How to paint flowers with oil on canvas. Oil Painting: Landscape and Oil Paintings for Beginners

The greatest masterpieces were painted with oil paints, it was they who were given, and still give, their preference to the master of painting and famous artists... But working with such paints has its own unique features and peculiar differences in technique. Therefore, many novice artists have some difficulties in painting. In this article we will try to figure out how to paint with oil paints, what they are, and also consider several techniques in oil painting.

In specialized stores, oil paints are presented in a large assortment, there are many brands under which such art goods are marketed. What is special about oil paints?

The composition includes various pigments: mineral, organic, synthetic and earth. The same components are present in the composition of other types of paints, be it acrylic or watercolors.

Oil paints differ from others with a binder component - it is linseed oil. It is it that gives the brightness and saturation of the color, and it is because of it that such paints dry for a long time. But on the other hand, the fresh layer of oil applied to the canvas lends itself to change, that is, you can repeatedly adjust the drawing and apply new layers on top of the old ones.

Another feature of oil paints is that they are not diluted with water, but with a special solvent, which is also used as vegetable oil. This thinner is sold in art stores as the paints themselves.

What types are there?

In every specialty store, you can find three types of paints:

• Highly artistic. These are paints that are purchased by professionals in their field. They consist only of high-quality components, therefore they have a high cost. But for a good picture, good paints are needed, which over time will not lose their shine and will not change color.

• Studio. They are in no less demand than the first option, they behave well on canvas. Suitable for both professional and beginner artists.

• Sketchy. They are more suitable for beginners in the art business, since for a low cost you can purchase a sufficient amount of paints and choose your own application technique.

Manufacturers of oil paints are located in many countries of the world. Experienced artists have already selected the options for themselves that are suitable for the work. Many people combine their sets from different companies, which is also acceptable.

Still oil paints are divided into transparent and opaque. The latter are more dense in structure and therefore do not transmit light through themselves. Each package must have special designations. For example, the "*" designation indicates the fastness and durability of the paint on the canvas. The more such symbols on the paint, the longer the finished canvases will last. Most best paints have a term of more than 100 years.

The symbol in the form of a filled black square means that the paint is not transparent, if half, then it is translucent.

The pigments that give the paint a particular color can be divided into organic and inorganic. The first type gives brighter shades, and the second natural colors. With a good ratio of pigments, manufacturers achieve beautiful and high-quality shades.

For the production of oil paints, imported linseed oil is usually used, since flax growing not on the territory Russian Federation, possesses unique properties thanks to which, artistic paints have their own unique quality characteristics.

In the video: how to choose paints for oil painting.

About painting techniques

Preparation for creativity does not take much time, especially since you can buy everything you need for work in modern art stores. Already stretched and primed canvases can be found in any size - from the smallest to the largest.

The oil painting looks very impressive. The strokes applied by the artist seem to be separate from each other. Many people think that oil painting is a fairly simple activity, but this is absolutely not the case. Let's try to figure out how to learn how to paint with oil paints.

Each master has his own drawing technique, which differs in its own characteristics. The standard ones can be distinguished:

• multilayer overlay;
• alla-prima - one layer.

The multi-layer application is a very complex technique, in which you need to be very careful, knowing all the properties and characteristics of oil paints. It is necessary to work in the same style and not dilute the paint in order to finish the work faster. The diluted composition may appear dull and dull on the canvas than the rest of the parts. With this technique, the whole work will take more than one or two tubes of paint.

When applying one layer, it must be remembered that the paint can shrink and cracks appear in the picture. In this case, artists let the first layer dry completely and paint the second. Many craftsmen use this technique more often, since the material consumption is lower.

Fundamental rules

So, let's learn to paint with oil. What rules need to be followed:

1. A prerequisite for painting any painting is light. Only correctly exposed lighting can achieve the desired effect.
2. Artists begin their work with the outline of a future painting. Coal works well for this. It can be easily erased with a rag and the missing element can be painted over again. The charcoal lines need to be pinned to the canvas.
3. In the painting, all tones and shadows are obtained by constantly mixing colors. You need to clearly understand what colors you need to mix in order to achieve this or that shade.
4. Masters begin to paint their picture with the brightest elements of the composition. That is, first you need to select the darkest element and the lightest. Then you can start with all the other details.
5. Once the basic sketch is done, you can proceed to drawing. But do not focus on one element. It is necessary to gradually use the entire canvas.
6. Artists recommend taking white in much larger quantities than paints of other colors, since they are used more often.
7. The finished painting dries within three days, so you can make corrections on the canvas the next day after completing the work. The missing place can be removed with a spatula. This will not harm either the canvas or the whole picture as a whole. The work will remain as solid.
8. For beginners and amateurs, it is unprofitable to use professional paints, since beginners will mainly draw sketches.
9. For oil paints, a special storage area must be prepared. What is needed for drawing (paints, brushes, canvas, palette) should be in one place, and as soon as necessary, they can be taken and used.
10. After the cloth is completely dry, you cannot wipe the surface with a dirty cloth and touch it with your hands. It can hurt appearance general pattern.

A phased drawing with oil paints looks something like this.

How to draw their first paintings correctly will be suggested by artists who can boast of a large number of canvases. There are certain painting techniques for painting with oil on canvas. An aspiring artist needs to start working under the supervision of an experienced teacher. As soon as the written drawings begin to turn out, and your methods are revealed, you can paint in oil yourself.

Art supply store sellers can also tell you what to paint on and how to start painting. There are many schools where people of all ages learn to paint. Learn to draw only from good masters painting!

Oil painting workshops (2 videos)

Pictures in stages (23 photos)

Most people choose needlework or other options as a hobby. artistic creation... Moreover, because of the same mass-produced goods, the demand for hand-made things is increasing. Photos or computer images are printed multiple times. A unique thing you can do by learning how to paint oil paintings. Even a beginner can understand this painting technique.

Even if you try to perfectly repeat your plot twice, you still can't make an exact copy. This creates the uniqueness of the works of art.

Materials that will be required for work:

• Host.
• Various paints.
• Brushes.
• Thinner and small container for it.
• Special palette for mixing.

Masters also apply palette knife- special elastic metal shovels with wood handles, with which paint is applied to the base. It is important for a beginner to master the brush.

In addition, the masters paint on easel or a high-quality sketchbook, if they go to work in nature in order to depict oil paintings from life.

Landscapes for beginners is a tricky plot. Better to create paintings using imagination or using photographs. This will make it easier to portray the landscape.

According to professionals, easel work is easier, since it is easier to step back and inspect for the result of the work. At first, you can try to practice on the surface of the table, but it is better to take some kind of board and put it on your chair at a certain angle. An overview of your work will open to you and you will be able to assess its quality well, notice your shortcomings in time.

Remember that paints are consumed quickly, so you need to purchase them separately and in a large number... The release form can be of different sizes. Whitewash is the fastest to leave, but black paint is consumed in very small quantities. First you need to decide on plot, and then buy paints of the corresponding colors and shades.

In order to draw an autumn bouquet you will need one set, and for summer bouquet completely different. In order not to waste your budget on unnecessary colors, it is better to take only the necessary ones in approximately the required amount. All colors and shades can be obtained with only three main colors(yellow, red, blue) as well as white and black.

Gallery: oil painting (25 photos)

Creation and selection of a framework

If you want to make drawing easier for yourself, buy from specialized stores ready-made bases for work on which you can immediately apply paints. They cost a decent amount of money, but they will suit a beginner just right, as they greatly simplify the work.

Another great option is use of fiberboard... Every man's farm has scraps of this material, which remains after repairs. Finding it is easy by asking friends, relatives or a loved one. Someone has definitely used it and keeps the remnants of this material in the garage.

The shape of the sides of the fiberboard is different, one looks very smooth, and the other rather rough, vaguely similar to a woven structure. Both forms can be used, but on a rough surface it is worth applying more parts and layers of primer, otherwise the color may become dull, since the paint will sink a little into the structure of such a product.

If you decide for the first time to try to paint a landscape painting in oil, you can take a ready-made fiberboard base with already applied primer. You need to take a small sheet, no more than a landscape one.

If you want to make a base from DPV with your own hands, an easy and inexpensive way is application of simple gelatin, you can add PVA glue to it to make the color white. It is necessary to apply this primer in several layers with preliminary drying of the past. Three times will be enough. You should feel that the surface has changed. After preparing the foundation, you can move on to creating a picture.

Master class oil painting

After creating the basis and preparing the materials, we proceed to work in stages:

• Render on canvas line drawing by using simple pencil or paint.
• Take care of the distribution of shadows and highlights (where there will be bright and dark areas).
• Create the background and all the big objects.
• Get busy drawing small shapes and details.

Sometimes move away from the picture to evaluate the results of their activities. Mix on the palette as you paint different shades flowers. The last step is the decoration of the picture for the frame.

Oil painting workshop for beginners

In this master class we will paint the sea!

Drawing Description step by step:

First of all, you need to prepare the picture with which you are going to paint the sea. Place the canvas on an easel. Create the first strokes on the canvas, making the main background. Wait a little until it dries completely. If you follow the advice of the master class, then you will be able to paint a picture with oil paints with the sea. After finishing drawing, you need to decide on the name, most importantly, do not forget to leave your initials at work. Authorship is very important because it makes your work stand out.

Oil painting. The basics. Lessons by Bill Martin for beginners.

There are things you need to know before you start painting in oils.
All paints are a mixture of dry pigment and liquid. In oil paints, the coloring pigment is mixed with linseed oil. Flaxseed oil is an oil that dries up by air oxidation. It absorbs oxygen from the air and crystallizes the paint pigment on permanent basis... Once the oil dries up, it cannot be removed.
Oil paints are thick. They are produced in tubes. The paints are squeezed onto a palette and mixed with a palette knife to obtain new shades. Then they are applied to a vertically positioned canvas with stiff elastic brushes.
Oil paints dry very slowly. You usually need to wait three days before putting on the next layer. Such long time drying is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The great advantage is that you will have time to reflect on what you have drawn. This is very useful when you are making gradient transitions from one color to another. Or, if you are unhappy with what happens while the paint is still wet, you can scrape it off with a cloth, palette knife or rubber scraper and redraw it.
The disadvantage is that if you put two wet paints side by side different colors, they may not mix neatly with each other. The palette, brushes, and damp cloth should be handled with extreme care to avoid smearing yourself, clothing, food and furniture.
You can work with paint for up to 12 hours in a row, then you must leave the work to dry for three days, after which you can continue working. When the paints are dry, new colors can be applied on top. There can be many layers in the work. Each subsequent layer must be the same in thickness or thicker than the previous one, otherwise cracks will appear.
After the work is completely dry (three to six months), a protective layer of Damar varnish should be applied.

DRAWING.

A complex drawing is quickly lost when applying oil paints, so it is better to designate a drawing simple figures and contour lines... The drawing can be done directly on the canvas, or it can be prepared in advance and transferred to the canvas.
When the drawing is applied directly to the canvas, it is better to use thinned paint. Since it is already paint, you do not have to isolate it from subsequent coats.
You can also use coal. The charcoal sketch will need to be isolated from the next layers with a fixer. Soft charcoal is easier to fix with fixer than compressed charcoal.
The drawing can also be applied with a pencil to the canvas. Then also secure with a fixer. The sharp tip of the pencil can crack the primer, so you can add another clear coat of primer. If you have applied another coat of primer, no fixer is required.

In the photo: a can with a fixer, in a box - carbon paper.
It is better to prepare a drawing for translation through a carbon copy on thin tracing paper, then it will be easier to translate. Attach your drawing to the canvas. Translate it using carbon paper. Circle your drawing with an underlined carbon copy. Use a ballpoint pen in a contrasting color to see which areas you have already translated and to control the thickness of the lines. The applied design must also be secured with a fixer or a thin glaze layer of a transparent primer.

TRANSITION OF ONE COLOR TO ANOTHER

Consider a graduated transition from one color to another. Oil paints, because they take time to dry, allow you to move them across the canvas while still wet. That is why it is much easier to make smooth gradations of color with oil than with other paints. This can be done with any brush. But the best fit flat brushes, and worst of all - round. The same principles work for small and large stretch marks.


The paints are mixed on a palette and applied to their intended locations on the canvas. The brush is then passed back and forth in a crisscross manner between two color gradations until a satisfactory result is obtained. Then parallel strokes are carried out to finalize the site. Work with a clean brush from dark to medium color, and then again with a clean brush from light to medium.


(A) In this example, brush strokes are ALWAYS perpendicular to the lens flare. Moving the brush in a circle, we try to make strokes perpendicular to the glare, respectively, we get the shape of the strokes of a twisted brush.
(B) Depending on the location of the primary colors of the stretch, an idea of ​​the plane in which the surface is located is created. Notice how the shades are arranged to depict a flat surface (left) and a curved surface (right).

WE CREATE FORMS

All shapes are created from five basic shapes. These shapes are: ball, cone, cylinder, cube and torus (donut, steering wheel). Parts of these shapes form whatever objects we see. Imagine half a cylinder on a cube - and you get the shape of an American mailbox. A half ball and a cone will give you a teardrop shape, a tree is a cone, an oak is a hemisphere (half a ball), and a cylindrical mug usually has a handle in the form of a half torus (donut).


Chiaroscuro creates shape. Each of these shapes has well-defined locations of light and shadow. The sphere is characterized by sickle and ovals. The cones have a triangular illuminated part and everything else is in shadow. Cubes and flat surfaces contain stretch marks (gradient transition of light to shadow).
The cylinders are made of strips. Thor is made of crescents and stripes.
Concave versions of these shapes have the same chiaroscuro, but without reflexes.
If you can learn how to draw these five shapes, you can draw everything.

The ball (sphere) is defined by crescents and ovals. The balls are drawn with crescent and twisted brush strokes.


The cones are made up of triangles of light and shadow. Cones are painted with triangular brush strokes.


The cylinders are made up of stripes of light and shadow. The cylinders are written with parallel brush strokes.

Cubes and any flat surface obey the same rules. Graduated transition from light to shadow. If the depicted surface is parallel to the canvas, then it is depicted in one even tone. A cube is a combination of intersecting planes. Each side of the cube contains a chiaroscuro stretch. The cube is drawn with parallel brush strokes.

The torus contains aspects of two other shapes. It has stripes of light and shadow, like a cylinder, in the center, and crescents, like a sphere, along the edges. The torus is written using twisted strokes and sickle strokes.


Here you can see that to convey the shape of the object, you need to use light and shadow, and not contour lines. Light can be confusing, so first try to see the shape of the object, and only then - how exactly the light falls on this shape.

COLOR MATCH


The rainbow gives us examples of the pure colors that surround us in the world. Rainbow colors in order: red-violet, red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue-violet, violet. When these colors are framed in a circle, we get a "color wheel". The color wheel is a must when matching colors.


The circle is positioned so that yellow, the brightest light color, was at the top, and purple, the darkest at the bottom. From top to bottom, on the right, there are yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red and red-violet. These colors are called warm.
From top to bottom, on the left side, there are yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue and blue-violet. These colors are called cold colors.

Complementary colors.


Any TWO colors that are opposite each other in the color wheel are called SUPPLEMENTARY colors. Red and green are complementary colors to each other, as they are opposite each other on the color wheel. Yellow and purple are also complementary to each other. Yellow-green and red-purple are complementary colors. Complementary colors placed side by side on the canvas reinforce each other. Complementary colors when mixed on the palette neutralize each other. On this plate, complementary colors are at opposite ends of the scale, opposite each other. If we move towards the middle along this scale, we arrive at a neutral gray color, the least saturated of all.

All colors have shades. Pure spectral colors are marked with letters in this picture.
So how do we match colors with all of the above in mind?
We just need to answer these three questions.
1. What color will the desired color be obtained from, where is this color located on the color wheel? (meaning spectral color).
2. How intense is it? (the more we add additional color to the color, the less saturated the color we need becomes).
3. Hue (how dark or light it will be).

This is how it all works.


Paints are arranged according to colors on the palette.


We select the color, like a brown leaf.
The spectral color will be reddish purple. White is added to match the hue. A yellow-green complementary to red-violet is added to reduce its saturation.


We select the color of the green leaf.
Spectral green. Cadmium green is our base color. It contains a bit of yellowness, so we reduce its saturation with a red-violet (quinacridone pink). Yellow-green and red-purple are complementary colors to each other.
Add white to clarify the shade.


We select the color of the silver tape.
The spectral color is blue. Add white to refine the tonal saturation. Add orange, complementary to blue, and get a gray color.


Matching the color of the 3D object. A piece of soap.


First, we select the middle. The spectral color is yellow-orange. Add a very small amount of additional blue-violet to reduce the intensity of the color. And a little bit of white.


To get the light areas of our soap, add some more white to the center of the resulting color. To get the color of the shadow, add another blue-violet to the middle color.


So, the colors of the soap are matched. Usually, to get the color of the shadow on an object, you need to add an additional color to the main color of the object. For darker shadows, use the base color of the subject, but with less white. In some cases, adding extra color doesn't darken the color enough, that's when we add a little black.

SHADOWS

Shadows create light. Shadows are divided into three categories. The first is the shaded part of the subject, known simply as SHADOW. The second is a falling shadow from an object, which is formed by the fact that the object is blocking the light from the light source. The third category is the shadow on adjacent items.


The shadow portion of an object is a darker, less saturated version of its base color.
Direct light produces dark shadows. Diffuse light produces less intense blurry shadows.
Reflected light in the shadow (reflex).


Light striking an object from its environment is called reflected light or reflex. The color of the objects that surround our object significantly affects the reflected light. See the green reflected light in the left ball? Notice the reflected red in the middle ball. Ambient color is an integral part of all shadows.


The darkness of the surrounding objects also affects the reflected light. The first ball just hangs in the air. The second ball also reflects the white surface. The third ball reflects a black surface. The saturation of the surrounding objects is also an integral part of the shadows.

Falling shadows.

A falling shadow is always characterized by the fact that it is the darkest and most focused at the source of the shadow (at the subject). Drop shadows are written in a darker, less intense color than the color of the surface on which they fall.


The drop shadow color always contains a complementary color to the light color and a complementary color to the color of the surface on which the shadow lies.
Do you see a blue tint in the shadow of an object that is illuminated with orange light? And an orange tint in the shade of an object illuminated in blue. There is a tint of green in the shadow of an object illuminated with red light. And notice the reddish-purple cast of the shadow cast by the yellow-green subject.
Drop shadows are related to shape and texture.


Drop shadows describe the surroundings of the object. On the left, the wall is defined by the drop shadow of the glass. On the right, the shadow indicates the presence of a mound.


The edges of the shadow define the texture of the surface on which the shadow falls.
Grass on the left and mud with rocks on the right.

Falling shadows in direct and diffused light.




Direct light (left) usually comes from a single light source, such as the sun or a spotlight. It produces high contrast and rich dark drop shadows.
Diffuse light usually comes from multiple light sources. It produces low contrast and fuzzy drop shadows.


Objects with little or no drop shadow are ALWAYS in diffuse light, where they appear flatter and less textured.

Shadows from neighboring objects.


These are the dark shadows that we see where objects touch each other. Dark line all around closed door, the dark line under the coffee mug, the dark line between tightly clenched fingers - this is the shadow from neighboring objects.
It is relatively independent of the direction of illumination. These shadows in the shadows are usually the darkest parts of the drawing.


A narrow dark bar under the cylinder on the left tells us that the objects are separate. The cylinder on the right is connected to its base.

CONTRAST

We use light and shadow together.

Contrast is the ratio of the lightest to darkest part of an object or its surroundings.

Tone scale.

Left - high contrast, right - low contrast.

When objects have high contrast, they appear closer to us. When the contrast is lower, objects appear farther from us. Those rocks in the distance seem to us to be located farther from us, their contrast is lower than the contrast of the rock closest to us.


The gradual saturation of objects with contrast makes them visually closer to us.


By the contrast of the falling shadow and its surroundings, you can determine the distance.

Low contrast


Objects in diffused light have the lowest contrast.


Objects without a drop shadow are always in diffuse light. If the subject has a medium to dark tint, it should have a drop shadow.


If the object has a tonal transition from medium to light, then it will appear as if in haze or fog.

CONTRAST CREATES A TYPE OF LIGHT. High contrast matches bright lighting. Low contrast corresponds to diffuse lighting, far distance and haze.

TEXTURE

The texture helps determine what exactly you are seeing.

The texture is best seen when the light transitions to the shadow. On smooth objects, a flare is a distorted representation of the light source itself. The sharper the focus of this reflection, the smoother the surface of the object. A glass bottle has a smoother surface than an aluminum bottle, which in turn is smoother than candle wax. We know how these objects focus the lens flare on themselves.

On objects without bright highlights, the texture is visible well and is determined by the transition from light to shadow.

These ten objects are arranged in order of their degree of texture.
Notice where your eye is looking directly to gauge the texture of the object.

We look at the transition of light to shadow to determine how textured the subject is.

The texture is in diffused light.

On the left is direct light, on the right is diffuse light.

Objects in direct light appear more textured than objects in diffused light.
The log and towel feel softer and smoother when diffused lighting... Objects appear less textured in diffused light because the transition from light to shadow takes longer.

GLAZING / LESING LAYERS

Glaze layers are applied over the dried paint.

Transparent layers of oil paint are called glaze. Translucent are glaze layers. To obtain a glaze, the paint is diluted in a ratio of 1/3 Damar varnish, 1/3 turpentine and 1/3 linseed oil... Glaze is a thin transparent layer of paint that is placed on another dried layer to obtain a shade of the third color http://www.kamforum.ru/style_images/1/folder_rte_images/image.gifet. For example, if you put diluted quinacridone pink (clear) over blue, you get purple. If you glaze over exactly the same color, then you will enhance it. Falling shadows on complex textures are very often covered with glaze. Glazing darkens the color a little. (See the lesson "Paints" about transparency and haze).

This is glazing.

For example, the shell of a beetle needs to be greened.

The glazing liquid is mixed with cyan green (transparent color) on the palette until the required degree of transparency is achieved.

Then the mixture is applied with a kolinsky brush on the drawing in a horizontal position. Leave to dry overnight. When using icing, you can change the color of the picture without changing the direction of the strokes of the paint on the base layer.

A glaze is obtained by using a diluted matte color over a dried color of another paint. The glazing layer does not change color and is a translucent layer.

The paint is also mixed on a palette with a mixture for enrobing and applied to a horizontal surface with a core brush.

Master class from Valery Rybakov

So let's get started.

Let's take a canvas

In this case, I used a canvas that was not stretched over a stretcher. But this does not affect the result at all. So it doesn't matter: the canvas stretched on a stretcher or not - the main thing is not to look for excuses, but without fear to take up drawing a vase of flowers with oil paints.

The picture shows that I took a brush and, without thinking, painted over the entire canvas with oil paint. Moreover, oil paint should be well diluted in a thinner or white spirit.

In the next picture, I decided to finalize the background spot of our future flower masterpiece and added oil paint. What happened - you can see for yourself.

Then I made a rough outline of our future vase and roughly drew the location of the green leaves of our bouquet of flowers. This is an approximate location - so you can feel free to experiment in this place.

This picture is not much different from the previous one. However, if we take a closer look, we will see that a glare has appeared on the vase (a light speck in the upper part of the vase). There was also a shadow from the vase. This gave the pleasant impression that the vase "stands" on the plane of the table. I also decided to add the dark end of our table, on which the vase is installed (at the very bottom of the picture).

The image of our future flower painting in a blue vase is already beginning to emerge. However, we do not stop at this, we continue our free master class: .

What kind of flower picture can be without the flowers themselves - you say. And here the flowers begin to appear.

Moreover, before applying our flowers to the canvas, we first remove the excess paint in those places. As you can see in the picture, we are removing some of the foliage. And we apply our future beautiful flowers.

In this picture of our master class, we have all the main flowers. And the picture already looks very nice 🙂

But we do not stop there and continue to draw on our bouquet of flowers in a blue vase.

This picture shows how I palette knife I'm starting to add the green leaves of our flower bouquet.

And finally, the final stage. This is the finishing image of our flower bouquet in a blue vase. As you can see, I decided to add a few more flowers to our bouquet. Namely 2 yellow flower medium in size and many small blue flowers. This caused more petals to attack the table. They also had to be shown 🙂

It seems that our today's master class has come to an end: How to draw a Bouquet of flowers with oil.

A week ago, Yulia Skripnik, editor of the MYTH.Tvorchestvo platform, sent me a message: “Nastya, hello! Can you on next week to make an article with the exercise of the Classical Painting Lessons? ". I replied that I would do it, and a thousand and one fear of a creative person spun in my head:

“I can't paint with oils. I'm in last time I took oil paints in my hands several years ago, and not to say that this experience was successful. Suddenly, I will not succeed at all and I will only ruin the canvas. "

Pushing aside my fears, I began to study the book. Certainly in paper form, simply because her scent is inspiring in itself.

The book is divided into 4 chapters and each of them has several lessons. I was planning to read the book before last page and then choose which of the lessons I will do. However, there was so much new knowledge and inspiration that already on page 48 I took out the oil paints and thinner from the box and climbed into the wardrobe in search of my old obsolete T-shirt. What does the T-shirt have to do with it? Read on 😉

Lesson 2, which we will study with you, is devoted to wiping imprimatura. I also didn't know what it was until I started reading the book, and that's okay.

Imprimatura(from Italian imprimatura - the first layer of paint) - a term used in painting: color tinting of the surface of a ready-made white primer.

You've probably seen the work done with this technique.

Materials:

• Drawing materials- paper and pencil, or charcoal if you are going to draw directly on the surface
• Primed surface- wooden surface or canvas
• Palette
• Natural umber oil paint. You can use natural sienna or earthy green - experiment with colors
• Titanium white or quick-drying such as alkyd... They are comfortable because they dry out overnight.
• Linseed oil(optional)
• Cotton rag- a torn T-shirt will do (paper napkins are not recommended)
• Large bristle brush

Above I have listed the materials recommended by the author of "Lessons of Classical Painting" - Juliet Aristide. I did not follow all of these recommendations. The "same" material may not always be at hand, you should not give up creative experiments because of this.

Stage one: staging a still life

Then it's time to start drawing. I performed it immediately on canvas with a pencil, however, the author recommends that you first perform it on paper, and then transfer it with tracing paper. And this good advice, because trying to use the eraser on the canvas is fraught with the formation of "dirt". I also didn’t dwell on the drawing, because the purpose of this tutorial is tonal underpainting.

Before proceeding with the wiping imprimatura, it is worth checking how the surface of the canvas or wood panel absorbs paint. Some cheap acrylic primers hold the paint well and can be difficult to wipe off until the surface is colored. If you come across such a primer, you can first cover the entire surface with a very thin layer of linseed oil.

Now comes the fun part! It is necessary to cover the canvas with a thin layer, intensively shading the paint with a stiff large enough bristly brush. The author recommends not to be afraid of too dark a color and not to dilute the paint, because otherwise the layer will come out too thin, but I thought that my paints had been lying idle and thickened for a long time, so I added a solvent, and this really was a mistake.

Advice from the book: If the picture is too large and complex to complete in one session, the process can be broken down into stages (for example, the first half in one day, and the second after another)

We start to wipe. The contour of the drawing shines through the oil layer, so it's not difficult. It is necessary to constantly intercept the rag in order to use the clean parts. For large areas it is convenient to wipe the paint off with my index finger, and for small areas, I wrapped a rag around an orange stick.

The wipe-off underpainting can be finished after 4 steps, but adding dark and light accents gives the work a more finished look. Therefore, using the glaze method, I added white and dark color deepened the shadows.

The work is ready! Several obvious mistakes were made, jeans are stained with paint, but the main thing is that you got incredible pleasure from defeating your fears.

I used to be afraid of books about classical painting, it seemed to me that they were created at least for students of specialized universities, but it turned out that this is not at all the case.

I urge you not to be afraid! Try something new, go beyond the usual materials and techniques.