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Layering your paint. Do you know how?

Ethan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:00:16 +0000

One of the biggest things to learn, that seems to never be taught is layering paint. And using a definite procedure to do so.

You know, those great paintings you see in museums were not painting with just 1 layer of paint. This combining layers gives beginners a huge headache.

I was never taught this layering process in school. In fact in one class I was in, we used to paint by drawing outlines and carefully filling in these lines, modeling form as we go. We always used small soft haired brushes and would just mix a little and apply the paint using these very small brushes. Even when the canvas was very large. We would start in one little area and just lay the paint on inch by inch.

But, I knew from my visits to the museum that all the artists I admired didn’t paint this way.

I asked the instructor. “I can’t imagine Rubens or someone of his time painting like this. His paintings don’t show that he painted like this.” The teacher response was…”Oh well, he used a complex set of layers with glazing.”

“Bingo!” I thought to myself. “That’s what I want to learn”, I said.

The instructor kind of chuckled and said “yeah yeah.”

And, I never was taught that complex layering method.

I was usually just left to plow along making mistakes and have the teacher tell me where they thought a mistake was.

You know, the ol’ method of teaching by pointing to your painting and saying…”this area is too dark” or “that part is too green”.

Somehow this was magically going to make me a better painter.

It never did of course.

Take a look at this:

This is an underpainting of a woman that is in the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

It is not by any truly famous painter.

I had to take a picture of the nameplate because I hadn’t heard of this painter before.

Van Ceulen was his name.

But look at how this “no name” painter knew his craft.

Ask yourself a question…

Do you think he was following some procedure for painting this picture – such as first making a monochrome underpainting…

Or do you think he was just muddling along with his teacher telling him “That hand is too big” or “Her head is too dark”?

He was using the layering process and it looks like the underpainting was just about complete.

Now began the process of overpainting.

Now, ask yourself another question…Would you know what to do next? How to begin the next layer?

Here is a pretty famous work by Vermeer. Do you think he knew what to do next?

Judging by the final work, I believe so. I think he understood the layering process very well and new just how to get from the image you see above, to a finished work like you see down below. And he could repeat this over and over again, with confidence, and without an instructor telling him to “make that hand darker”.

It doesn’t have to be a secret and you can finally know how to use layers the right way.

More Resources

For At Home Instruction on Layering:
Check out Ethan’s new DVD “Underpainting Solved”

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To End all your confusion about oil painting techniques and materials, check out Ethan’s newest At Home Training Program “Oil Painting Formula“

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how to paint detail and edges in a landscape

Ethan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:26 +0000

Hi there.

This article is going to show you the sequence to painting your detail, specifically leaves, and edges in a landscape painting.

Many people ask questions such as…
“Should I paint over another area (overlapping), should I paint around an area I already painted, etc.

Let’s try to cover some of that here.

I will use an old master landscape for our lesson.

Here is the videos on this lesson. Turn up your sound, watch, repeat if you have to, and learn.

Part 1

Part 2 is here

Note: Museums are the best place to learn and I strongly suggest going as often as you can and looking for real examples of the lessons you learn from me.

This is an old master landscape painted by the Dutch artist “Hobbema”. A nice wooded landscape I’m sure any of you would be happy to paint, or at least know the procedure to how it was painted so you could paint your own landscape using the same or similar procedures.

Lets focus on a detail of this painting in the next image…

Look to the right of the Black Letter “A”. Do you see how those leaves overlap the sky? This is painted over, not around. Have no fear about going over the sky. It is most likely done after the sky has already dried. Painting into a wet layer, like I will explain soon, helps to get rid of that cut out look.

If you look to the left of the letter “B” and at the highlighted leaves all around the letter “C” you will see another example of detail being painted “over” not “around” an area.

The step by step process would be something like the following…Let’s use the area to the left of the letter “B”.

After the dark areas of the trees in the background were already in and dried, an intermediate glaze layer would have been applied…

Here are the steps from this point, starting with the intermediate glaze layer.

1) Use a bristle brush of the size that would fit the area you are working on.

As an example, you may want the bristles to be around the width of the letter “B” itself. This should give you a good idea of the size brush to use if you were working on this painting and the image above was life-size.

Now, take that bristle brush and dip into a darker green and thin it down with your medium. Perhaps a mixture of sap green with a little burnt umber, or perhaps raw umber with some ultramarine blue. The color mixture is not what we are focusing on here so I am generalizing about color for this example.

We are only mixing color and thinning paint, getting it to the right consistency in this step.

2) Loading this paint on your brush. The paint should not cover anything, therefore we do not need thick paint. Your goal here is to only make the canvas wet to paint into it and add a thin film of color. And not dripping wet either, just a damp film (maybe think of it as a stain) of color.

3) Apply this thin film of color over the dried area where you are going to work on the detail. This would give you a wet base to work into.

4) Make sure you have a clean brush and create a mixture for the light color of your leaves on your palette, but not your lightest, (perhaps with some sap green mixed into a light gray – again color mixture is not the focus of this lesson so I am generalizing on the color)

5) Take a clean small sable brush to apply this mixture right into your thin film of color that you have using dabs with the point of your brush. The harder you push, the larger the dab for a larger clump of leaves. Do not try to paint every individual leaf at this point.

6) When your dabs of color start to take on the color of the thin film of color you put down in step 3, it is time to load your brush with more fresh color of the mixture you made in step 4. How many dabs will this take to happen?…until you need to reload?… Perhaps 3 to 5 dabs. And when you pick up a fresh supply of paint on your brush, make sure the brush is clean first. Yes, that may mean cleaning it in turpentine before picking up the color again. Wiping it on paper towels alone may work as well.

You have to judge when you pick up and apply new color. If it is not clean, your brush was still dirty.

If you do not clean the brush between loadings of it, your dabs will blend more into the dark area that already have down. This may be effective to paint the light areas which are not the final highlights, but not for the real hard light areas where you are picking out individual leaves.

7) Lighten your mixture with more white (or lighter gray) and load your brush to pick out even lighter leaves which have even more light shining on them. This calls for a little thicker paint and a softer touch with your brush. You are laying on the paint, right over the other paint you layed down. Don’t keep teasing the dabs or they will mix with the wet paint underneath and lose their original brightness.

The thicker the paint, the lighter you need to apply paint with your brush.

If some areas are too light and you need to make them blend into the background more, you can use the sable brush without any paint on it and dry and dab into the paint you already have on the canvas, because everything is already wet, it will automatically blend into the thin film of color that you originally layed down.

Soft Edges

Note that areas are painted right over one another. Every leaf is not drawn in first and then the sky carefully filled in around it.

The edges of the trees are not drawn in first and then the sky carefully filled in around that.

And edge is a detail and can only be made soft by overlapping areas, either when the paint is dry or wet. However, putting down a wet film of paint like I described above will help keep edges soft, especially if you use the right medium. using the right medium will automatically soften edges for you.

Of course, paint what is “behind” first and paint the overlapping objects afterwards.

Details All Over

In this image below you can see I have put a red letter “D” next to some areas where there are details that are painted over other areas.

Branches, highlights on branches, highlights on leaves, leaves painted over the sky, etc.

It is the highlights on the leaves that do all the “drawing” work. They are the details and they make it seem as if every last leaf is drawn. The darker areas are masses of dark, and have no real detail in them.

But with some dabs of lighter thicker paint, these individual leaves are picked out and are great detail work.

By the way, if you want to watch this entire landscape painting being recreated from start to finish, I recommend this dvd Museum Landscapes Quick and Easy

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how to paint detail and edges in a landscape part 2

Ethan — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:04 +0000

This is the second part of the video lesson.

By the way…

I recommend you get a copy of Museum Landscapes Quick and Easy – 2 hour DVD showing how to paint a traditional landscape (the very one in this demo) using the wet on wet method. This goes beyond the wet on wet method you have seen on tv.

The brush stroke and painting details

Ethan — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:31:12 +0000

This time we have an audio blog post. I am going to be talking to you while you look at the following images.

I made this when I used a pen name (Jack)

I am going to cover brush stroke and details. This topic is rarely covered in an oil painting class. We will use images by the Dutch master Frans Hals.

So click the play button, and follow along…

More Information:

If you liked that lesson, you will love my 7 DVD At Home Oil Painting Training Program. It’s the most comprehensive oil painting training available on the market today – guaranteed to end your frustration.

Click here to learn more about it – Oil Painting Formula

Tips on beginning your oil paintings

Ethan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:42:37 +0000

It is very hard for many painters and students to initially begin.

Your canvas or panel (depending what you use) is blank! Let us say you are painting a still-life you have a set up…

Maybe some apples in a bowl with flowers in back of them. And all of this is against a background of dark green cloth.

You have red apples, colorful flowers, a green background, maybe on a wooden table. All of these colors and objects, but your painting surface is blank! How do you begin to put what you see in front of you, on your canvas or panel? The problem is that you see a finished product and you are painting on something totally blank.

You have to reconstruct what you see in front of you.

Of course you have prepared your surface properly, haven’t you? This is of the utmost importance! I hope you have not decided to just buy a canvas from your local art supply store, rip open the packaging, and begin.

If you have done this, you are only making things SO MUCH harder for yourself.

Proper preparation of your painting surface is SO important I cannot begin to tell you. If you are painting on a store bought canvas, you might as well paint on a sponge, it is almost the same effect!

For real. Try doing a test and paint on a sponge this is how it is to paint on one of these canvases.

Remember, everything you do should be done to make the process of painting easier!

So we must start with some type of drawing.

This acts as your base or skeleton. It is your foundation for the paint that will come later. And it is only a foundation!

You are not painting by numbers. You are not carefully filling in your lines of a completed drawing. You are making a foundation for the layers of paint that will follow.
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Let’s take an example image.

You can see all of the detail. The eyes, the highlights on the nose, the patches of reflected light in the eye sockets.

Here is a closeup of the right eye so you can see for yourself

The main point I am trying to make is, this is not at all how this painting looked when it was started. Everything has to go through a beginning stage

Would you believe it looked something like the image below?

This is a painting in it’s beginning stages. Not much detail is there? There are indications of the eyes, and nose, but this is only put there so I have a foundation to work with.

This is the purpose of your “drawing”. You can do this drawing with other materials as well. You do not have to use paint like I do. I am comfortable using paint, so I use it.

You may be more comfortable using charcoal, pencil or even india ink. All are fine. But be sure to “fix” your drawing with fixative so it does not smudge when you begin to add paint over it. It is most important to begin your painting properly.

If you don’t, you do not have much of a chance at making a good finished painting.

The oil painting lessons here are ones no beginner can do without.

How was that oil painting made part 2

Ethan — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:44:26 +0000

This is a continuation of the post how was that oil painting made part 1.

We were in the middle of re-creating a painting of a girl by John Singer Sargent..

Essentially, the same thing is done again, just more carefully. Edges become more established, corrections are made and features begin to get indicated. Note that I said “indicated” only. Not finished.

The main areas of light and shadow become more defined, like on the red sash and the shadow area on the girl’s face.

He was always preparing his painting for those final strokes that make the painting special. That make Sargent the great painter that he was.

Those special things that can’t be taught.

Now, the time has come. He has done his preparation well. His foundation was done. Time to start getting into the details now.

Time to make final decisions and get more into the real drawing part now. Outlines are sharpened even more. Light areas on the hair are established. Features can begin to be concentrated on because the main large shape of the face has been established. In other words, the foundation for the features was set.

In the last stages all the detail is worked out.

All of the things most people will notice and admire first (the fur on the dog, the wetness of the lips, the whites of the girl’s eyes, etc.) are all added now.Yes he would take a lot of time getting these details right. But, he could give them his full concentration

This is only possible because he spent so much time on his preparation. His main masses that hold the painting together.

The process is one of putting the details on top of the main masses. You keep putting paint on the canvas correcting and adding more detail. Only when Sargent had the large masses just the way he wanted them could he concentrate on the details. The eyes of the girl could have his full attention.

Sargent knew that the main masses were correct and would not have to worry about them. He could concentrate on only the details he was working on.

How was that oil painting made

Ethan — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:01:02 +0000

Many people look in museums and see a complete painting and want to know…”How was that done? What did the painting look like when it was being made?”

Will we attempt to answer that question for you here.

Let’s use a painting by John Singer Sargent as an example.

Please remember, this reconstruction is not done so you can re-create only this painting. This re-creation is made to help you understand the process of oil painting, period. The exact same process you see here would be used if Sargent were painting an apple.

I have seen many re-constructions that are done so you can paint that same picture. If you want to do that, I suggest painting a “paint by numbers set.”

Nobody ever can be 100% sure about how a painting was completed, but through study and experience one can get a good idea about how a painting was made.

The blank canvas would have been primed with white oil paint. This was done to convey a light feeling through the layers of paint that would follow.

It is always a good idea to start with a very light priming. This helps to add light to the painting during the painting process. The bright white ground will shine through the layers of paint that are put over it. Painting on a bright white ground also helps the painting age well.

So, in 100 years, your painting won’t turn as dark and sink into the canvas. So it helps preserve your painting long after you are gone (if you care about that sort of thing.)

The initial drawing was made on the canvas with either charcoal or directly with some dark lines of paint.

The drawing stage was more for placement than making a finished drawing. He would keep everything loose in case he wanted to make any changes. Perhaps the areas which would eventually be black or dark would be indicated as well. But at this stage, placement was first and foremost in his mind. Not color, not the girl’s face, not the exact shape of anything…but placement on the canvas.

He was not thinking about drawing in the sense of a finished work of art. Simply establishing a nice composition on the canvas was the important thing.

You can see this beginning looks almost like the drawing of a child.

That is fine, he was just building his foundation for what is to come next.

In using the word foundation, it probably will help you to think of a house and it’s foundation. When a house is being built, the foundation looks nothing like a completed house. The frame of the house goes on this foundation and it looks like a skeleton. The same happens with oil paintings.

When Sargent was satisfied with the composition it would be time to mass in (or lay-in) the painting.

The colors were mixed to the general overall tone of the masses such as the brown of the girl’s hair and the red of her sash and chain.

A general massing of color takes place in this stage. Details are not thought about yet. They will come later in the painting process.

Just like in building a house…you must put up a wall before you can put in a window. You have to put up the frame before you can put the siding or bricks on

A general flesh color was established, and perhaps two flesh colors for the main areas of light and shadow. These were laid in on the girl’s face. As you can see, not much attention to detail at all in this stage.

As Sargent said, features like the eyes and mouth should be “drawn in” at the end. Edges are kept soft on purpose — they are a detail as well.

The process of massing in the main areas of color is now revised.

To be continued…