Do you have anymore oil painting tips? For actual oil painting, not digital.

Hi Anon! 🎨

Ahhh, oil paint. To this day, I still get a hit of dopamine whenever I smell paint and mineral spirits. Oops.

My (Mod SugarQuill’s) art degree concentration was traditional oil painting. Note that some of these tips might come down to personal preference and school of thought. Some folks might not agree with everything I say, and that’s okay.

Maxim #1: Color theory is VITAL

• Color in oil painting is a lot different than digital art. You can’t just slap on a hue/saturation or overlay layer and call it good. You need to learn your colors so you can apply them directly.
• Here is an excellent tutorial on color theory. Here is another one.
• All colors in your painting relate to each other. All that color is is the way light reflects off your subject. I don’t care what color that light is–yellow, blue, green, etc. That’s going to affect what color your background and foreground will be.
• Complementary (opposite) colors are your friend! Just make sure you balance them out with the same levels of saturation and value.
• The ‘balancing’ above is called color bias, and can create harmony in your painting.
• Experiment with mixing an opaque pigment/paint with a translucent paint. A good tube of paint will tell you its transparency level.
• MIX YOUR OWN DARN COLORS WHENEVER POSSIBLE! 
• Unless you can justify it for your idea, Do. Not. Use. Black. To. Shade. Some potential alternatives include a burnt umber, dioxazine purple or magenta, green, blue, or the complement of your base color. (This is not to say that black doesn’t have its uses, just seek other options first.)

Maxim #2: THE BACKGROUND IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE FOREGROUND.

• I already hear your whining. Back in the day, I did too. But soon enough backgrounds will become your friend. See the above about color. 
• Build the background up along with your foreground. This way, your painting will feel holistic and ALIVE, darn it.
• In general, it’s easier to build from dark to light.

Maxim #3: Build up the whole painting together. Don’t let me catch you over-rendering one tiny part while the rest is practically blank.

• This is how you make anatomy, perspective, lighting, etc. mistakes. You need to address each part of the painting and physically back up often to make sure it all works together.
• If you’ve ever wondered why different elements of your painting don’t seem to “fit” together (ie, your subject doesn’t look like it fits in its environment), this is probably why.
  
• This is also how you got yelled at a lot from your professors, if you were me. I used to over-obsess and then screw up my painting because of it.

Maxim #4: Try to hold your brush from the end, NOT like a pencil. Try to sit at least 1-3 feet from your easel.

• On this note, unless you don’t have access to an easel, oil painting with the canvas down on a table is really ill-advised. You’re more likely to screw up your perspective. 
• I make it a point to only ever hold it like a pencil if I’m doing really brief detail work.

Maxim #5: Vary your brushstrokes!

• Maybe some marks are thinner, some are thicker. Pick where you want the viewer’s eye to go and make your brushstrokes different from the rest in that spot.
• Think about what the brushstrokes mean to you. For example, I did a painting where I thought about how I would physically touch the subject of my work. If my hand would start a little firmer then lighten up to a softer brush, I’d replicate the pressure with my brush/paint. It guided my marks.
• Don’t be afraid to let your foreground and background subjects fade in and out of each other! It creates depth.

Maxim #6: Use a medium

• Generally speaking, if all you use is oil paint + paint thinner, your work is more likely to appear kinda thin and flat. 
• There are lots of different mediums that do different things. I personally use Liquin, a product from Winsor and Newton (most of my paints are from either W+N or Gamblin, if anyone’s curious. Many of which I nicked from the school because I paid good money to go there.)
• Liquin makes paint dry faster, appear glossier, and can thicken or thin out your paint. It’s also good for glazing, building up layers, and mixing paints.
• Linseed oil can extend your drying time. 

Maxim #7: Choose an emphasis

• This goes along with #5. Don’t just make every part the same levels of rendering, color value/saturation, brush thickness.
• IT IS OKAY TO LEAVE SOME AREAS LOOKING LESS FINISHED THAN OTHERS! In fact, I’d encourage this! The more refined parts will be the emphasized section that the eye first darts to.
• Heck, is every single thing in your field of vision 100% in focus 100% of the time? No. And the eye doctor says my vision is perfect, so you can trust me.

Miscellaneous Maxims

• Work from life whenever possible.
• Don’t put your coffee/tea/etc right next to your turp jar :(
• Don’t hold your brush in your mouth; I used to until I found out it’s an easy way to ingest toxic paint.
• Acquire a product called The Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver. It will save you so much time and money, you’re welcome. Miracle product. Pure magic.
• A professor once told me, “If you’re not painting, you’re not thinking.” It really stuck with me.

Anyway, I’m no master but I hope this helps. Let me know if you guys have more specific questions. Note that a lot of this can translate to digital painting. But I do adore the buttery feel of paint swooshing across my canvas.

–– Mod SugarQuill ⚡ ko-fi | Instagram

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