12-14-2019, 12:37 PM
Oof dirty brushes and palette.
The paints seem fine. Winson newton isn't super top quality stuff but it's decent and consistent. They're on the softer side and some of their colors are super oily. I've used them for less serious paintings but I always prep the colors first. You can do this by just spreading them out on some absorbent cardboard or paper first. It will suck out some of the oil and the paint will be less soft and slippery. You may need to mix it up again and then re-apply it on a fresh area to get rid of more oil if it isn't enough after 15-20 minutes. It can be hard to paint when your materials are the consistency of toothpaste.
When it comes to a palette, you generally want to clean it well. If the surface isn't flat, you won't be able to use a palette knife on it so you're stuck brush mixing. What you can do to get a good palette is to go to a second hand store and buy a framed picture with a glass cover for likea dollar. Then remove the picture and outside frame and stick in a grey/brown paper. This works as a great palette if you prefer to have it sit on a chair or something. It's really easy to clean, just get off as much paint as possible with the palette knife, then pour just little bit of solvent on it and wipe it all off with a paper towel.
If you don't have a palette knife, it's a good idea to get one. Brush mixing can work, but it does contribute to muddiness and you need to frequently clean the brush as you work. Some artists that do it a lot like Richard Schmid have a can full of fresh mineral spirits to get rid of most of the paint in the brush every time he wants to use a new color. If you have a palette knife what you can do is mix up a tone you want, then leave a bit on the tip of the palette knife and you can hold it up to your painting to see if it's correct, then modify it if needed. So you can be much more careful with your colors and the process of painting correct colors can be made much more direct.
When it comes to mediums, generally you need much less to change the consistency than you think. Paint is mostly pigments and small additions can change its viscosity drastically. Most painting effects can be gotten without any medium, it's best to only use it when you have a good reason to. On small paintings, there's no big reason to use mediums unless you have a technique that depends on some kind of resin based medium or something.
The brushes look rough. It's hard to tell what hairs those are but they seem like they're not all for oil painting.
Some of them look like they can be bristle brushes, you can usually tell because the hairs are white and somewhat stiff and springy. I think the ones with the beige handles are bristle brushes and would be what I'd use out of that mix. Bristle brushes are the standard used by oil painters historically. They work well with stiffer paint because the paint can resist the brush's stiffness.
You should maybe consider getting your own brushes. I'd recommend filbert brushes (flat in profile with a rounded tip) with bleached hog bristles (just commonly called bristles). Good brushes are very nice and if you take care of them and clean them well, they last a very long time.
As for a process, it can be good to just simplify it as much as possible and remove fancy stuff. So when you have a general impression there, you can for example start by choosing one part of the reference and mixing up that color with a palette knife. When it's correct, you pick up the color with the brush and place it where it's supposed to be with nothing fancy going on. Then choosing the color next to it you repeat the process, mixing up the color by hand and simply placing it. No brush mixing, no blending around of the colors. Example of this https://www.russianartsalon.com/images/s...012x15.jpg You can see in the example how even though the paint is thick, it's not a mess. This is because stiffer paint resists being moved and you can work into it much more easily without mixing when you don't want to. Painting doesn't have to be more than putting the right color in the right spot.
The paints seem fine. Winson newton isn't super top quality stuff but it's decent and consistent. They're on the softer side and some of their colors are super oily. I've used them for less serious paintings but I always prep the colors first. You can do this by just spreading them out on some absorbent cardboard or paper first. It will suck out some of the oil and the paint will be less soft and slippery. You may need to mix it up again and then re-apply it on a fresh area to get rid of more oil if it isn't enough after 15-20 minutes. It can be hard to paint when your materials are the consistency of toothpaste.
When it comes to a palette, you generally want to clean it well. If the surface isn't flat, you won't be able to use a palette knife on it so you're stuck brush mixing. What you can do to get a good palette is to go to a second hand store and buy a framed picture with a glass cover for likea dollar. Then remove the picture and outside frame and stick in a grey/brown paper. This works as a great palette if you prefer to have it sit on a chair or something. It's really easy to clean, just get off as much paint as possible with the palette knife, then pour just little bit of solvent on it and wipe it all off with a paper towel.
If you don't have a palette knife, it's a good idea to get one. Brush mixing can work, but it does contribute to muddiness and you need to frequently clean the brush as you work. Some artists that do it a lot like Richard Schmid have a can full of fresh mineral spirits to get rid of most of the paint in the brush every time he wants to use a new color. If you have a palette knife what you can do is mix up a tone you want, then leave a bit on the tip of the palette knife and you can hold it up to your painting to see if it's correct, then modify it if needed. So you can be much more careful with your colors and the process of painting correct colors can be made much more direct.
When it comes to mediums, generally you need much less to change the consistency than you think. Paint is mostly pigments and small additions can change its viscosity drastically. Most painting effects can be gotten without any medium, it's best to only use it when you have a good reason to. On small paintings, there's no big reason to use mediums unless you have a technique that depends on some kind of resin based medium or something.
The brushes look rough. It's hard to tell what hairs those are but they seem like they're not all for oil painting.
Some of them look like they can be bristle brushes, you can usually tell because the hairs are white and somewhat stiff and springy. I think the ones with the beige handles are bristle brushes and would be what I'd use out of that mix. Bristle brushes are the standard used by oil painters historically. They work well with stiffer paint because the paint can resist the brush's stiffness.
You should maybe consider getting your own brushes. I'd recommend filbert brushes (flat in profile with a rounded tip) with bleached hog bristles (just commonly called bristles). Good brushes are very nice and if you take care of them and clean them well, they last a very long time.
As for a process, it can be good to just simplify it as much as possible and remove fancy stuff. So when you have a general impression there, you can for example start by choosing one part of the reference and mixing up that color with a palette knife. When it's correct, you pick up the color with the brush and place it where it's supposed to be with nothing fancy going on. Then choosing the color next to it you repeat the process, mixing up the color by hand and simply placing it. No brush mixing, no blending around of the colors. Example of this https://www.russianartsalon.com/images/s...012x15.jpg You can see in the example how even though the paint is thick, it's not a mess. This is because stiffer paint resists being moved and you can work into it much more easily without mixing when you don't want to. Painting doesn't have to be more than putting the right color in the right spot.
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