic Realist Wet in wetPainting techniques

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4 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

ISBN. 978-0-646-48170-8copyright

Published and printedby

Terry ClareThornleigh, 2120. Sydney

N.S.W. Australiaphone.612 . 9945 1445

[email protected]

CopyrightMay be used for non profit lessons

or private learning.

2006

With the arrival of acrylics

and other paint technologies

the traditional technique for oil paint

is being over looked.

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 5

CONTENTS

7 Introduction

8 To begin painting

10 Gear Palletes and Brushes

11 Basic Painting Technique

13 To start a painting

14 Palette Layout

15 Extra Points to make easier

17 The layers of a painting

18 Analogous Colour mixing

19 Complimentary Colour mixing

20 Basic Tones and Compositions

21 Colour Wheel and Colour Compositions

24 Puddle mixing

26 Ebauche pallete

28 Mix browns and greys

30 Just in passing

31 Closing notes

34 Outdoor Check list

35 Pigments & Hazardous Materials

36 Gesso ground for canvas

37 Subject Matter to paint

38 Steps for Antique or Sculptural Drawing

39 Guide for Pricing Oil Paintings

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6 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Into the Wharf Clifton Gardens by Terry Clare

Inside the Breakwater Brooklyn by Terry Clare

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 7

Introduction

It was while I was an Office Machine Mechanic in 1950 repairing

rebuilding and servicing office duplicators that I developed a liking for pulling

things to pieces and putting them back together to see how they worked.

It also entailed wandering around the city streets giving rise to

many opportunities to visit many of the little galleries and art shops dotted

around Sydney town at that time.

Along with surfing and football, I persued an interest in

psychology philosophy and the art of painting and over the years I have

come to admire all those great painters who could juggle all the multiple

aspects of art work and painting to create a masterpiece. There were and

still are many who do this, juggling colour, composition, drawing, and all

the aspects and disciplines neccesary to bring them all together creating a

work of value and attractive beauty.

The belief arose amongst many progressive artists that once

you learnt the rules and techniques of master artists, you were not

emotionally or spiritually able to enjoy it your work and it is was not entirely

free, resulting in a stilted approach and everyone producing similar pictures.

Another group of artists believes that one should serve a long

apprenticeship to understand all the many aspects of arts disciplines, then

to use these skills, enjoying and creating a free and skilled beautiful work

of art. There is again a large group somewhere in between.

There will always be those who can with great simplicity throw a

bucket of paint or draw a swashbuckling line with great artistic expression

and theatrical result . Those who do it successfully have usually completed

a lengthy apprenticeship somewhere. Japanese art is a good example

and has been a source of inspiration for impressionists and many other

successful artists, but one cannot realistically expect to execute such a

discipline without proper full understanding of the technique and training

involved.

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8 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Aspiring to be an ArtistThen begin a painting

When deciding to begin painting, you may accept change or reject any advice given inthis publication, or by anyone for that matter, as it is the perogative of any thinkingindividual or artist to develop their own style gathering bits from everywhere.

On starting an imminent masterpiece, decisions have to be been made on thepainting you want, and are about to create, assuming you are in the pursuit of truth,beauty, justice, the Australian way, aesthetics, eloquence and colour permanence.Considering this you will now select:

1. The subject2. Size of the canvass3. Texture of canvass, rough, medium or smooth4. Medium i.e. oils acrylics watercolour tempera casein glue or combination in

artist quality.5. Technique of glazes wet in wet impasto or combination6. Composition of the painting.7. You may even consider the type of frame you think appropriate at this stage.

The above points also include colour balance, tonal balance, movement flow ordirection, rhythm of the shapes, centre of attention, proportion or drawing, underlyingstructure, form or modelling, perspective, direction of light, quality colour of light,planes, shadow areas, shape of negative areas, linea recession, tonal recession,colour recession, simplicity or unity and how to keep it, and are best worked outbeforehand. Usually in a study or during your initial wash in.

Consider next that your composition is turpsed or drawn in, your colours are laid outand you go to pick up your brush to start, these decisions start to enter your mind.

1. Do I need a clean palette

2. What size brush 1-12

3. Texture or what type brush, hog sable synthetic palette knife,

finger or sharpened brush handle

4. What shape brush square filbert round fan long short or cut brush

5. Which edge of the brush will I use

6. What colours do I lay out on my palette

7. What colour or hue or which pigments make up the colour

8. What are intensity of the pigment colours so I can mix the right amounts

8. Is it transparent or opaque colour

10. Tone is it light or dark enough

11. Value is it hot or cold enough

12. Am I mixing this colour on the canvass or palette

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 9

13. Stiffness does it need a medium.

or, if a colour is already there will it go over the remaining paint

14. Which medium will I use, oil turps or liquin. i.e.

Is this an under colour intermediate or final layer

15. How much colour to mix to finish the passage and needed left over

16. How much paint needed on the brush

17. Do I need to clean the brush before during or after the stroke or strokes

18. Broken colour will I pick up two colours at once or paint two next to,

or on top of each other

19. Will I use a firm or light pressure i.e. scumble glaze or direct passage i.e.

(coup de grace)

20. How much will I angle the brush

21. Fast or slow speed stroke

22. Long or short strokes or combination of spots or lines or stabs

considering the drawing

23. Thickness and colour of the stroke considering perspective and drawing

24. Direction and colour of the stroke considering going around or along form

and overall stroke pattern and attitude of line

25. Number of pats to flatten or smooth a stroke

26. Sharp edge or lost edge stroke

27. How do I hold the brush will I use overarm pencil or thumb up grip

28. Will I need a mahl stick to support the brush or

just with two hands or now wait till the wind stops blowing

These decisions can be simplified or put in sequence using a combination of

speed painting and impressionist technique used in varying degrees and fashions.

Now! Lets see if we can get rid of any confusion by organizing this into steps or

a simple technique we can follow.

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Gear Palettes and Brushes

A PICTURE OF A ROLLINGEASELMonet used a wheelbarrow. I’m sureease and mobility are important.It takes a white umbrella that can besecured with thin tent ropes ifwindy.

PAINTSTORAGEThe tray slides into a box.Put it in the freezer in 2plastic bags. Will keepindefinitely. Fits into afolding pallete which fits ina French easel. Or can betransported in its owncarrier box.

Use good quality brushes when painting and cleanthem in a tin of pure turps every so often, speciallywhen they get muddy. Wipe clean on a Toilet RollFlat Hog Bristle brushes.No. 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, & 1. Flat HogFilbert Hog BristleNo.6, 2, 1.(for getting in round areas)Round sables1 each No. 3, & 1. (for fine lines & finishing)

Avoid Student colours. Use Artist quality. They gomore than twice as far and are neccesary to makeintense and dark colour. They produce a rich fullglossy paint surface. Even now they are not all thatreliable these days. Students colour looks flat, pale &chalky.

See a full list or everything on Page 34

You can get by with a simple paint box and easel untilyou can afford a French Easel which is really a basictool for outdoor work.

Use a brush holder of some sort when Painting. It willhelp you organize everything and keep your handsclean. Clean hands means you may live longer. Usea hand cleaner orgloves. Oil paints aretoxic. We don’t useFlake White any more(pure lead) Too manycasualties.

paint

brush

h o l d e r

Made fromplasticdrainpipe

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 11

First a Basic Painting Technique Wet in wet impasto

Several points to start with

These are basics to start painting. Please vary to suit personal preferencesThe idea of wet in wet painting is to finish a painting in one sitting while the paint iswet.Use a well gessoed canvass to absorb your turps drawn composition. 2-4coatsPure turps from a hardware store is OK. Add a very small amount of Mastic varnishto assist adhesion or use Pure Turps from the art shop.Paint your composition in tonally with a turps wash and earth colour, covering thewhole canvass adding local dark colours and shadow colouring to the earth colour.Don’t leave any white areas. Unless using a tinted canvas.Local colour is the colour of something in a normal light.Use a turpsy cloth to make corrections until drawing and suggested tone andcomposition are what you want. Turps will even correct a pencil draw in. Let theturps dry for a whileThe centre of interest should lie somewhere in the central one third portion of thecanvasEverything else should diminish as it moves away from the centre of interest. Tone,colour, light and definition of drawing. This is the most important part of starting apainting.Paintings ranging in the two thirds tonally dark are considered more attractivebased on the theory that you can’t have light without dark i.e. you get morecontrast.Some impressionists ignore this as old fashioned and use bright shadows.Choose your subject to paint. Have an idea of the composition - colour - emotiveaspect.You may follow a favourite artist’s painting as a guideas long as you change the subject. Copies areunacceptable in exhibitions. Most artists have afavourite master or two.

Three Steps. After the turpsed in image showingcomposition drawing tone colour suggestions andcentre of interest. Parts of this can show through thefinished work and become part of the painting.1. First coat. Prepare a suitable dark mix considering thesubject’s local colour, it’s distance and quality (add bluefor distance) plus (colour of sunset, morning,spring or storm for quality) Add a bit of turpsand Liquin or Gel Medium.Using a relatively large brush, broad strokes, block in all the dark tones, shadows oflocal colour to cover the whole canvass. Use turps in small amounts. “Smooth GelMedium Archival” is OK. At this stageVary the dark tones for form (show roundness) as well as the shadows. Warm inthe foreground and distance is cooler.The lightest colour has a shadow, like grass or water or flat planes in sunlight.Usually a darker colour of the subject. Don’t use any sharp edges at this stage.

BASICSFAT (medium) over LEAN (turps)thick layer over thinopaque over transparentlight over darksharp edges over soft

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canvas maybe tinted - turps wash

small brush - light tones

thin consistency - thick size layer

medium size brush - mid tones

large brush - dark tones

3

21

...................................................

thick consistency - thin size layer

1.

2.med. consistency - med. size thickness layer

3.

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12 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Try to imagine the whole painting and each stroke at every stage(Looking at the working technique of an artists work you admire may assist.)This first layer is Thick in consistency Thin in the amount of paint layer Use just abit of turps if necessary (no oil) Some Smooth Gel or Liquin is OKOil in the first layer causes cracking later due to shrinking after the top layer dries (fatover lean works)Dark paint can overpower a colour added later, so only a thin layer of thick paintthen more paint can be put on top. Scrape it off if too thickIf you can get your tonal recession, local colour, and form into the darks at thisstage, then you only have to worry about getting the same in the next layer midtones, one tonal range at a time. Makes for a convincing pictureThe camera records tonal and colour variations in the lights tones. The humaneye sees colour and tonal variation much better the in the darks. Careful pleasewhen using photos.This dark painting or moonscape allows you to envisage the final work better andsee correct tones and convincing colours to paint over the top later. It sets thestage for the whole painting.Tone is more important than colour in a painting. Colour can be used to impartromantic subjectivity by toning every colour with a key colour, romantic lighting etc.Key up your hue colours slightly to allow for fading when paint dries. Wet colourlooks brighter than dry. Old paint looks duller than fresh.Which is why the painting is varnished later but you still need to exaggerate colourslightly right through the painting to allow for later fading.

2. Middle coat middle tones middle amount of medium (oil or gel), middle size ofpaint layer middle consistency, medium size brushes. A small amount of oil. Youcan add a bit to your turps dipper at this stage. Remember your drawing with abrush. Put it on, don’t skate around.Follow the direction of the forms with your brush.Hot dark tones in foreground cool lighter mid tones in distance Let the subjectsuggest the technique. Imagine the paint stroke before you jump inLook 3 times, think twice, paint once. Test the colour on another piece first.Emphasis edges with slightly warm against cooler variations and slightly darkeragainst lighter variations.

3. Final coat Thick layer of thin paint. By now your previous layers will have setslightly. Light tones of various colours. Warm lights at front cool lights in distanceVary the light tones for form.Most medium with thick application of paint Smallest sized brushes. Paint thehighlights.When painting be aware of your centre of interest. This where Highest chroma orcolour. Sharpest edges. Lightest lights and darkest darks Most detail. Premierecoup or final strokes are. Thickest impasto. No skating here please unless you areblending edges.Note If a large area or item in the picture is a predominately bright cleantransparent colour ..say..reds yellows greens or transparent purples i.e. some exotictree paintings, flowers, glass and water. Then it is best to leave an area of whitecanvas for the transparent colour to be put in pure first or later on. Turps wash inpure colour then put in the clean transparent colour. Painting the slightly darkerpure colours carefully into that building to darker tones gradually later.

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 13

Can be used wet in wet or let dry betweenlayers

Plan your composition with a

turps washInk or draw in important edges or fine brushChoose the colour composition for each layerusing colour wheel seen below

Layer 1. Soft edges all blended.Layer 1. Darks 7.8.9. hot & coldLayer 1. Hot dark 2:1 Cold dark 1:2 Raw Sienna Raw Sienna Burnt Sienna CobaltLayer 2. Defined edges blend slightlywith dry brush.Layer 2. Hot mid 2:1 Cold mid 1:2 Lt. Red Cad Red

Yellow Ochre CobaltLayer 2. Mid tones 4.5.6. hot & cold

Layer 3. Premier coup pristine strokes. Unless soften for a glowLayer 3. Highlights 1.2.3. hot & coldLayer 3. Hot lights 2:1 Cold lights 1:2

Yellow Och. Yell Och Cad Yell Lemon/Cobalt

Cold

Cold

Cold

Hot

Hot

Hot

Tonal proportion selection

The Ebauche Palette cancome into play to set andmix the proportion of greys and browns tothe amount of pure colour.In order to control browns and grey youcan use it thinly in your underpaintingand add the colour later.i.e. Dark grey green or brown shadows inskin tones etc.

Use pure colour for direct light, sky,flowers, birds foreground etc

Use some plan together with a study ofthe subject to apportionPure colour Browns & Greysin unequal amountsremember the golden meanLet the subject suggest the technique,tones, colour composition, movement,position etc. Catch the moment using therules of engagement.

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ColdC

old

Cold

Hot

Hot

Hot

Example to start painting FAT (medium) over LEAN (turps)thick layer over thinopaque over transparentlight over dark - soft edges to sharp

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canvas maybe tinted -

turps wash

small brush - light tones

thin consistency - thick size layer

medium size brush - mid tones

large brush - dark tones

3

2

1

...................................................

thick consistency - thin size layer

1.

2.med. consistency - med. size thickness layer

3.

Aliziarin Red

LimeYellow

Yello

w O

range

Cobalt B

lue

Cad Red

Orange

Lem

Yellow

Cad

Yel

low

Purple

Ultr

a B

lue

Em

ald Green

Viridian

w

Split Compliment selection setting on wheel

select the Tone & Shade & Pure

each in separate proportions

1:1

1:3 1:2Dark - Light

Pure - Sad

Dar

k - L

ight

Pure

- Sad

Dark - Light

Pure - Sad

1

2

3

4

5

9

8

7

6

5

foreground

distance

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14 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Lemon

CadYellow

YellOchre

CadOrange

CadRed

CadPurrp

le

Alizarin

Lt Red

Cobalt

Viridan

Indian Red

Raw Umber

Ultramarin

e

Titanium

White

Premixed ColourComposition

Darkest

Lightest

Palette Layout for a right handed painter

For say a landscape painting,after the turps in and thescrub in and after the colourcomposition had beenchosen, the first area to paintwould be the sky.

The first puddle would be awhite base then dragging thecolours in from the palette.

hot and cold - light anddark light tones, followingyour colour composition.

Save any colours left over when finished.

Then clean the mixing area.

The second puddle to paint the middle ground and the middle tones may be decidedas a Blue with a bit of Raw Umber with a touch of white base colour and draw thecolours in from the palette around to the edge of the puddle to mix nice -

hot and cold - light and dark mid tones, following your colour composition.

Save any colours left over when finished.Then clean the mixing area.

.

The third puddle for the fore ground may be started with say a dark mix of UltramarineRaw Umber and touch of Alizarin.

to make hot and cold - light and dark tones, following your colour composition.

Save any colours left over when finished.Then clean the mixing area.

As a leading art teacher told me that before applying the paint to you ask yourself.....

Is it the right colour, is it the right tone, is it in the right place. i.e. drawing....Warwick Fuller

or as another leading art teacher said to my attempt to paint in a cow “ That’s a lovelydog you have got in there.” ........Robert Wilson

On appraising your almost finished painting you may decide to add another puddlemixture or to utilise the left over colours from previous mixes.

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 15

Extra points to make painting easierGive your canvas an extra 2 coats of matt gesso groundif you use a shop brand canvasPainting on a tinted canvas ..similar to pastels...makesthe turps wash easier. Just add highlights and darksWarm up with a drawing or small study of thesubject...know where you’re going.Spend plenty of time looking at your subject beforestarting.Think about the painting you are going to do thenext day before you go out.Lay your palette out tonally. Mix up some of yourbasic shade colours and darks. W Y O R P B G and Black I.E. White, Yellow, Orange, Red,Purple, Blue, Green, Black (a mix of alizarin, viridian,ultramarine) Ordered same as the rainbow(roygbiv) Plus earth colours i.e. Yellow Ochre,Indian Yellow, Raw Sienna, Lt Red, Bnt Sienna, Bnt Umber, Raw Umber. Artist qualityplease. Only 1 to 3 earth colours are usually needed.Look 3 times .think twice.. paint once...then leave it. If its wrong scrape and add correctcolour, tone and drawing.Don’t over mix colour ..it goes flat and lifeless If a mix goes wrong put it to one side touse elsewhereIf the painting looks wrong ..wipe or scrape it off.

Visualize painting a passage before youactually do it ..see the imaginary coloursYour subconscious imagination will work on it inthe back of your mindLet the subject suggest the technique .. paintaround form....Follow the direction of planes.For brush direction ..size ..type...imagine itSome subjects are best painted with an oldsplayed brush ..tree foliage, cloud, wash insSome artist end up with a cow brush a foliagebrush etc. even sometimes bricking a brush tosplay it

A medium in your second and third layercan be Art Spectrum N0. 3, or linseed oil.New synthetic mediums (Alkyds) are best usedearly in a painting, they speed up drying i.e. Art Spectrum Smooth gel, Windsor NewtonLiquin. Best in lower first and second layers.Use buttery paint....lay it on......little to noscrubbing (except in the first stage) ..define yourbrush strokes

Check your painting for white holes or gapsas you go. The original turps in or wash servesto hide these and can become part of thefinished painting. Assists one stroke or premierecoup effects.Clean your palette every time it gets muddy orbetween stages. Collect for use in greyslater.

The Authour Outdoors

BASICSFAT (medium) over LEAN (turps)thick layer over thinopaque over transparentlight over darksharp edges over soft

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canvas maybe tinted - turps wash

small brush - light tones

thin consistency - thick size layer

medium size brush - mid tones

large brush - dark tones

3

2

1

...................................................

thick consistency - thin size layer

1.

2.med. consistency - med. size thickness layer

3.

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16 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Clean your brush often.. Use a big 500ml tin of pure turps plenty of tissue, a toilet roll ishandy and rag in a plastic bag hanging of your easel. (you’ll need less brushes) Takeyour rubbish with you if outdoors.

Keep plenty of paint on your palette..store it in a reasonable size flat tin, ply or apiece of formica that fits on your palette later, when finished ..put in a box or wrap it inplastic ..stored in the freezer fridge it last months. You can instead submerge it underwater in a tray. Charge your palette with colour before going to paint.Poppy Oil can be used instead of Linseed to slow down drying time.If your paint is old and stiff...work it up with a pallete knife before hand, some mediumcan be necessary, some tubes of paint are thicker than others and need adjusting.Some are slow driers add Smooth Gel. i.e. Titanium white, Lemon dry slow. RawUmber dries fast.Stop every couple of hours or less ..turn your painting upside down to rest the eyes orlook at it in a make up mirror over your shoulder. A mirror hung on the ceiling behindyou at the right angle is best in studios.Wear a hat or tennis shade...to see better even indoors. If you shade your eyes with yourhand you will see why.Wear dark clothing or apron to reduce reflection on working surface. Work under shadeor turn easel around into the light.Don’t paint into sun on reflected water too long ..or near ants. Sunglasses can saveyour eyes, wear them as long as possible, headaches from glare can damage youreyes. . cataracts are common amonst outdoor workers.If the colour hue is too bright add the compliment and or earth colour. Add light bluefor distance. Transparent paint will go dark when you add whiteor any opaque colour.To mix a transparent optical Black use Alizarin, Viridian, Ultramarine and a little earthlike Raw or Burnt Sienna. Makes colourful greys. Ivory or lamp black is best used atthe end of a painting. Black can be used insead of blue to make purple or green. It isoften used in portraiture. It tends to darken in time and should be sealed between driedlayers with varnish.Medium greys mix is, Cad red and Cerulean. Don’t over mix.Add an earth to make it opaque like light red or raw umber. Opaque paint is darker thantransparent. Raw Umber speeds up drying time. Gel medium speeds drying as well.Poppy Oil slows drying.

Don’t mix your colour too hard or they will go dead. You arrive at favourite mixesafter familiarisation.Remember, thick consistency paint on your brush picks up a thinner mixture from offthe canvas, less paint picks up more. Applying a larger amount of a thinner paintthan what’s on the canvass covers it.

Painting and art can only be learned by doing it. Learning to swim from a book caninduce drowning..........Brush miles only can improve your work....keep some of yourbest work to measure progress and to show your work. You will know when you areprogressing because you will have enough old paintings to start a good bonfire.Check the regulations in your area.Compare your work with your favourite artist. Work out his sequence of approach. Thencreate your own.Study the amount of greys and browns in your favourite paintings compared to purestrokes.Painters are basically self taught. Paint 50 paintings then compare your progress

Keep your best paintings to show your high standard. Don’t sell them till youhave better work to show.Points to remember.....there are no parallel lines in nature (or the figure) .....equalspaces shapes or sizes.... all is a pleasant inequality set in a changing rhythm.(like music)Look for the rhythm attitude and pleasant inequalities in a repeating pattern or series ofobjects or lines.

Page 17: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 17

View of Sydney

from Hunters Hill

by

Terry Clare

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Well gessoed surface minimum 3 layers to absorb turps wash and hold the first layer ofpaint. Canvas can be tinted with a turps wash of earth colours if preferred.

THIRD LAYER Oil Paint thin consistency - thick size layer - small brushes -light tones - some hard edges - opaque highlights - more oil medium - transparent glazes

SECOND LAYER Oil Paint med. consistency - med. size thickness layer - med. sizebrush - mid tones - find some edges - semi opaque paint - little medium

FIRST LAYER Oil Paint thick consistency - thin size layer - large brush -dark tones - soft edges - transparent paint - no oil

Picture Varnish after 1 yr. when paint is completly dry

Retouch Varnish for dull spots and over painting

All the layers of a wet in wet Oil Painting

3

2

1

FIRST Turps Wash to estabish painting composition

.........................canvas................................

A

We should mention here that the canvas has a layer of Rabbit Skin Glue

or lately PVA (i.e. Chemstick or Bondcrete) to protect the linen or cotton from the oil.

4

5

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6

7

NOTE: When a painting has been allowed to dry between layers, glazes can be

applied at any stage between 3 & 6 before picture varnishing.

Some artists oil a

painting when it is

dry (after 1 month

minimum) with a

mixture of turps and

retouch varnish with

linseed oil, then wipe

of any excess. You

hold the painting at

an angle to reflect

the light onto the wet

oil to see that it is

even.

Page 18: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

18 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Analogous colour mixing

Mix 2:1 with the colour either side then one further either side to right, plus white

This may be used to make am analagous colour wheel

Using the same method you may make a brown and grey wheel using Earth colours.Mix your own colours to familarise the effects pigments make on eachother.They don’t always react as expected. Some have more staining power and others reactchemically to eachother. See page 35.

Purple

Ultr

amar

ine

Blu

e

C

ob

alt

Blu

e

Tourquois Green

Viridian

Lime Yellow

Lemon Yel-

low

C

adYel

low

Orange

Cadmium

Aliziarin

w

w

w

w

w

w w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

Yello

w

Or-

an

ge

Page 19: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 19

Complimentary colour mixingUse this colour wheel version to make interesting tertiary colours

by mixing each 2:1 with its compliment (opposite)...then once removed (either side)from the compliment....then mix with white (tint)

Example: * Alizarin + Lime 2:1 then Aliz + Viridian and Aliz + Lemon

then Just a bit of white with each to see the tint

Us this to make your own Complimentary Wheel.

Using a similar colour wheelEarth Colurs in hue sequence can be used to make greys and browns.

Yellow Ochre - Indian Yellow - Raw Sienna - Light Red - Indian Red -

Burnt Sienna - Burnt Umber - Raw Umber - BlackBlack may be substituted for Blue if you wish..The Old Masters used Black. Blue was too expensive.

Black can still make nice greens and purples.

Purple

Ultr

amar

ine

Blu

e

Co

ba

lt

Tourquois Green

Viridian

Lime Yellow

Lemon

C

adYe

llow

Yello

w

Orange

Cadmium

Aliziarin

w

w

w

w

w

w w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

ww

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

w

Page 20: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

20 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Nine basic tones

Foreground. .Warm High contrast

Distance....Cooler Low contrast

TONAL COMPOSITION

5

4

3

2

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Arrangedforarialperspective

Accurate tones are the

secret to realistic

painting....They convey the

truth of a picture, whether it

is real or not. Colour can

be subdued or exagerated.

Not so tone.

Nine tones are arrived at by

subdividing black and white

and it’s subsequent tones

5

6

7

8

9

Using just the 3 basic tones for simplicity arranged in the proportion of 1:3:5

a popular formular for pleasant tonal visual realationship based on the golden

mean 22:7

then converting this to a circular format

we arrive at 6 possible variations. Six pleasant tonal picture possibilities.

123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012

123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345123456789012345

Page 21: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 21

Analogous colour compositions and Complimentary colour compositions

Too much pure colour of similar tone is gaudy ....These basic colour compositions incorporating

colourful greys and browns in tones and hues will produce better pictures.

A colours chroma can be heightened bysurrounding it with an outline of its compliment.A tone can be lightened or darkened by puttingan outline of dark or light colour around itThese two practices can be combined.When you consider the variations available to consider, you can understand why manyartists planned a painting beforehand. Every colour interacts with the others.If you study closely the paintings you find attractive, you can evaluate parts that ifremoved would detract severely if not included.You can have a lot of fun trying out different combinations using coloured paper, tiles,stones whatever and moving them around. Pastels are handy for experimenting.

An Oriental influence in colour, using anextra yellow shade in the colour wheel,was used by many impressionistsThis contains:A. The basics of pure colourmixing, using a hot and cold ofthe each primary colour tomake a clean secondarycolour. B. Gives a trueropposite or complimentarycolours. andC. Warmer colour wheel.

Colour Wheel similar to used by Howard Pyle (American)

as outlined by Andrew Loomis

TriadicDouble ComplimentComplimentary Monochromatic

Analogous Split Compliment

The colours in this wheel are not accurate

Please use as a guide only

Analogous Variation Triadic variation

Complimentary variationSplit compliment variation

Page 22: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

22 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

HUES

TINTS

BROWN

GREY

* Y * * O * * R * * V * * B * * G *

Y O R V B G

12or

3

Emerald

Viridian

Torquois

Cobalt

Ultram

Violet

Alizarin

CadRed

CadOra

CadYell

Lemon

Lime

Making Dark Colour Cold Black = Raw Umber. Viridian. Aliz / Hot Black = Brnt Sien. Aliz. Cobalt

Mixed blacks and greys are called optical. Use the transparent compliment of each colour

MEDIUM LIGHT DARK

Select a Tonal Composition 1 2 or 3

HUES

TINTS

BROWN

GREY

Choose eitherDARK TONE

MEDIUM

or LIGHT 2 3 5 6 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 18

HUES

TINTS

BROWN

GREY

LIGHT DARK MEDIUM

2 5 8 10 13 15

18 YG

17 G

16 BG

15 GB

14 B

13 VB

12 BV

11 V

10 RV

9 VR

8 R

7 OR

6 RO

5 O

4 YO

3 OY

2 Y

1 GY

DARKS MEDIUM LIGHT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1812o

r

3

Y * O * R * V * B * G *

Page 23: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 23

Above is a tonal approach used

by the Max Meldrum Method using

impessionist colour mixing without

Ivory Black .

Ivory Black can still be used to

make a nice purple or green with

yellow if you wish.

Primary colours can be changed for

other basics Red Yellow or Blues.

Basic hues are darkend with

complimentary earth colours and

usual complimentary hue colour

SIMPLER TONAL PALLETE 7 hues each 5 tonesbased on the ebauche

Mixed BlackVirid+Purple+Aliz

RawUmber+Aliz

BntSienna+Viridian

LtRed+Touquoise

IndianYellow+Purple

YellOchre+Purple

RawSienna+CadRed

BntUmber+Orange

Raw Sienna+Viridian

LightestDarkest

WarmGrey

Cold Grey

CadRed

CadOrange

CadYellow

Lemon

Viridan

Cobalt

CadPurple

Pure Hue

Tube

Colour

Tonally

Modified with

Compliment or

Earth Colour

Page 24: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

24 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Mix up plenty of colour to finish the job with some over. Keep your colour clean Don’tover mix. Scrape the palette if things are getting dull.Clean your brush often with tissue or toilet roll - keep rags handy- use a large tin ofturps to clean your brushes in. Paint like a millionaire.

Aliz +Ultra Blue

Lemon

Bnt Sienna

LIGHTS

Ultra Blue + Raw

Viridian

AliziarinCad Yellow

DARKS

Yellow Ochre

Aliziarin

Cobalt

Light Red

MEDIUMS

The basis of thepuddle No.1 iscalled the key,mother,dominant orbasic colour.

1

2

34

Colour of shadowsA shadow can contains 4 colours. 1. The local colour (natural colour of the object in anormal light) 2. the reflected colour (from the sky or ground or nearby object) 3. Plus adarker version of the same colour or analogous colours close to it to make it darker 4.plus add the compliment to darken.

Colour or lightsA light colour can contain 5 colours. 1. The local colour, 2. the colour of the lightsource, 3. the reflected colour, and 4. an analogous colour for vibration (along side notmixed in) 5.plus white.Monet placed these colours side by side rather than mixing them or scumbled over thetop to get his dazzling effects. Other painters realised you could get an optical effect bynot mixing colours to often with the brush to obtain another colour often called brokencolour. It gave an effect similar to a the marbeling technique.used by book binderswhere they stirred colours floated on top of water with a comb.

Puddle mixing for wet in wet impasto painting

Choose your colour scheme... mix a puddle for each layer - clean palette each timeClean your brush in turps if necessary Plenty of rags and tissue. (toilet roll)

Some samples

First layer Second layer Third layer

Page 25: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 25

Puddle Mix Example 1 in colour (Trying to match the colours of Emmanuel

Phillips Fox) see next page Other artists I use for study areDavid Davies, Charles Conder, Auther Streeton, Walter Withers, James Jackson, morerecently Doug Sealy, Kasey Sealy, Warick Fuller, Robert Wilson

1. DARK TONES - Light Red + Raw Umber with: Aliziarin Cobalt Viridian

12

3

3 LIGHT TONES - White + Indian Yellow with:Alizarin Cad Red Cobalt Blue Cad Yellow

Light Red+Burnt Sienna

DARKS

layer 1

MEDIUMS

layer 2

4Light R

ed+Yell Och

Whi

te+I

ndia

nYe

llow

2 MID TONES - Yellow Ochre + Indian Yellow with: Aliz Cobalt Cad Yellow

LIGHTS

layer 3

Page 26: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

26 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

white

white

white

greys

browns

light

dark ch

rom

a

turps

black + 9 tones to

YO

RV

IBG

G B I V R O Y

Lig

ht

to D

ark

Dark to light tone

tube c

olours

Ebauche Palette Sample of a layout

This is a planned method of painting in the studio

Brown can be greyed.

Care is taken to avoid mud. No over mixing. Their should be the appearance of

some colour in browns and greys to be interesting. Premiere coupe or one stroke.

Scrape and repeat if not correct.

A limited pallet means that .....not all the hues and combinations have to be used

Greys and Browns are used to adjust the Tone and Chroma of Hues

Each layer as it is finished can be allowed to dry

for 8 days. Fat over lean. Several

canvases may be worked on one

after another. A thin layer of oil

with medium retouch varnish or

medium is applied before

commencing an over

painting. Lean varnish

then fatter varnish as

layers progress.

Glazing using various

clear varnishes and oil

or mediums allow great

control over gradual

toning for figure and

portraiture used by Old

Masters. Used in

conjunction with wet in wet

scumbling or scraping can be

effective. Used by Rembrabdt, Whistler

The same basic hues are laid out to mix the shades in the approximate amounts aboutto be used in the compositionTones and hues are arrived at by dividing and mixing------Each artist varied in his arrangement. Techniques varied

a

a

a

a

a

a

Page 27: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 27

Keeping a simple palette layoutYou know at every stage what you are doing and whyA look at the layout of an ebauche palette used for portraiture in the 19th century showsyou how they planned ahead and mixed only the colours they needed for the job

Some artists used ...a brown green or grey or both with colour ebauche. Transparentglazing with oil and varnish was also used. It became more highly coloured during theimpressionist period becoming more wet in wet opaque impasto painting.The ebauche was allowed to dry between layers, then sometimes scraped back anumber of times and used as a guide for final work. Parts of the ebauche were oftenleft as part of the final painting. For skin effects a pinkish semi transparent glaze wasused over green/ blue underpainting.

White ..yellow.. orange.. red.. violet..

indigo.. blue.. green

Light to dark in tube colours ...W Y O R

V I B G lay out for pallette

Then decending 3 tones of hot and cold

grey and brown depending on the

subject

A simple version based on Delacroix’s palette

Pallete layout for greys & darks mixusing primary and secondry opposite each other

The BLUE TRIANGLE

gives you an idea of how

each colour can be

blended with its opposite

when laid out on the

pallete this way.

juane brillant yellow och indian yellow raw sienna indian red

lemon yellow cadmium yell cad. orange cadmium. red alizarin cad purple

cad purple ultramarine cobalt blue ceurelian viridian emerald green

light red burnt sienna burnt umber raw umber

Greys mixture span. Move selector around as needed

Palette layout for brown and grey & dark mix (bottom 1/2 colours transposed to arrange mixing with opposites)move the BLUE TRIANGLE selector below to the chosen colour mix

Page 28: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

28 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

As there is a hot and cold of each primary colour, you can use the furtherest primariesto mix a sad secondry colour or closest to mix them as pure clean colour.

Just move the selector to any pair of primary colours.

There are more secondry colours than primaries

Primary colours with some secondies make good browns. Secondry colours make nicegreys

To mix browns geys and clean colour

OppositesMix to make greys

Browns Earth

Colour Primary Secondry Tube

Colours

Page 29: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 29

SEMENT 1TUBE COLOUR Darks mixed with tube colour if neccessary

Pure Medium+ White if necessary

Lights + White if neccessary

SEGMENT 2BROWNS Darks. Tube colour + Compliment +

Black if neccessary

Medium. Tube colour + White if

necessary

Lights. White + tube colour

SEGEMENT 3GREYS Darks compliments mixed with tube colour

Medium + White if neccesary

Lights+ White if

necessary

Use together with with colour composition on Page 20.and over next the page.

TUBE COLOURS 1. LY = Lemon Yellow2. CY = Cadmium Yellow3. O =Cad Orange4. CadR = Cad Red5. Aliz = Alizarin Red6. P =purple7. Ult = Ultramarine Blue8. Cob = Cobalt Tourquoise9. Emer = Emerald Green10. Vir = Viridian11. Lime =LimeBROWNS1. JuanB = Juanne Brilliant2. Y.Och = Yellow Ochre3. In.Yell = Indian Yellow4. Gld.Oc = Golden Ochre5. R. S = Raw Sienna6. Lt.R. = Light Red7. I. R. = Indian Red8. BSien = Burnt Sienna9. BUmb = Burnt Umber10. Rumb = Raw Umber11. Peach or Ivory Black

AN ELABORATE COLOUR WHEEL

TUBE COLOURS

BROWNS

GREYS

Page 30: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

30 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

1

2

3

To get an idea of colour composition, choose your favourite artists paintings anddocument their colour comps. Use them to paint another subject.Monet and Picasso among others painted the same subjects many times over withclever variations to great effect arriving at exciting colour comps through trial and error.I can only assume that the practices of those times i.e. ebauche pallets and Old Mastertechniques , encouraged these painters to this kind of excessive masterful studies orendeavours.Many miles of thoughtful brush strokes were achieved.When looking closely at a reproduction of Delacroix’s palette I can only assume toa method of the technique used around these times which might have gone alongthese lines.1 The study was painted. (many painted only one selected}2 A colour scheme was selected (only after great consideration and trial)3 The appropriate colours were laid out (if you had an attractive assistant bonchance)These colours appeared in relatively small quantities, so further later addition may

have been necessary4 A painting was executed with clean bold brush strokes (premiere coupe}5 A party was held until early hours of the morning to celebrate (pop gurgle gurgle)6 A quick departure was arranged for next week to avoid the creditors {zoom zoom) Well.....times were hardArtists made very little money in those days unless adopted by a large generallyoverseas gallery or patron.

Area 1 for Largest area of paint . Darks Medium or Lights depending oncompositionArea 2 for second largest area of paint.Area 3 for smallest area. Derived from the Tonal combination selected

Each area arranged hot to cold left to right.......Y O R V B G or your own preferenceDarkest to lightest were from top to bottom

Suggest browns be warm.........to the left.........Greys cold ............to the right

Just in passing

Using the top threecolour wheels,moveable dics canbe swapped aroundto make the nextthree colour tonalc o m p o s i t i o n sremembering that wehave only 3 tonalvariations. As longas the tones averageout then thearrangement shouldwork out.

Page 31: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 31

Closing Notes

Scumbling or the dragging of a colour over another on rough canvas to leave theunderlying colour show through slightly, may be executed in later layers and must be leftuntouched.

The same applies to broken colour or picking up 2 or 3 or even more colours at onceand mixing slightly as applied. A bit like marbling in appearance. The rule usually (notalways) used, is hot over cold, light over dark. Results are usually 50% accidental.

Painting outdoors means the addition of linseed oil or Art Spectrum No. 3 Medium to yourpaint later on as it thickens on the palette which occurs faster in the summer specially forfine lines which usually occur last. Hang a plastic bag off your easel to dispose usedpaper wipes rags etc.

Smear vaseline on tube necks to stop lids sticking.White umbrellas became popular for outdoor painting in the 1800sMonet used a wheelbarrow to carry his painting gear.

Don’t spend too long looking at paintings you don’t like in books or galleries. They may

lodge in your memory and rise to the surface in your own work. Only expose yourself tothat work which has qualities or techniques you aspire to attain for yourself in your ownwork. Specially just before starting a painting.

Train your creative memory by imagining the scene you may be studying or looking at in

oil paints. Try changing the mood or colours of what you are observing in your minds eyeor moving and objects around in compositions.Imagine it in pencil pastel charcoal watercolour and so on. Can be done while waiting forthe bus.

Major artists paint manufacturers in an effort to reduce the price of oil paints haveincreasingly used alkyds in the paint (a plastic that is soluble in oil i.e. smooth gel medium& Liquin) and cheaper pigment mixed with their paint formulas.This has altered the drying time (faster) and shelf life (shorter) of the products and theirfade resistance. Dearer old formula Artists colours cost $15 to $30 a tube upwards.

Gamblin, Bloncxs, Old Holland.

Gamblin Gamvar varnish, a synthetic resin varnish developed in conjunction with theNational Gallery in Washington, DC is used by conservators worldwide. This varnishwill not yellow, crack, or dull with age as other, non-synthetic varnishes will, and thus itslows the aging process of the painting considerably.

The drying time for colours proceed from Light (slowest) to Darks and earth Pigments(fastest) With Titanium White slowest to Raw Umber fastest This assists most oilpainters who paint Light over Dark and will help prevent cracking. When painting Darkover light make sure there is Gel medium in the lights to increase drying. Or Poppy Oilin the darks to slow drying.

To test the fade resistance of your different brand paints (specially reds) place a strip ofcanvas with a sample strip of each of your colours in a direct sunny window and cover

half the sample with a strip of board. Compare the fading result of different brands.

Page 32: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

32 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

To evaluate your painting when working you must walk back 6-8 feet or 2 plus metres.If you cant use a small mirror over your left shoulder outdoors or a large mirror in thestudio up high at the proper angle is appropriate. Some artist use a dark glass to view thepainting to check tone.

Don’t let abstract artists say to you “Show me something interesting” or its all been donebefore. Every painting is different. It takes the greatest difficulty to copy somethingexactly and a great deal of time and care. Even the same painting done by the same artistcan be picked by an amateur.

Monet Van Gough and Picasso painted the same thing many times with great success,changing it to suit a particular composition that came to mind, arriving at an effect byexperimentation.

Abstract artists like the term contemporary and modern often use rulers compasses printersand projectors with their painting, and are only interested in, and find interesting their ownwork or that of their closely knit group usually bohemian in nature. Partying, promiscuity,alcohol and drugs use are often associated with modern artistic pursuits. I’m not sayingrealists are angels.

A large abstract painting can be finished in 1-3 hours, leaving plenty of time for partyingmarketing, selling, teaching and anything else to make money.A Gallery can order 10 paintings from an abstract artist to be delivered in a week.The result is a massive rise in the number of people pursuing this avenue and a lot of badwork.Creativity is defined by abstractionists as something that has not been created before.This has resulted in some absurd behaviour in order to become recognised as a genius ortrue creative.

There have been many exciting movements and changes in the last 100 to 1000 years.Many of these movements influenced each other but often did not have time to be persuedto perfection.Going back in history there are many unfinished threads and styles yet to be combined orpersued.Streeton, Roberts, MacCubbin, E P Fox, Knox, Gruner and many others carried on thework of impressionism and were the start of a new movement in Australia similar to manyin other countries at that time. Many still pursue this direction and have polished it to amarvellously fine result.Unlike music, art techniques tend to get thrown out and are replaced with archaic practises.With music, jazz is still popular as is classical and past masterpieces are studied andtheir methods taught in the academies.

There are many traditional Art Schools coming on-line as more artists seek this type ofinformation.

There is no END to the evolution of creativity .

Page 33: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 33

For Example:

Emmanuel Phillips M Fox

Check with your favourite artist for colour compositionand mixing.

Page 34: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

34 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

Double Dipper*

Canvas Panels*

Paint Brush Holder*

Mahl Stick*

Hat/Eye Shade*

Sunglasses*

Block Out / zinc*

Repellent*

Arm Protectors*

Liquid Soap*/Hand Lotion

Rags*

Roll Toilet Paper*

(wipes)

Lunch/*Thermos

Juice or water Bottle*

Pliers*

Sketch Book*/Pencils

Pencil Sharpener

Pen knife

Camera

Folding stool*

Sun / rain umbrella*

Rope&Peg&Hammer

Old Picture Frame

Canvas Shoulder Bag

EXTRAS

Bottle Opener

Water

Esky

Coat warm

Jumper/Warm Gear

Rain Coat/ brolly*

Beret

Dust Coat/ apron

W’proofMatches

Jar Vaseline*

Old Newspaper

to clean Brushes

Tent & poles

Tent Peg Remover

Folding table

Windbreak

Camp chair

Mattress

Sleeping bag

Clock radio

Toiletries

Electric razor

Mirror

Torch & batteries

Esky / food

Camp stove

Tin opener

Camp dishes

Mug & Spoons

Tomahawk

Tools

Swimmers/Towel

Clothes / jumper

Gaiters

First aid*

Windsor yellow

“ red

“ violet

“ green

Indian yellow

Yellow ochre

Cad . deep yellow

Aerolian

Cad. red

Perm rose

quincodrine

Light red

Venetian red

Cerulean

Manganese blue

French ultra

Cobalt

Prussian blue

Viridian

Sepia

Raw sienna

Burnt sienna

Raw umber

Burnt umber

Lamp black

Water & sponges

Gum paper

Paper

W&N (Basics*)

Winsor Yellow or

Cad pale yellow*

Lemon cadmium

Indian yellow*

Yellow ochre*

Aust red gold

Cad scarlet*

Aliziran*

Perm rose madder

Cerulean

Cobalt Blue*

French Ultramarine*

OUTDOOR POUTDOOR POUTDOOR POUTDOOR POUTDOOR PAINTING CHECK LISTAINTING CHECK LISTAINTING CHECK LISTAINTING CHECK LISTAINTING CHECK LIST Plein Air

Group Basicsneccesary for Painting see Asterix*

Check the weather is it 1 Wet 2 Hot 3 Cold 4 Windy

Oil Colour Water colour Gear &Extras Camping

If I have left anything

off let me know TC

Page 35: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 35

Artists Pigments and Hazardous MaterialsArtists Pigments and Hazardous MaterialsArtists Pigments and Hazardous MaterialsArtists Pigments and Hazardous MaterialsArtists Pigments and Hazardous Materials

Colour Chemical Source Symbol

Zinc White Zinc in oxide, silicate,sulfide, etc. ZnTitanium White Titanium abundant in rocks and clays TiUltramarine Blue Sulphur volcanic & certain stratified rock SStrontium Yellow Strontium chiefly from celestite & strontianite SrAureolin Potassium in wood ashes & many rocks KEnglish Vermillion Mercury occurs in nature chiefly as cinnabar HgManganese Violet Manganese associated with calcium, magnesium, etc MaFlake White Lead found in galena & other ores PbIndian Red Iron as oxide & sulfide in many rocks FeVerdigris Copper widely distributed in ores CuCobalt Blue Cobalt occurs as metal in meteoric iron CoViridian Green Chromium chiefly prepared from chrome-iron ore CrLampblack Carbon in organic matter as coal, graphite CWhiting Calcium In limestone, marble, coral, etc CaCadmium Yellow Cadmium small amounts in zinc ores CdBarium White Barium found in combined form only, feldspar, mica, etc BaEmerald Green Arsenic abundant in native & sulphide forms AsAntimony Yellow Antimony occurs in limestone, metallic ores, etc SbAluminium Stearate Aluminium abundant in clay, feldspar, mica, etc Al

wash your hands before eating, keep hands away from eyes nose & mouth when workingkeep a tube of hand cleaner soap and towel ready plus rags and tissue

Mixtures to Avoid (due to chemical reaction causing darkening)

Flake White with...Ultramarine Alizarin Cadmiums Emerald Green Viridian

Alizarin with ... Yellow Ochre Raw Sienna

Chrome Green with ... Alizarin Cadmiumor Chrome Yellow

Cadmiums with ... Flake White Chromes Emerald Green Viridian

or you can use the fact that these colours darken to your advantageModern tube colours react less these days due to the use of substitute dye pigments and synthetic

vehicles

Safe Colours Titanium or Zinc.... White Rose Madder Scarlet Crimson

Lemon Yellow.... Indian Yellow

Cobalt Blue.... Ceurelian Blue Windsor Blue

Shades makes attractive mixes Experiment with your own

Alizarine darkened with Ceurelian ground shadows

Ultramarine darkened with Light Red darks

Raw Umber greys when lightened White (flesh tone)

Cadmium Redgreys when mixed Cerulean (fogs, smoke)

Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna Flesh when lightened On blue/green tonal underpainting

Indian or Venetian Red when lightened Salmon or Old Rose lights

Page 36: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

36 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

A gesso ground for canvas

8 Parts Wattyl Solaguard Low Sheen exterior acrylic paint

1 1/2 Parts Chemstick or Bondcrete PVA glue (is exterior quality)

1 1/2 Parts Selleys exterior Spackfilla or Plaster of Paris

2 1/2 Parts Titanium White Pigment

for pastel or chalk ground - add

2 Parts Pumice Powder extra fine ground

Mix the Spackfilla powder and Titanium gradually then PVA stirring well

using an electric drill with a paddle mixer attached for 10 - 15 minutes to

prevent lumps

This makes a thick paste which can be diluted with a dash of water.

Brushing the paint into the canvas well makes it go thinner.

Don’t add too much Plaster or the mix will go hard in the can.

Keep in a sealed container.

Stir well before using again. The titanium sinks to the bottom.

Dries in 2 - 3 hours. 2 to 3 coats are necessary

Leave dry for as long as possible before using, minimum 2 weeks.

A 10 oz. coarse or fine weave canvas can be glued to cardboard,

craftboard or ply with PVA glue or as a stretched canvas (seal the back of

a stretched canvas with a quality PVA before stretching) then gessoed

with the above recipe to make a permanent extra bright slightly absorbent

ground for acrylic or oil painting.

Page 37: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 37

Suggestions Subject Matter or What to paint Objects Depicted and their influences

A Still Life in & out of Picture Plane flowers dolls toys tractors trains objects

B Landscape fertile barren hard soft or geographic location

C Water rivers dams ponds lakes waterfalls action flow still reflections

E Seascape oceans boats wharves harbours rocks beach waves

F Animals horses cows sheep koalas kangaroos birds cats dogs dragons

G People crowds groups pairs lone young children old costume

H Figure Portraits nudes male female draped and clothed

Influences on subjects

1 Time of day sunrise sunset high noon moonlight in between

2 Time in history modern present frontier biblical mythological

ancient

3 View angle low level high

4 Subject angle rear frontal 3/4

5 Light direction back front (flash) 3/4

low level high

hard medium soft

bounced light

6 Seasons autumn summer spring winter

7 Weather Fog wind snow storm rain wind flood sunny hot cold

8 Gender male female bath toilet war sport dance play

angels gods mermaids fairies

princes witches devils wizards

9 Emotion death love holidays carnivals work poverty freedom fear

comedy

(X factor) happiness desire passion horror loneliness unhappiness

beauty emotive story event happening

ugliness drama nobility majesty utopia religious fervour

wind fire peace still touch friendliness and so on

Emotive power of pictures in different overall key colours mainly darks

different colours have a differing emotional response

match the overall dominant key colour to the emotion feeling story

e.g. green= envy, cold, rejection, fear, bad music, lunch, pastoral wealth, etc.

Make a list for your own direction

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38 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

-Establish the size, using straight outlines and the attitude of

other

outlines and the centre line of masses or skeletal frame

Relationship of each part - sizes of negative spaces - relate to

classical models

of planes to horizon - direction of shading- foreshortening

shoulders hips joints neck feet - where flow changes direction

- pressure points

of spaces lines objects adding to the flow or direction to the

patterns and actions

-feeling your way slowly using feint lines - fuzz - light colour

deliberate searching till a subject emerges - simplify large spaces

and their relationship - find the planes to form masses - cubes

of simple mass - deliberate don’t scratch

- check the underlying structure - points where

bones lay close to the surface - hard or rocky outcrops

- lights determine the light source - lighter near light source and

darker further away - darks are lighter near the light source and

darker further away - outlines become heavy in shadow or where a

sharp plane exists & light or no outline on light side or where a

gradual plane exists

lines are darker in the foreground and lighter in the distance

lines follow the direction of the form surface in relation to

the horizon - let the subject suggest the technique

-look thrice think twice draw once

- lines becomes part of the shadow in the darks and

part of the background on the light side (generally)

-reinforce the overall tone of the object (not the detail)

-graduating darker away from the focal point - shape - form -

major character details - point of interest - by going over the

same steps again using a firmer approach

STEPS for Antique or Sculptural Drawing (chiaroscuro)

as taught by Mr Gunther Seaforth Tech 1966

Straight Lines

Proportion

Perspective

Pivot Points

Rhythm

Space Critical

Skeletal Frame

Tonal

Perspective

Firmly Slowly

Tone Bias

Overemphasize

Page 39: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

No

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9

Size Equals Quality +% Frame Comm- S/Tax Entry Fee Delivery Insurance Salesinches 10,5, 3% o/hd ission Discount

6 x 8 48 50 150 200 300 330

8 x 10 80 83 173 250 350 385

12 x 16 192 196 266 350 480 530

14 x 18 252 260 310 390 520 575

16 x 20 320 330 377 470 650 715

18 x 24 432 445 490 590 790 870

24 x 36 864 890 932 1050 1400 1870

30 x 42 1260 1300 1340 1460 1950 2600

GUIDE ONLY PRICING Oil PaintingsMultiply the width by the height.. add Quality 3% or more...add size o/heads...frame...etc.

Page 40: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

40 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

The Shed Fagan Park Galston by Terry Clare

samples of paintings

Page 41: Notes on Oil Painting 6.2009

Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 41

Lighthouse, Bradley Head by Terry Clare

Samples of Puddle Mix Painting with wet in wet improvements

Flinders Gums by Terry Clare

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42 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

ARARARARARTTTTTAAAAArt is visual or aural creative expression, wooing emotion for

spiritual entertainment and enjoyment

SSSSSometimes both aural & visual

IIIIIt can take the form of DDDDDance TTTTTheatre PPPPPictures MMMMMusic

SSSSSculpture CCCCCostume or NNNNNature

OOOOOften complemented by combinations of these.

TTTTThe five human senses with IIIIImagination invoke Creativity

WWWWWhen in a calm pleasant unhurried environment

WWWWWithin NNNNNature, the GGGGGreat outdoors or spectacular Architecture

PPPPParticularly when in the presence of similar minds sharing

the same experiences

IIIIIdeas come out of a spiritual ethos as if from elsewhere

AAAAAppearing in dreams and subconscious wanderings

IIIIIf they are not recorded instantly they can disappear

AAAAAlways have a notebook and pen handy

UUUUUnless creators are in a reasonable state of GGGGGrace or have

a level of MMMMMoral standing and Conscience

AAAAA lack of peace and calm can inhibit their creativity

FFFFFaced with a creative outcome of unusual ease and success

OOOOOne can only wonder if they were the one and only sole instigator

SSSSSometimes it is a whisper in the ear or it seems as if

TTTTThe is work is progressing by itself and a sense of joy is ever present

DDDDDespair ensues when nothing happens

PPPPPleasant persistence & perspiration is the only way forward.

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 43

NOTES

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44 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters

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Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters 45

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46 Northern Promontory Plein Air Painters