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Caribbean Culture Shows Through In Paintings
As one of the most important aspects of Caribbean culture, visual arts are often surprisingly overlooked. And as more and more artists from the region attract international acclaim and attention, the unique style of Caribbean painters is becoming...
Decorate your home with Shabby Chic
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Painting your Way Forward!
Painting your way forward! By Liana Metal ‘Painting is just a leisure activity , so it’s a waste of time!’ That’s what most people tend to think. But is it really? When I started meddling with water colors, I was only five or so, but I still...
Tips on Budget Decorating
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William Butler Yeats and Alchemy
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Oil Painting Supplies - Guide For Beginners
When I first began painting some 10 years ago, I remember my
first trip to my local art supply store. I recall my feeling of
utter confusion as I perused the aisles. This particular art
store had every tube of paint, brush, medium and canvas known to
man, far too many choices for a confused beginner. After several
moments, a sales person came by and began to assist me in
finding the supplies I needed. To make a long story short, I
left the store 30 minutes later with a box full of supplies,
half of which I had absolutely no idea what to do with. I wish I
knew then what I know now. I could have saved myself a lot of
money.
When you are first starting out in oil painting, you shouldn't
go overboard on supplies. It's best to start with the basics.
When you become more experienced, you can then try out different
supplies until you find the items you are most comfortable
working with.
Oil Painting Brushes - Brushes come in various sizes and shapes
from flats to brights to rounds. They are also available at
various prices. Brushes are something you should definitely
spend a bit extra on and shoot for quality. You don't want cheap
brushes. Cheap brushes are a huge headache mainly because they
shed hair and lose their shape quicker than quality brushes. The
types of brushes you purchase really depend on the type of
painting you plan on doing: landscapes, portraits, impasto work,
etc., all call for certain types of brushes. You will only learn
this over time as you become more experienced and develop your
own style. For starters, I would purchase a few flats of various
sizes, a few small rounds for detailed work and a fan for
blending. Make sure to also purchase a good brush cleaner and
preserver. I use the Marx Brush Care System for cleaning and
preserving my brushes and it works great.
Oil Paints - Oil paint also varies in price and quality. There
are some very good paints on the market today. I prefer to work
with Grumbacher Artist Oils, but Winsor & Newton oil paints are
also quite popular. There are different grades of paint. There
are student grade paints and professional grades. My own
preference is to work with the professional grades, as the
colors are more brilliant than student grade paints. I guess
it's ok in the beginning to purchase a lesser quality for
learning and experimentation. I guarantee once you try the
professional grade paints, you will never go back to student
grade. This is my opinion of course. Artist color choices vary.
Some prefer a limited palette of only a few colors, while others
prefer to have a variety of different colors at their disposal.
Here are the colors of my palette. You do not have to buy these
exact colors, as this is only my preference that has developed
over time.
Cadmium Yellow Light Yellow Ochre Cadmium Red Light Cadmium
Orange Burnt Sienna Raw Sienna Burnt Umber Alizarin Crimson Sap
Green Thalo Blue Ivory Black Titanium White
Oil Painting Mediums - Medium preference varies greatly from
artist to artist. I think every artist has his or her own
mixtures and formulas. I myself use linseed and poppy oil.
Linseed oil has a tendency to yellow the colors so I do not mix
it with my lighter color mixtures. For lighter color mixtures, I
use poppy oil as it has less of a tendency to yellow. There are
other mediums available. I recommend that you try your own
mediums and recommendations from artists until you find
something that produces the results you are after.
Canvas and Other Supports - The popular support that many
artists work with is cotton canvas, but there are other supports
available. Some other choices are linen canvas, boards and
canvas paper for instance. You could also buy rolled canvas and
stretch your own if desired. This again is something you have to
experiment with until you find a support that works best with
your style of painting. I recommend starting with a few smaller
to medium sized canvases. I work with FREDRIX Red Label
Stretched Cotton Canvas. Red Label is a medium textured quality
canvas excellent for use with oils and a popular choice amongst
oil painters.
Palette - Palettes are made from various materials including
glass,wood, plastic, and even paper. My palette of choice is the
BOB ROSS Clear Palette. This palette is wonderful. It's easy to
clean, holds a lot of paint with adequate room to mix your
colors. It's also priced quite reasonably.
Easels - Easels are also available in various sizes and price
ranges. You will need a good stable easel to paint on; otherwise
your canvas will wobble around when you paint. This can be quite
frustrating. You also need to decide whether you will be
painting primarily in your studio or if you are an outdoor
painter. If you are painting outdoors you should consider
purchasing a French easel. The JACK RICHESON Academy Verona Half
French Easel is a good buy. If you work primarily in your
studio, then you have a lot of easels to choose from. I
personally use a STANRITE 500 Classic Aluminum Easel. It's an
excellent easel that is both lightweight and sturdy. It sets up
easily and can be folded for easy transport.
I truly hope this article has helped. Happy Painting and God
Bless!
About the author:
Ralph Serpe is Webmaster for Creative Spotlite: http://www.creativespotlite.com. Visit today
for a great selection of Discount Art Supplies.
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