How good it is to be an artist! After all, he can capture the beauty of the world around us in pastel drawings, and oil painting is generally some kind of miracle! Sometimes you look at a picture - and you want to step over the border of a baguette and dissolve in a beautiful world painted on canvas with a talented brush of the artist. Do you also want to be among the lucky ones who can freely use a brush and paints? If you are not afraid of difficulties, but determination and love for drawing overwhelm your heart and soul, then go ahead! We are sure that with your determination you will become a real master very soon.

Oil painting - where to start

Getting started is always difficult. Painting on canvas with oil paints is a business that requires a lot of knowledge, skills and abilities. Of course, it is best to start getting involved in art as early as possible. Unfortunately, not all parents took them to art school in childhood.

But nowadays there are art studios for people of all ages, where everyone can study oil painting. A master class in such schools is usually conducted by experienced artist teachers who are well versed in the subject and can fully reveal all the secrets of mastery. If, for some reason, you cannot or do not want to visit such an institution, then this does not matter. In the end, a stubborn and purposeful person can independently learn how to paint oil paintings. And first you will need to go to the store and buy everything you need for painting there.

What materials will be needed for work

Oil painting is a business that requires not only talent and skill, but also significant financial costs, because in order to paint, you need a lot of everything. Here is a list of what you will need to get started:

1. Special oil paints in tubes.

2. Natural bristle brushes (flat) and bristle (round) in different sizes for finishing your painting.

3. Sketchbook.

4. Thinner for oil paints.

5. Charcoal for drawing a preliminary drawing on canvas or a simple soft pencil.

6. Subframe. It can be ordered in a framing workshop or bought ready-made in a store.

7. Primed canvas.

Well, now you are almost fully armed and can start the creative process. But first, listen to our short story about the properties of oil paints.

More about oil paints

The beautiful oil painting is breathtaking. But have you ever thought about how much time the master spends at the easel? Much depends on the quality of the paints used by the artist. Now it is difficult for us to imagine it, but once painters had no idea about oil paints. They were invented only in the 15th century by the Flemings, and the secret of their manufacture was kept in the strictest confidence for a long time. Can you imagine how lucky we are?! In our time, such paints can be bought completely freely, and of the most excellent quality!

You need to know that the white color is consumed the most when working. Therefore, if you buy paints in a set, then buy a few more lead tubes for them or you can also not use ready-made store kits, but assemble your own palette. Just do not try to immediately buy as many flowers as possible. Take only the main ones: white, black paint (it is best to purchase burnt bone), ocher (yellow and red), cadmium red, or cinnabar, kraplak, cadmium yellow, chrome green, ultramarine and cobalt blue, mars brown. Such a set at first will be quite enough.

Oil painting for beginners. Stages of work

An elephant, as you know, is best eaten in parts, so let's find out what stages the work on an oil painting will consist of.

1. First you need to decide on the nature, i.e. decide what exactly you will paint: still life, landscape, or maybe even a portrait?

2. Let's say you have chosen a still life. As you know, it consists of several different objects that must be carefully drawn, in addition, it is necessary to think carefully about lighting. The play of light and shadow is a very important point, which in no case should be forgotten.

3. If you still have a primed canvas and a stretcher separately, then you need to fix this and stretch the canvas with a furniture stapler.

5. Now it's time to do the initial underpainting. Here your task is to deal with the main colors, shadows and light in your picture. After this step, your oil painting should dry out a bit. You can return to work on it the next day.

6. After the sketch has dried, you can proceed to further creativity. It's time to refine the contours and work out the details.

7. At the final stage, wide brushes should be put aside and a round, thin kolinsky brush should be picked up. She puts the smallest finishing touches on the picture.

8. Well, the work is ready. After the painting is completely dry, you can cover it with a special varnish.

Where is it better to start: with a portrait, landscape or still life?

If you have never practiced oil painting on canvas before, then you should not start doing it with a portrait, because this is the most difficult. Yes, and the landscape is difficult for an inexperienced artist, especially if you want to paint it from life. The difficulty arises largely because the lighting in nature is constantly changing, the trees are moving in the wind, and there are too many different distractions: buzzing mosquitoes and flies, annoying passers-by, etc.

Another thing is a still life (dead nature): I made it up from different objects, and it will stand like a pretty little one for as long as you need it. Just do not immediately try to imitate the "Little Dutch" and take on a complex composition consisting of many objects and colors. To begin with, it is better to be content with a modest still life of two or three things.

How to use the palette

You have probably seen in various films how venerable painters beautifully hold a palette with one hand, and draw freely on canvas with the other. You can do this too, there is a special hole in the palette for this: insert your thumb there, and support it from below with the rest - very convenient, try it!

Paints are squeezed out on the upper left edge of the board, and its middle should remain free - on it you will mix colors. Very important: after a painting session, do not forget to scrape off unused paint, otherwise it will dry on the palette and interfere with subsequent work.

Oil painting technique

Oil painting training can be hampered by the fact that a novice artist may not understand the technique of such a drawing well. Oil paints have a high density, and without experience it can be difficult to achieve imperceptible tonal transitions. Take a look at the reproductions of old paintings - you will not see a trace of strokes on them. If it is this manner that attracts you, then you will first need to master the so-called glazing technique. At the same time, the paints are diluted with a solvent quite liquidly, but they are practically applied to the surface of the canvas. It is difficult to explain in words, it is best to see how real artists do it.

Another technique that allows you to achieve beautiful effects in painting is shading paint with a brush on canvas. In this case, one color seems to be fused into another. And, of course, it is not at all necessary to try to write without strokes. Perhaps you want to take a role model

Last parting word to the budding artist

Well, that ended our short story about oil painting. The master class turned out to be small, but very informative. Now it will depend only on you how soon you will be able to please your loved ones with beautiful works. Get started as soon as possible and don't be afraid. We wish you creative success!

There is no more rewarding medium than oil painting. The fact that oil opens up endless possibilities for the artist is also indisputable. Since its inception, oil has been very popular and most of the discoveries in the world of painting have been made in this technique.

Of all the painting techniques, oil painting is the most complex. Especially this difficulty arises in the transition from watercolor. A completely different principle of composing shades appears. In watercolors, paper was involved in everything through the light; when working with oil paints, the white color of the soil has almost no meaning. The mixing of colors takes place with the constant presence of white.

In nature, there are seven primary colors. If you start mixing these colors, it is easy to see that some primary colors are obtained by mixing other primary colors. Only three colors - red, yellow and blue - cannot be composed by any mixtures, and they must be present on the palette in finished form. Knowing this, an experienced painter will not look for ready-made paint for each color of an object, but will think about how much red, yellow and blue will enter the desired shade of color.

In oil painting, paints are lightened by adding white (zinc or lead) to them. Therefore, the painter must learn in practice how to obtain shades of color by bleaching the basic colors.

What is the best order to squeeze the paints onto the palette? The order may be different, but constant. It is impossible, for example, to apply ultramarine today in the upper corner of the palette, and tomorrow - in the lower left. The painter is so firmly accustomed to the constant position of colors that he selects mixtures of colors without looking at them. Everything is done mechanically. Similarly, knowledge of the location of colors developed in practice allows you to look at nature and canvas more often than at the palette.

Paints mixed with one another often lose their saturation (brightness). It is difficult, for example, to get sufficiently bright orange, green and purple colors by mixing. That is why, sometimes, ready-made tube bright orange, green, blue and purple paints will not be superfluous on the palette. But this is optional. Only black paint may be necessary separately in a tube, since it, composed of three basic colors, is not dark enough. Although black is considered the result of almost complete absorption of all parts of the spectrum, in nature we almost never meet pure black, since there is no absolutely complete absorption in nature. In practice, white (reflecting all light rays) and black have color tints. This should be remembered in the work and do not use white and black paint in its pure form. Black paint, skillfully used, makes it possible to obtain very beautiful and subtle mixtures with other paints. For example, mixed with cadmium orange, it produces a beautiful warm green. Black, mixed with warm colors, gives complex warm shades, mixed with cold colors - cold.

Opaque paints lay down thickly, so that the bottom layer is not visible. Transparent, on the contrary, can give a different shade to the bottom layer that shines through them. This is glazing - a very strong technique in classical painting. Nothing prevents opaque paints from being diluted thinner with a thinner and made of them, as it were, transparent paints, the glazing effect will be, but not as juicy as with real transparent paints. Translucent ones will make it a little better. But still transparent paints are unique. The secret is that if you put them on a bright white background, they create a watercolor effect, as if glowing. The old masters used glazing, transparent paints to make soft transitions of skin tones. They can "combine" a picture of different colors by covering it with a thin layer of transparent paint, this will give it a general shade.

The principle of any paint is a pigment and its binder. It can be different, the main thing is that it holds the pigment, and retains its strength when dried. The properties of binders to dry quickly or slowly give different techniques for their use. In this sense, "oil" is universal. Oil paint allows you to imitate quick-drying paints if it is diluted with solvents. Or, if diluted with oil, it allows you to slowly style it, blending with other colors, which gives very smooth transitions. It is opaque, which allows you to write in several layers. By applying varnish on top, you can adjust the glossiness (juiciness) or haze of the picture. Its disadvantages, for example, slow-drying white, can be "winned" by using acrylic white in places, or by adding desiccants to them (an additive to speed up drying). Acrylics can be applied over oil paints and vice versa.

It is also necessary to know that individual paints (ultramarine, kraplak), laid on a white surface with a transparent layer, look very little like the whites of these paints. Thus, in order to successfully paint with oil paints, it is necessary to have only five colors in the sketchbook: lead or zinc white, yellow (lemon cadmium), blue (cobalt blue or ultramarine), red (thioindigo pink, cadmium red, cinnabar), black in pure form (burned bone, thioindigo). From these five colors, you can make any color that exists in nature, any paint that is commercially available.

It is impossible to say in advance what colors must be mixed in order to depict the visible. Do not mix more than three colors, not counting white. Composing a color from two or three colors, you do not need to mix them on the palette for a long time. When pure colors are kept in the mixture, a variety of shades are obtained on the canvas.

The stretching of the canvas on the stretcher is done as follows. It is advisable to wash the new unprimed canvas in hot water to remove sizing agents from it. When washing, the canvas shrinks somewhat, which subsequently has a positive effect on the preservation of the painting. Raw canvas should be straightened and hung to dry. It is better to stretch the canvas in a slightly moistened state. Place the subframe horizontally on a table or shield, face up, remove the blades from the grooves, knock down the subframe more tightly, check for distortions. Then lay and level the canvas on top of the stretcher, stretching it slightly diagonally and temporarily fixing it with nails in the corners (nailing in about one third of the length). Then, in the center of the sides of the stretcher, the canvas is stretched and fastened with 2-3 nails every 3-5 cm, preferably also temporarily. The canvas is stretched, it is necessary to carefully ensure that the sides of the stretcher and the threads of the canvas are strictly parallel. To do this, mark with a simple pencil one of the threads at a distance of 5-6 cm from the edge of the canvas and make sure that when stretched, it goes strictly along the edge of the stretcher bar. The same can be done when stretching the canvas on the other sides.

Nails are not hammered in a straight line, but somewhat randomly, with a snake. This is done so as not to split the subframe. Nails are driven in at an equal distance from each other, and each nail on one side must correspond to a nail on the opposite side of the stretcher.

Gluing and priming the base is a very responsible and difficult stage in working on a sketch or painting. The quality of the painting, the preservation of the painting, as well as the course and method of conducting the painting process, largely depend on the quality of the soil.

The practice of fine arts knows many recipes for the preparation of various soils. Each artist, based on his creative needs, knowledge, manner, temperament, empirically develops his own recipe for soil. Of course, such experimental work should be carried out thoughtfully, taking into account technical and technological patterns. It is necessary to know well the materials for soils, the methods of priming, the technique of working with colorful materials.

When performing a work of art, the painter must set himself the task of fulfilling his plan not only with a creative method, but also with the most advanced technical methods, ensuring long-term preservation of his work.

There are many different systems of painting, but the most common of them, especially when working for a long time, is multi-layered. With a multilayer system, the entire work process is divided into separate main phases, performed in a more or less definite sequence: 1) toning the soil; 2) drawing a picture; 3) underpainting; 4) registration; 5) glazing; 6) completion.

Soil toning. The color of the ground is of great importance, because the color effect of the picture largely depends on it. A beam of light, passing through layers of transparent paints and falling on a tinted ground, will be partially absorbed, and partially reflected and will come to the surface of the picture painted in one color or another, depending on the shade of the ground and the transparency of the paints. In order to use the color of the ground most effectively, it should be prepared from strongly opaque paints, and in further registrations, mainly transparent paints should be used, while maintaining the translucence of the ground tone, since body and dense paints will cover the color of the ground, and it will not matter. Transparent paints laid on a tinted ground give the painting depth, expressiveness and brightness of tone. Translucent paints give a large number of different tones and shades, depending on the thickness of the layer and the intensity of the color. Dense and opaque paints give a very small number of shades, and in mixtures with transparent ones, they reduce the purity of their tone. Covering paints are used mainly in pure form or as a base on which transparent paints are applied. It is true that when mixed abundantly with varnishes or glazing fillers, some transparency of opaque paints can be obtained, but in any case, with a very limited color range. The color shades of paints can be enriched by introducing transparent fillers into them: aluminum stearate, chalk, blancfix, kaolin, alumina, crushed glass, etc. In practice, artists usually use white. The advantage of the white pound is that it can be used with any method of writing, in addition, it, almost completely reflecting the light, imparts intensity to the colors.

Dark primers give depth to paints, when applied with a pasty layer of zinc white, strong lights are obtained. For many artists, the color of the ground was the main halftone, and they subsequently withstood the light in colors complementary to the ground. Often, the tinted ground was left completely unwritten in some places or slightly covered with transparent or translucent paints. Rembrandt preferred a slate-colored primer, Rubens - red-brown and umber, Levitsky - a neutral green tone of the primer, Borovikovsky used a neutral gray primer, Bryullov used light brown, Alexander Ivanov tinted the primer with light ocher. Compared to dark primers, light and white primers are less dangerous, in case of a change in the color of the primer and a decrease in the density of some paints, the primer will not darken and color the painting with its own tone.

Drawing drawing. A drawing is prepared either separately on paper with subsequent transfer to canvas, or directly on canvas. It is often recommended to draw on canvas with a brush. If the drawing is done with a brush, it is necessary to ensure that the layer of paint is evenly distributed on the canvas, avoiding paint streaks along the contours of the drawing.

Underpainting It is customary to call the first registration of a picturesque foundation a color. It is a preparatory stage of work on a painting or a long study with a multi-layered painting method. Unlike imprimatura, underpainting, as a rule, performs three functions: compositional, plastic and coloristic. Underpainting in many ways predetermines the course of work and the final result of pictorial constructions.

Underpainting using white can be multi-colored. White, taking into account further glazing, is slightly tinted with the desired color shades. In this case, the underpainting looks very light, the colors are very whitened. In both examples of underpainting using white at this stage of work, the main attention is paid to the texture of the colorful surface. The surface of the underpainting paint layer can be smooth or, on the contrary, body-like, thick-layered with a strongly pronounced texture of the relief, up to the illusory transfer of the texture of the material of the object with a plastic solution to the shape, a large mass of light and shadow.

In the process of working on underpainting, it is recommended to use well-drying paints, zinc white, etc., or add a binder that speeds up drying. Well-drying paints with the use of varnishes provide a strong bond between the paint layer and the ground and serve as a basis or, as they say, "bed for painting".

As such a binder, a small amount of cobalt desiccant should be used, and to dilute paints, a tee of the following composition: mastic or dammar varnish 200 g, polymerized oil 20 g.

At the next stages - in registration - on a well-dried underpainting with thin transparent glazes and a translucent overlay of colors, the artist achieves the final pictorial-plastic, coloristic and figurative integrity of the work.

Do not randomly and haphazardly apply strokes of paint. This destroys the form, introduces variegation, disorder and does not contribute to the transfer of material, volume, space. The shape, direction and nature of the stroke in painting depend on the shape of the object, the nature of its surface and material. You should know that a brushstroke applied thickly (pastoly) brings the image closer to the viewer, while a brushstroke applied thinly and smoothly moves it away. For this reason, the background in a still life or landscape should not be as pasty as foreground objects. When depicting the sky, the distance or the color of the fog, one should not apply paint as heavily and thickly as we put it, depicting the earth, dense or heavy objects. It is better to lay them in a thin and loose layer. The nature of the smear surface is different. It depends on the tool, how the stroke is applied, the thickness of the paint, the base on which it is applied. All this, taken together, has a certain influence on the quality and beauty of color, the pictorial-plastic and emotional solution of the study, its integrity. In other words, the texture of a colorful surface is an important means of artistic expression. Invoice constructions are constantly being modified, improved, and their new solution is found.

To what has been said, it should be added that the scale of color spots, a stroke, a stroke depends on the size of the pictorial plane. The size of the stroke must be adjusted to the size of the study or painting. In monumental painting, the scale of color spots is of particular importance.

You can write in oils only on a wet or only on a dry layer of paint, but in no case on a semi-dry one. If you write on wet paint, the painting will lose color, wither. When the paint has already begun to dry out, and a film forms on its surface, an attempt to apply another layer on top of the dried layer may lead to the fact that the work will be completely ruined. If you need to rewrite some place, then it is best to remove the paint with a palette knife, without touching the ground of the canvas. If the place to be rewritten is completely dry, to bond the new paint with the old one, wipe it with raw potatoes or onions, and when dry, write on a starchy surface.

Methods and techniques for imposing a paint layer and, accordingly, the textures of the colorful surface of paintings and sketches obtained in this case are different. You can paint with paints in a thick or thin layer, with strokes or shade the paint with a brush, make mixtures with other paints, with white or put it in its pure form without mixtures, liquidly dilute paints and apply transparent layers so that the lower colorful layers or the base color are visible and thereby create new color tone, etc. .

Among the whole variety of methods for applying a paint layer, one can single out the leading ones, such as the vision of the pictorial process by the method of multi-layer painting and the conduct of the pictorial process by the alla prima method, in which the paint is placed wet in one layer. Often these methods of painting are combined in one work. Within each method, various methods and techniques for applying paints are possible.

The first method of multi-layer painting involves the mandatory division of the painting process into a number of successive stages - underpainting, registration, glazing (sometimes they are called the first, main and final painting layers). On top of all paint layers, when the work is completed and well dried, a protective top layer of varnish or other compounds is applied. Completion of work on each stage should be accompanied by breaks for complete drying of the paint. The method of multi-layer painting involves the widespread use of glazing, optical properties of paints. So, it is sometimes difficult for an artist to achieve the desired pictorial effect at once. To do this, he can use two or three overlays of transparent and translucent paint layers on top of each other. The method of multi-layer painting has remained the leading one for many centuries. It is indispensable when performing long-term works, genre thematic compositions, large-sized paintings.

A completed picture or sketch, painted with oil and sometimes tempera paints, is covered with varnish and other compositions. The top layer protects the paint layer from dampness, dust, dirt, soot, gases and at the same time increases the intensity of the sound of the colors of the picture, study. It is recommended to apply a top coat no earlier than one to one and a half years after completion of work. This is due to the need for complete drying of the paint layer and the oil in it. It should be borne in mind that with a lack of light or in a dark room, without an influx of fresh air, the drying of the oil slows down, it can turn brown and change the tone of the painting. A painting aged in the light is better preserved in the future.

Varnishing and drying of the top coat should also be done in a bright, dry, ventilated room at normal room temperature and humidity. It is not recommended to apply and dry the top coat in damp rainy weather, as dampness adversely affects the strength and transparency of varnishes.

For work, you can use a flute or a wide squirrel brush. Lacquer should be applied slowly, otherwise it will foam. Hairs from the brush that have fallen into the covering layer should be removed immediately.

The varnished picture, until the varnish is dry, must be protected from dust, dirt, mechanical and other damage to the varnish film.

16. Oil painting. Basic information about technology.

AT art school New Art Intentions closer to the end of the basic painting courses and drawing courses, novice artists begin to use oil painting. Due to the complexity of the new technology, many questions arise, and, bearing in mind that the new is the well-forgotten old, we decided to publish the article "Introductory information about the technique of oil painting". This article was written by the artist F. I. Rerberg (1865-1938), and published in the magazine "Young Artist" No. 9, 1937. It has somewhat outdated methods and techniques for modern artists, but is completely valid if you are " in the field" conditions, where the store with art materials and supplies is not accessible. And it's priceless! Because few of the artists now fill their brushes themselves, prepare paints and varnishes, primer canvases. But maybe worth a try?

The article is completely reprinted "as is", with explanations from the 1961 edition (highlighted in italics). Our comments will be below.

All the painstaking work of typing and editing this article (and several lessons) was undertaken by Katya Razumnaya, for which we express our deep gratitude to her.

Basic information about the technique of oil painting.

Before embarking on painting with oil paints, a novice artist needs to know what oil paints are and how to handle them. When working with water paints (watercolors), you probably noticed that a fine powder is deposited at the bottom of the glass in which you rinse the brush. It is this powder that imparts color to the paint. The coloring matter is called a pigment. If the powder (pigment) is mixed not with glue, on which all water-based paints are prepared, but with oil, oil paint will be obtained. For this purpose, linseed oil is most often used, less often walnut, poppy and sunflower. These oils, when dried in air, do not evaporate like water, but, like glue, turn into a solid mass. There are oils, such as olive oil, which always remain liquid, and the paint mixed with them never dries. Other liquid oils evaporate like water. The paint prepared on them quickly becomes a dry powder. Paint powder is not just mixed with oil, but rubbed with oil. Small amounts of paint are rubbed with a chime (this is the name of a pear-shaped stone body with a flat base). Paint mixed with oil is rubbed with a chime on a stone slab. The movement of the chime is given either circular and progressive, or rectilinear in different directions and rubbed until all the paint turns into a homogeneous mass, in which the powder is completely invisible to the touch. The chime and the slab must be made of very hard stone (porphyry, granite). The stone slab can be replaced with thick mirror glass. At factories of art paints, paints are rubbed on special machines - paint grinders.

The finished grated paint is stuffed into tin tubes (tubes) closed with screwed heads. The paint is made so thick that it can be freely taken with a brush and painted without diluting anything. Paints in this form are sold. If the paint we bought is too thick, you will have to add a drop or two of oil. It happens, on the contrary, that the paint squeezed out of the tube flows and spreads, does not hold its shape, which indicates an excess of oil in it. Such paint, before writing with it, must be smeared on paper for several minutes. Excess oil is absorbed into the paper, the ink thickens and becomes usable.

To work, oil paints are placed on a palette. The palette is made from lightweight wood. It is shaped in such a way that it is convenient to hold it with the left hand along with several brushes. Now palettes are usually made from plywood glued in three layers. Such palettes are very durable, but heavy. It is better if the palette is cut from one piece of wood and has a large thickness near the hole for the thumb, to the left and top edge it should be heavily planed. This palette is easy to hold on the hand, and it does not cut the thumb.

The palette prepared from plywood must be pre-soaked with oil and dried well. An unoiled palette draws in the oil from the paints placed on it, which causes the latter to thicken.

Paints are placed on the upper left edge of the palette. Its middle remains for the preparation of mixtures. In the arrangement of colors on the palette, it is necessary to establish a certain order - so that each color always lies in the place allotted to it. Most often, white paint (white) is placed at the right end of the palette. I. E. Repin put white in the middle of the upper edge of the palette, to the right of them he placed warm colors - yellow and red, to the left he put cold ones - green and blue, then black and brown.

At the end of the work, the palette must be cleaned immediately. Leaving on the edge of her heaps of unused paints, the rest of the surface of the palette should be freed from the paint mass and wiped dry with a piece of cotton wool or a rag, but by no means wash the palettes with turpentine or soap and water.

Brushes for oil painting are used mainly bristle and more often flat.

Oil paints cannot be painted with one brush, like water paints. While working in oil, the brushes are not washed, so you can’t put light and dark tones, reds and greens, etc. on the picture with one brush.

Buy bristle brushes no. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 for the first time. Then, no doubt, you will want to have more brushes.

To display small details in the picture, you will have to have one or two small brushes made of soft hair. The best of them are columnar. The brush is made from the tip of the tail of the column. Since kolinsky brushes are expensive and not always commercially available, you can get by with squirrel or ferret brushes. Buy #5 and #8.

Brushes must be kept very clean. Not washed in time, a dried-up brush soon becomes unusable. After work, dirty brushes can be placed in kerosene*, in which they can stand for one or two days without much harm. (* holes are cut out in a piece of cardboard or plywood in accordance with the diameters of the brushes. The brushes are inserted into the holes so that they do not fall through, but are suspended).

Before work, the brushes taken out of kerosene are wiped dry with paper. Wash the brushes with soapy foam and rinse with water until the foam stops coloring completely and there are no traces of paint left on the brushes.

In addition to the listed accessories, without which it is impossible to write with oil paints, some other items are less necessary, but useful to the painter: a palette knife (spatula) - a horn or steel knife that cleans the palette, mixes paints, removes excess paint from a picture, etc.

The artist-painter usually keeps paints and all the accessories necessary for the work in a sketch box, which is convenient to carry with you to sketches. Its purpose is to serve both as an easel for writing an etude and, at the same time, as a repository of a raw etude. There are a lot of sketchbook systems.

What colors should a beginner painter have on his palette? On what material can you paint with oil paints? Do I need to dilute or add anything to finished oil paints?

In oil painting, first of all, white paint is needed - white, without which we completely do when working with watercolors. Until the 19th century, all oil painting was performed on white lead. Most of our artists now write with zinc white. A novice painter can, of course, paint with both. But it is better if he remembers at the same time that white lead dries faster and, upon drying, forms a very strong layer, but they tend to blacken from bad air (from hydrogen sulfide gas), especially in a dark room. In addition, they are very poisonous. Zinc white does not blacken, but dries for a long time, and the dried layer cracks more easily. Now it is recommended to make a mixture of 2/3 zinc white and 1/3 white lead.

Of the red paints, kraplak, or garance, is needed - a transparent paint of a thick crimson-red color. The bright orange-red paint is called cinnabar. Recently, we are beginning to replace cinnabar with the same bright, but more durable paint - cadmium red. The brightest of our yellow paints is cadmium yellow. It is prepared in a number of shades: orange, dark, medium, light, lemon. Buy two of them: dark and light. In terms of color brightness, the rival of cadmium is chrome yellow, or kroner. It is much cheaper than cadmium. Cadmium is a durable paint, but crown soon loses its brightness.

The most common yellow and red colors from time immemorial were the so-called ocher. Ochrami still primitive man painted silhouettes of animals on the walls of caves. Ocher is a natural yellow clay, only washed and crushed. It is found in many places on the globe and has various shades of yellow, brown, less often red. From high temperature, all yellow and brown-yellow ochers turn red. You have probably seen how yellow raw brick turns red after being fired in a kiln.

All ochers are durable and cheap. Buy a light yellow ocher and some red (burnt). Red ocher or its variety is sometimes called flesh ocher, Venetian, Indian, English paint.

Natural Sienese earth close to ochres (from the vicinity of the Italian city of Siena), bright brown, dark yellow and burnt Sienese earth are being replaced by us with lands close to them in color that are available on the territory of our Union. There are a lot of green paints for sale, but most of them are mixtures of blue and yellow paints. Any of you can make such a mixture yourself. In the set of colors, you can limit yourself to one green paint. The famous Soviet landscape painter Rylov used only one green paint - emerald green. And look what an abundance of green shades he extracted from his modest palette!

From blue paints, especially at first, you could limit yourself to one ultramarine. A lighter blue paint - cobalt - does not completely replace ultramarine, but is necessary in the absence of the latter. The dark blue Prussian blue (or Prussian blue) common in our country seduces beginners with its great strength and brightness. But better not get used to this paint. It will be difficult to wean from it, but it is of low strength and collapses in a mixture with most other paints.

The black paints we currently sell are the following: burnt bone and grape black.

Of the brown paints currently produced by our factories, mars brown is the best.

On what material can you paint with oil paints?

On a very smooth, slippery surface, oil paint does not fall, slides, does not stick to the surface. On a porous surface that absorbs oil, oil paint, as they say, withers, loses its luster, and becomes dull. So, the paint will dry out a lot on ordinary white cardboard or on paper. If the paper is glued with a liquid solution of some kind of glue, sagging can be avoided, but the paper from gluing becomes easily brittle.

In the last century, small works were often written on oiled paper. So did sometimes our famous artist A. A. Ivanov. The paint lays down on such paper well and does not dry out. But over the years, dried oil becomes brittle and oil-soaked paper crumbles like a dry tree leaf. But here's a trick that can be recommended: the paper is glued with strong glue on thick cardboard, and after that it is impregnated with oil. The most common and convenient material for oil painting in our time is canvas. Almost all the oil paintings that adorn our museums are painted on primed canvas.

More often, linen or hemp canvas is taken for painting, as it is more durable, but they write on paper and jute canvas. The fabric of the canvas should be dense and even, without knots. You can't paint on a blank canvas. The oil, soaking into the canvas, overeats it. After a while, the oiled canvas becomes brittle and breaks down. Therefore, the canvas for painting must be covered with primer - primed. This primed canvas is sold ready-made. But, since both the success of the work and its further safety largely depend on the quality of the soil, you must be able to choose a primed canvas when buying it, or better, be able to prime the canvas yourself.

The piece of canvas that you are going to prime must be pulled tight over the frame, otherwise the canvas will wrinkle. Before applying the primer, the canvas is glued with a liquid solution of glue, preferably fish or gelatin. One sheet of gelatin is diluted in a glass of water. On the glued canvas, when the glue dries, the primer is applied.

Here is a good adhesive primer recipe:

Gelatin 10 g, zinc white or chalk 100 g (a little more than half a glass), water 400 cm3 (two glasses). For the elasticity of the soil, 4 cm3 of glycerin or honey is added. This amount of soil is enough for 2 m2 of canvas. The primer is applied with a brush.

A very good soil is obtained according to this recipe:

Mix 4 chicken eggs in 160 cm3 of water and add 120 g of zinc white (or chalk). This amount of soil can cover 1 m2 of glued canvas twice.

For paint work, small pieces of primed canvas, paper, or cardboard can be tacked onto the board. Canvas measuring 50 cm or more must be stretched on a stretcher, equipped with pegs inserted into its inner corners, with which you can stretch the canvas if it sags or forms folds. You need to practice a little in the ability to stretch the canvas on a subframe. Having bent the edges of the canvas to the sides of the frame, fix the middle of one side with a nail, then the middle of the opposite and the middle of the third and fourth sides. Then the canvas is pulled towards the corners, gradually driving nails from the middle of each side to the corners.

When buying or ordering a machine for your painting (easel), pay attention to the fact that the machine is stable and the picture does not sway or tremble from the pressure of the brush. All folding tripods have very little stability, and for work in the room it is better to have a simple upright easel with pegs.

I have already said that you can write with oil paints without diluting them with anything, just like they come out of tubes. But there are times when you have to resort to additional liquids and compositions in the process.

It is necessary to have a bottle of purified linseed, sunflower or walnut oil. But do not forget that any excess oil in the paint is very harmful and leads to yellowing and cracking of the paint layer. If for some reason you need to make the paint more liquid, it is better to dilute it with some liquid that will evaporate from it and leave no trace in the paint. Refined petroleum (refined kerosene) or white spirit (solvent No. 2) can serve as such a paint thinner. In addition, there are special varnishes that can be used to dilute oil paint. They are called varnishes for painting. Do not mix slow-drying painting varnish with others called "retouch varnish" (retouch varnish). The purpose of the latter is to destroy the withering *.

(* Since the author of the composition of the varnish does not offer retouching, it is possible to remove the sagging with bleached or compacted oil specially prepared for painting. Some artists, in order to eliminate sagging, wipe the shriveled places with a weak solution of dammar or mastic varnish before re-drinking. As a solvent for turpentine varnishes, it is used purified turpentine; for varnishes prepared with white spirit, white spirit is used.)

There are also compounds, the admixture of which to oil paint accelerates its drying. I warn an inexperienced painter against these compositions (driers), since some of them, while accelerating the drying of paints, at the same time cause them to blacken and crack.

Having received oil paints and a primed canvas in his hands, an inexperienced painter usually begins to paint with these paints at random, without regard for anything, rejoicing that he can rewrite the same places many times.

From such treatment of the material, the pictures quickly deteriorate, lose their color, blacken, become covered with cracks, and the recorded places begin to show through the upper layers of paints. Do not make excuses that your first undertakings do not have a great price and no one will regret if our pictures die:

Remember at first some rules for handling oil paints. If you do not expect to finish your work in one day, as they say, on a wet basis, do not put the first layer of paint thickly and avoid introducing slow-drying paints into it (kraplak, gas black).

Usually the paint does not dry on the first day, and the next day you can continue to work on the wet. When the paint stops staining, it is necessary to leave the work for several days and continue it only when the bottom layer seems to have hardened. You also need to let each layer dry before applying a new one. With secondary registrations, sagging usually appears on the paint layer, that is, matted places. These withered areas can be restored to shine by gently rubbing them with retouching varnish. Be careful because the varnish can dissolve the insufficiently dried paint. You can smear the shriveled place with oil, but the next day you need to remove the rest of the oil that has not been absorbed into the paint with transfer paper, otherwise a yellow spot will form on the oiled place over time. Oil is better at destroying sagging than varnish. To some extent, the formation of sagging can be avoided by wiping with retouching varnish all places subject to secondary registration. The old masters wiped such places with a cut onion or garlic *. When making dry corrections, be aware that oil paints tend to become more translucent over time, and the parts you overpainted begin to show through from under the top layer of paint. Therefore, do not just write down the places that you want to destroy, but scrape them off first. (* This method is especially often used in cases where fresh paint is applied to an already very dry one. Rubbing with onions or garlic helps new layers of paint to better adhere to the underlying ones).

There are many examples of performances from under the top layer of pieces of painting, which the author considered destroyed. A painting by Velasquez has been preserved, in which the horse turned out to have eight legs, since the four legs painted on top were joined by four, destroyed by the author, but now clearly translucent.

There are several ways to perform an oil painting. In the old days, after carefully drawing a contour, the picture was underpainted, that is, light and shade spots were installed on the canvas, often in one tone of some kind, mostly brown, paint, sometimes not oil. Such underpaintings remained from Leonardo da Vinci. According to the underpainting, the whole picture was already prescribed in colored paints; the picture ended with glazing. Glazing was especially widely used by the great Venetian masters of the 16th century, who are considered unsurpassed colorists.

Now artists often paint at once, trying to give each stroke of paint the desired shape, luminosity, and color. This is how landscape sketches are mostly written. For example, Repin painted not only sketches, but completely finished portraits, without preliminary drawing, without any underpainting, without any glazing, in one wet session. Repin completed his large figured paintings for a long time, redoing a lot of them, sometimes even starting the painting again on a new canvas. Serov painted portraits for a very long time and, having dried the work, finished it with glazing.

A beginning young artist must from the first steps accustom himself to serious, thoughtful, systematic work and to a strict attitude towards his material.

At rocky oil painting for beginners in art school New Art Intentions begin with practical methods for learning to draw with oil paints. But before that, artists paint a number of paintings with acrylics, imitating the technique of oil painting in their performance, i.e. write through underpainting and stroke technique closest to oil. The initial works are painted on canvases on cardboard and later, when the beginning artists get used to the oil technique, they switch to canvases stretched on a stretcher. Although canvases on cardboard are also used in plein air lessons for sketch drawing. In addition to linen, cotton and synthetic canvases are on sale, the latter have pronounced “rubber” properties, which is somewhat specific.

Let's add it to the article above. Now palettes are used by our artists, both plywood and plastic. Plastic palettes do not delaminate and are more unpretentious in handling.

The choice of brushes is now huge, many beginners in painting lessons work with synthetics, someone with a column, some use bristles. The properties of each, or "brush stroke", are known to them and are suitable for different tasks in teaching painting. The only thing that can be said is that synthetics are durable, the columns wear out very quickly on the canvas.

Also now on sale there is a color abundance of oil paints. There is no need for cooking. Paints from different manufacturers interact well with each other, mix with oils and varnishes. To dilute paints in painting lessons, we use a “trip” - a mixture of equal amounts of varnish (for example, damar), oil (linseed) and pinene (purified turpentine). It is better not to use sunflower oil, because. it is semi-drying.

Training and further improvement of painting skills in our school New Art Intentions have no time limits. Therefore, our artists have created many interesting paintings from still life to landscape, from portrait to abstract paintings.

Greetings, dear readers!
In this article we will talk about the basics of working with oil paints. Of course this the most popular technique in the world. The greatest masters of painting over the centuries have studied, improved and created with oil paints.

By the way, do you know when the first oil paints appeared? Most likely you thought about the 14th-15th century and ... were mistaken. Many people think so. But just recently, scientists have done ... Open this news!

Detailing the picture with a thin liner

It is quite logical if you want to start your creativity with oil paints. And if you have never done this before, but really want to start, you should first find out what a novice artist should have at hand and how to start painting with oil paints.

How to create your own artist kit?

• We buy the necessary paints

My top tip for budding artists: buy quality paints immediately don't try to save money! From cheap paints, the benefits are not great, but there will be a lot of headaches. When you constantly practice, you will be able to evaluate the quality of your work, which will directly depend on the quality of the paints.

Absolutely You don't have to buy a big set since there are always colors that are never used. To start painting with oil paints, it is enough to limit yourself to a few separate tubes. To develop a skill, a novice artist is recommended to have the following palette:

In general, The paint palette consists of 3 main (primary), from which all other colors (secondary and tertiary) are obtained by mixing. And when you learn how to mix them, you will understand how and from what it turns out. Everything around us consists only of red, blue and yellow... Amazing, isn't it?

• Choosing brushes

The second important tip for newbie artists is: be careful when buying brushes! Inspect them so that the connection (clamp) between the pile and the handle is as tight as possible. Believe me, it’s not pleasant when the pile comes out of the brush and you have to remove it all the time from a damp canvas!

From experience I can say that good brushes will last you for years if they are of good quality and you handled them correctly.

For beginners in oil painting, I recommend starting with flat and semi-circular flat brushes. It is enough to purchase 3-5 sizes.

High-quality brushes often become favorites

Over time, you can add retouch, fan and line brushes to the collection. In another article, a hint, you can learn more about which brushes come in size, shape and

• We select thinners and solvents

To dilute (thinn) oil paint to the desired consistency, you need special liquid substances: mostly turpentine or refined linseed oil. Also, many artists use "Tees"- Auxiliary means for diluting paint. On the market of foreign manufacturers there are various media, which I also use.

Important things for every artist

Not recommended for dilution, use solvents in their pure form (white spirit, turpentine), because they break the structure of the oil paint and “steal” its shine. But you will still need a solvent to clean brushes and other tools, as well as stained hands from paint.

• Buying a palette

It is impossible to imagine an artist working on a painting without a palette in his hands! This useful thing performs several functions: paints are placed on it, paints are mixed on it, oilers (special containers) with oil paint thinners are attached to it.

Therefore, in order to paint correctly with oil paints and create many shades, I recommend getting a suitable palette. Wooden or plastic, large or small, square or round... The choice is yours.

• Preparing the canvas

The most common basis for oil painting is canvas.Fortunately, the contemporary artist can buy ready-made primed canvas on a stretcher.

Almost every art store has canvases for sale in different sizes and from different materials: natural (linen, cotton) and synthetics. I advise natural materials, they are denser and do not sag much over time.

If you want to prepare the canvas yourself, then for this you need to prepare a stretcher and pull the fabric very tightly over it. Then you need to prime the fabric to get the canvas. Canvas sagging is common, so after priming, you need to drag the canvas a little tighter. More about how to make a canvas with your own hands

We prepare the canvas ourselves

Note: The best base for canvas is linen. It comes in fine-grained, medium-grained and coarse-grained. The stroke on the surface depends on the graininess of the canvas. About the choice of canvas

• Buying an easel

Of course, you can learn how to paint with oil paints without an easel by attaching a canvas to any surface. But still, it is much more convenient with an easel: it is set at the right angle at eye level and gives a better view of the picture.

With an easel it is convenient not only to write, but also to find flaws in the work, and fix them right away. An easel is a reliable stand for your future painting! They come in different heights and comfort, as well as desktop mini easels for small canvas sizes.

• Stocking up on accessories

Have you already thought about where your brushes will stand? Where will you wash them? How will you wipe the paint off your hands and other accessories? Be sure to stock up on jars in which you will wash your brushes, paper napkins, old newspapers and a few cotton rags.

These important little things should always be at your fingertips, so that you can work calmly and focus your attention on the painting and not on the materials. All this will be indispensable for you in your work to clean a brush or palette knife, or, for example, to remove excess paint from a canvas and wipe your dirty hands.

• Other important materials and accessories

An indispensable tool for working with oil - palette knife! With it, it is convenient to remove excess paint from the canvas and transfer it to the palette. And he leaves amazingly voluminous strokes! In principle, one palette knife is enough.

But if you decide to learn how to draw well with oil paints and devote a lot of time to this activity, it is better to purchase several of these tools of different shapes and sizes.

Sketchbook - a special box for transporting paints and accessories for painting. You will really need it if you decide to go out to paint in oil on nature or plein air, as it is also called (from the French Plain air - in the open air, in the fresh air)

oilers- small containers with a clip, with which they are attached to the palette. There are two types: simple and double.

Another important element is protective varnish. The finished painting is usually varnished 6-8 months after the completion of the work. The lacquer protects the painting from UV, moisture and darkening…. Well, and a number of other reasons why varnish the picture. In addition, the varnish makes the colors richer and brighter, giving intensity to the paint layer. How to varnish a painting

Howstart painting correctly with oil paints when the artist's kit is assembled?

So, you have collected everything you need, fixed the primed canvas. What to do next? Start writing!

I know that many aspiring artists have a fear of a white canvas something can go wrong and everything will be ruined. Do not be afraid, because the main thing is just to start! But how to stop being afraid and start painting pictures,.

You can start with a simple plot that comes to mind ... For example, a mosaic pattern with selected bright colors, which consists of different shapes, shapes and symbols. Well, like the ancient Egyptians, remember? Or you can take the finished image, and try to copy it onto the canvas ...

Start painting - feel the power of color!

Exist . The most common of them are multi-layer painting and Alla-prima. Most of the most famous paintings are written in them, although there are many other techniques.

We will talk about them in general and about the rules of writing in more detail in another article, but now you need to start just to get a feel for the paints, brush and canvas.

By the way, did you know that creative people have Read, maybe you are a creator by nature, you just didn’t know about it!

Here are some more tips:

• Arrange a drawing corner in the apartment. There should be enough light to work during the day without additional illumination. It is in the place of the best natural light that we put the easel. If there is not enough natural light, use additional lighting so that the light falls well on the easel.

• Try to apply oil paints evenly, achieve uniformity on the canvas. If you really want to apply a second layer, take your time; sometimes you need to give time for the first layer to dry.

• Mix colors! Experiment with shades. Remember that white makes any color lighter, and black - darker, with their help it is easy to achieve the desired shade of shadows and highlights. But do not get carried away with black and white, as titanium white, for example, makes some colors cloudy, and black is rarely used in classical painting. Although each manufacturer has several black shades on sale. An alternative to black can be dark indigo... it is softer and more delicate in appearance.

"Painting is the most accessible and convenient of the arts" - Johann Goethe, German poet, philosopher and thinker

Additional Video Tips:

Ask your questions below in the comments, I usually answer all questions quickly

You will need

• Oil paints, primer, glue, fixer, palette, brushes (preferably flat and made of natural materials), palette knife, easel, simple pencil, eraser, tracing paper, carbon paper and other useful little things purchased by artists for ease of work.

Instruction

Buy a canvas. They are usually linen or cotton. Cotton canvas is cheaper and easier to handle. Linen is fine-grained, suitable for prescribing small details, and coarse-grained, on which it is good to reflect the texture (for example, stones, the sea). Instead of the traditional one, burlap, plywood, hardboard, and metal are also used to work with. Paper can also be used, but will not be durable.
The cheaper canvas is the one stretched over cardboard. It is thin and easy to transport, no more than 0.5 x 0.7 m in size. Canvas on a stretcher is more expensive and heavier, but larger - up to 1.2x1.5m.

Along with the canvas, purchase all the necessary supplies: oil paints, primer, glue, fixer, palette, brushes, palette knife, easel. If you sketch on paper and then transfer it to canvas, you will need transparent paper (you can take tracing paper) and. In the process, something else may come in handy, so check with the seller.

Glue and prime the canvas, and then let it dry. This operation is done so that the paint does not destroy it and lies well on the canvas.

Further, everything will depend on the technique of execution. If the picture is small, and the experience of creating paintings is still small, try the technique in one step (alla prima). This means that the picture should be completed in one or more approaches, but in time before the paints dry. The drying time of oil paint is on average about 3 days, depending on the thickness of the layer. The picture will get those tones and colors that you create by mixing. Additional colors will be obtained due to the translucence of the soil. The picture itself will be lighter and lighter.

Usually artists use a multi-layer technique: it reveals all the possibilities of oil painting. Its essence is that the author of the picture divides his task into several subtasks, which he then implements in different layers. First, a first thin layer is created, called "underpainting". For its implementation, the paints are diluted. Underpainting helps to determine the composition, tone, shape, shadows and light and shade.

In the next layers, the artist writes down the details, subtleties of form and color, and texture step by step. In the last layers, linseed oil is added to give saturation and color stability. After the paint has dried, it is varnished. The duration of this period depends on the thickness of the layers, and averages 6-12 months.

Related videos

note

Learn about the laws of composition and mixing colors before you take on oil.

Work with watercolor and gouache for a while to get the hang of it. According to the technique, oil is closer to gouache - the paintings are dense and opaque.

An easier way to master the art of drawing is to study in a group or individually with an experienced master.

Useful advice

For a test pen in oil painting, do not buy expensive materials. Working in this technique requires the necessary training, skills and patience. Go from simple to complex.

Drawing with a pencil on the ground must be applied carefully so that the ground does not crack. You can insure yourself by applying another layer of soil.

When using a multi-layer technique, remember that each layer should be equal in thickness to the previous one or be greater than it. Otherwise, the oil will crack.

Wait for the previous one to dry before starting the next layer.

If you do not like the result, carefully remove the unusable layer before it dries, or apply another layer on top.

Sources:

• http://www.kartinanz.narod.ru/info/oil.html
• oil painting

Oil painting is one of the most widespread types of fine art. To paint in oils, you must first tune in to painstaking and hard work.

Aspiring artists often don't know where to start creating. You should listen to some recommendations. First of all, you need to pay attention to the correct preparation of the canvas. The canvas should spring back under the brush and give the artist the opportunity to apply vigorous and clear strokes. A hemp or linen cut is used as a canvas. Cotton or viscose fabrics should not be used. For a better canvas with threads of medium thickness, over time it will be possible to use a more embossed texture of the canvas.

An equally important point is the manufacture or purchase of a subframe. It is designed to keep the canvas taut while you work. The subframe must be made with an internal bevel, the angle of which varies between 5-7 degrees. A stretcher without a bevel cannot be used, as this can cause paint and glue to get on the back of the canvas.

The canvas must be carefully glued with liquid wood glue before use, as this procedure will protect the canvas from the damaging effects of the oil. After the canvas is glued, it should be dried and rubbed with a piece of usually pumice. Such grinding is carried out before applying the second layer of glue. After gluing, the canvas is primed, since it is impossible to paint with oil on an unprimed canvas. The soil can be emulsion, oily or semi-oily. When learning to paint, try priming the canvas with different types of primer. The main thing is that the primed canvas is white, without spots and stripes. The basis for oil painting is a pre-made pencil sketch. Oil paints are applied to the canvas with brushes of various thicknesses, and be sure to use a palette. Usually an oil painting is written for a long time, each layer of strokes is applied by the artist gradually and little by little. Therefore, take your time, let the artistic idea be fully embodied on the canvas.

Related videos

Oil paints are not written on paper, as is the case with watercolors, but on a special canvas on a stretcher. Paints are also special oil. Their palette is wooden. Prepare and special solvents. Many special shades are unnecessary, take the primary colors and arrange them as follows: warm colors on one side, cold colors on the other. Brushes for them are also special - large natural bristles.

Instruction

Let's try. Start with the most important color relationships. Select the most basic colors. Write in broad strokes. See what colors go with what. It is not recommended to carefully draw fragments of the picture. Everything should be done in parallel, both the background and the objects. First, completely draw the primary colors. Then you get the whole picture.
Pay attention to the combination of color and shadow. For example, a gray drapery will be almost blue in the shade, and silvery in the light.
The beauty of oil painting is that the strokes can be layered on top of each other without waiting for them to dry. Mixing many colors is not recommended. Use 2-3 colors. It is important that all the details of the still life are combined with each other. So that one object does not stand out as a lurid spot.
When you draw, don't try to be photographic. After all, your task is to convey your feeling, your point of view, your vision of this still life.

When you draw the main colors, start working on the details. Don't forget reflexes. That is, about the reflection of objects in each other. Do not forget to immediately lay shadows, light and highlights. But never make the shadows black. Mix different colors to get dark. Find color accents so that everything is not the same, all other things should be subordinate to the dominant.

note

Oil paints take a very long time to dry. When they dry, the still life will be ready.

Acrylic paints have firmly taken the leading place among the artistic media used in needlework and applied arts, due to their brightness, water resistance, quick drying and ease of application. Acrylic paints can be used not only on paper, but also on fabric, wood, plastic, glass, ceramics, and many other surfaces. This makes acrylic a versatile art medium, and you'll soon see how easy it is to work with.

Instruction

When purchasing acrylic, make sure that all colors belong to the same manufacturer - this will make it easier to mix when painting. Unlike gouache, acrylic does not dry dry or crack, and does not require water to thin. Instead of water, it is best to use a special acrylic thinner.

Do not use bristle brushes suitable for oil paints - get quality synthetic brushes of different diameters and sections. At the same time, do not forget to rinse the brushes in water immediately after the necessary strokes are made - acrylic dries very quickly, and if the paint dries on the brush, it will not be possible to wash it off.

Depending on what exactly you are going to paint, purchase the appropriate paints in an art store - for painting ceramics, wood, glass, or for ordinary painting on primed canvas or paper.

Acrylic paints are great for painting on fabric. In this regard, they are divided into simple acrylic for fabric and paints for batik - they are suitable for lighter and airy fabrics (silk or), and have a liquid structure.

When applying paint, make light and thin strokes, applying them at short intervals to each other so that the layers of paint have time to dry. This will fix the drawing better than if you applied the paint in a thick layer.

If you decide to paint a T-shirt, you will need a plain T-shirt, preferably made from natural fabric, as well as a sketch of the future drawing and paint in the appropriate colors.

You can also use acrylic outlines, which are sold in tubes and fix the edges of the paint, and also serve as an aesthetic decoration and addition to the picture.

Draw in a spacious room with the possibility of ventilation. Stretch the t-shirt on the frame inserted inside and line the inside of the frame with paper or cloth to prevent ink from seeping through to the opposite side of the t-shirt.

You can paint both with a brush and using a stencil and spray acrylic paints. In the latter case, pay special attention to respiratory protection.

If you draw with a brush, first outline the outlines of the pattern on the fabric with a pencil, referring to the sketch. Then start tracing them with acrylic outlines and fill each element of the drawing with the desired color.

Detail the drawing, refine it, and when finished, leave it to dry for a couple of hours. When the drawing is dry, iron it with a hot iron through several layers of paper.

Related article

Sources:

• acrylic drawings

Oil painting is not easy. To do this, you need to prepare a canvas, brushes, improvised means. The paint is applied in different strokes depending on the shape of the objects being drawn and the chiaroscuro on them.

You will need

• Linen/cotton canvas, cardboard, wood or other canvas with acrylic primer; brushes made of natural pig bristle for basic work and sable brushes for drawing details; sponges; rags; palette for mixing paints; thinner / linseed oil for thinning paint and washing the brush; varnish for protective coating of the finished work

Instruction

Draw spherical and toroidal objects with crescent-shaped and twisted brush strokes, cone-shaped objects with triangular strokes, cylindrical objects with parallel strokes. Draw flat surfaces also with parallel brush strokes.

For smooth color transitions, use flat brushes. In this case, mix the colors on the palette and apply to the intended place of gradation. Brush move forward-backward-forward in a cross manner. At the final stage of color transition design, apply parallel strokes. Work with a clean brush from a darker color to a medium tone, then again with a clean brush from a lighter color to a medium tone.

Transparent glazing layers of oil paint, shading the pattern, put on a dried layer. To get them, use a special liquid to dilute the paint, and apply the mixture with a column brush in a horizontal position. If you want to change the color of the picture, when glazing, make the direction of the strokes similar to those on the main layer.

Translucent translucent layers are also applied with a coring brush in a horizontal position. Dilute the paint in a ratio of 1/3 Damar varnish, 1/3 turpentine and 1/3 linseed oil.

note

Use the sketching pencil with care, as its sharp tip can damage the primer of the canvas.

Useful advice

Mix colors on the palette carefully and gradually. For lighter tones, use white or glazing.

Sources:

• Oil painting technology

For a long time it was believed that oil painting was invented in the 15th century. In any case, it was then that it became widespread throughout Europe. However, art critics found traces of the use of oil paints as early as the 12th century. In the Renaissance, artists themselves had to make paints, primers, varnishes, solvents and invent new painting techniques. Today, anyone can test themselves in this art form - paints and all the necessary materials are sold in art stores.

You will need

• You will need oil paints, brushes, palette, thinner, canvas, varnish, primers, easel, palette knife. Set up a well-lit workspace.

Instruction

Squeeze out the oil paints onto the palette, leave a place where you will mix them. Do not squeeze out the whole tube, the paint dries quickly, so it is better to add them as needed. It is most convenient to mix paints with a small spatula - a palette knife (it will also come in handy when you clean the palette from the dried mass after work).

Clean your brushes every time you change colors. First they must be wiped with a cloth, and then rinsed in a solvent. After finishing work, be sure to rinse not only the brushes, but also the palette.

After finishing work on the picture, it must be varnished. This will fix the paint layer, and also smooth its surface. In addition, the varnish protects the picture from environmental influences, does not allow the paint to crack and darken.

Related videos

Sources:

• Materials used in oil painting

Oil painting is one of the most common painting techniques. Oil paints provide the painting with durability. Colors do not deteriorate over time, and the technique itself provides ample opportunities and at the same time is not too complicated, which allows you to quickly learn it.

You will need

• Easel, brushes, paints, thinner, palette, varnishes, palette knife, rags, primed surfaces: canvas on a stretcher, cardboard or canvas on cardboard

Instruction

For drawing, you will need a canvas stretched on a stretcher or other suitable surface. Cardboard or canvas glued to cardboard is also used. All surfaces must be primed. If you are just starting to paint, then it is better to buy ready-made primed canvases in the store.

Brushes - As a rule, novice artists get hard bristle brushes, but soft brushes will also come in handy. You can draw with almost anything, the main thing is not to do it with your fingers, since the paints and substances that make up their composition are very toxic. They can penetrate the skin into the body and cause poisoning.

Before you start painting in oils, mix the paints to the desired shade on the palette. A palette knife will help with this. To clean the paint from the brush, use a thinner and rags. It is best to get a shade by mixing no more than three colors. The traditional palette material is wood, but glass is also great because it doesn't absorb paint or react with it.

Turpentine is often used as a solvent, but it is quite toxic. Today there are less toxic solvents with more pleasant smells, they are more pleasant to use.

After you finish writing, rinse the brushes in solvent and then wash in warm water using soap or shampoo. It is recommended not to put the brushes in boxes, but to keep them in a cup so that they can dry. It is best to install an additional bottom with holes in a container with a solvent for washing brushes. So fragments of paint will settle on the bottom, without interfering with rinsing the brushes, and the life of the solvent can be significantly extended.

The process of painting is individual. Everyone uses their own tricks and tricks. Of course, drawing skills will come in handy for anyone who decides to take up oil painting. Usually, before starting the main drawing, underpainting is applied to the canvas. These are contours that are written with very diluted paint. They are almost invisible. Then the drawing itself begins. Oil paints are applied in layers, over time, more and more working through the details.

Useful advice

When the picture is ready and dried, it is varnished. Usually wait about a year for the paint to dry completely. Lacquer coating allows you to protect the paint in the picture from shedding and interaction with air. So the paintings are stored much longer.

Sources:

• hand-drawn pictures

Oil paintings are the most colorful and expressive, especially when compared to pencil drawings. They can decorate any interior. However, learning to draw using this technique is quite difficult and costly, because the cost of all the necessary materials can be considerable.

Instruction

If funds allow, purchase canvas, paints (these are the largest part of all costs), brushes, glue and primer. About everything in order. Carefully choose the canvas, because it will depend on it how the paint will lay down, as well as what texture the drawing will have. A good drawing of strokes can be provided by a canvas made of hemp or linen.

Keep in mind that you won't be able to start drawing right away. The fact is that you first need to glue the acquired canvas. This will protect it from the penetration of paint on the wrong side. This procedure is carried out using ordinary wood glue. After that, be sure to place the canvas in a ventilated area to dry it. Do not forget to check whether the glue fold cracks after drying or not. If not, that means you can move on to the next step.

Now get on with the primer. This item is necessary, because without a primer it is impossible to paint an oil painting. Treat this stage of canvas preparation with special attention. If you apply the primer inaccurately and unevenly, or the material itself turns out to be bad, then your picture will turn out to be dull and dull, spots may appear on it.

Take paints, brushes and you can start painting a picture. At the same time, take your time, apply strokes carefully and carefully: negligence in this matter is not welcome. There should also be no smudges on the canvas. since this is basically impossible, because oil paints are quite thick in texture, they do not flow. Once you have painted what you wish, let the painting dry.

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note

Be sure to choose a good and high quality stretcher. It will help you ensure that the canvas is firmly tensioned. By the way, it is this condition that is essential for the successful writing of an oil painting. Avoiding this item may be fraught with cracks on the canvas, which obviously will not decorate your drawing.

Tip 9: Color by number: where to start and how to choose a set

Remember when we were kids we all wanted to be great artists? But time passed, we matured and realized that the talent that our parents so stubbornly told us about is completely absent in us. And how do you want to draw a picture with your own hands! Just so you don't have to explain everything later. what kind of creature is depicted on it and from which side it is better to look at it. Special numbers for coloring by numbers will come to the rescue.

Typically, such a set includes: a base, paints or pencils, brushes and instructions. Sometimes the manufacturer adds a palette for mixing paints. The base is of two types:

• cardboard;
• a canvas on which an outline drawing with numbers inside is applied.

Pencils can be simple or colored, but paints are acrylic, oil and watercolor. If you are new to painting, then acrylic paints are the way to go. They completely overlap each other and make it possible to correct mistakes or inaccuracies, but it is worth remembering that the paints dry very quickly. There may be one brush in the kit, but more often there are several of them, so that you can choose the most convenient thickness. The instructions give instructions on how to color the picture, indicate the colors that are in the set, and also repeat the contour drawing with numbers.

Cardboard base kits are cheaper and easier to draw, as color borders and numbers are very visible, and the paint lays down evenly and absorbs well. The pictures are very bright, and to add saturation to certain areas, it is enough to paint over them several times. For finished work, you can easily use photo frames.

Canvas backing kits are a bit trickier to paint because canvas is a fabric, so the paint doesn't spread and absorb as evenly as cardboard backing. But if you apply several layers of paint, the picture looks very voluminous and bright. The host can be wound into a roll or mounted on a stretcher.

A stretcher is a wooden base for stretching a canvas. Due to the stretcher, the thickness of the picture increases, so it is much more difficult to choose a frame. Most likely you will have to make a frame to order, which significantly increases the cost of processing the finished work. However, there is a trick here: if you don’t have a fundamentally expensive design and draw for yourself, then it’s enough to paint over the picture from the ends of the stretcher and you can hang it on the wall, since the picture looks complete and no frames are required.

When you have decided where you want to start (cardboard or canvas), you need to choose a manufacturer. All of them differ in complexity, brightness of colors, country of manufacture and price. Consider the most popular of them.

1. Sets in which the base is cardboard:

Schipper It is very popular with paint-by-numbers enthusiasts. The manufacturer - Germany. The kits use acrylic paints, which are in special small containers and are hermetically sealed, so they can be stored for a very long time. Great for beginners as all colors are already mixed and ready to paint. All components of the set are of very good quality, so for some the price may seem high. Huge selection of paintings for every taste.

Dimensions produces not only coloring by numbers, but also cross-stitch kits and diamond embroidery. The manufacturer - the USA. All paints are of good quality, they lay down evenly on cardboard. This set is suitable for more experienced artists, since when drawing you will have to mix colors according to the instructions. There is a huge scope for creativity here. You can change the shades to your taste and mood. The finished painting is usually slightly different from the one shown on the box, so don't be upset if suddenly some parts of yours don't look the way you would like. Huge selection of paintings on all sorts of topics. The price is slightly lower than the Schipper manufacturer.

Ravensburger can offer not such a large selection of topics for drawing, and half of them are children's pictures. The manufacturer - the Czech Republic. Ravensburger, like Schipper, is good for beginners as there is no need to mix paints. The price is lower than previous manufacturers.

PLAID is less popular among drawing lovers: a relatively small selection of topics for drawing, a high price. Although it is worth noting that the finished work corresponds to the one stated on the packaging. Paints do not need to be mixed. Manufacturer - USA.

"Snow White" has a fairly large range of topics for coloring and a small price. The manufacturer - Russia. Paints do not require mixing, so ideal for beginners.

KSG produces two types of kits: drawing without color mixing and drawing where color mixing is required. Be careful in choosing, carefully study the packaging, which indicates which set it is. The manufacturer - Great Britain. The set uses brushes made from natural materials, so they climb a little. The price is comparable to the most popular manufacturers. A small selection of topics for drawing.

2. Sets in which the base is canvas:

Menglei- one of the most popular manufacturers of canvas painting kits. A big plus is that the canvas is already stretched on a stretcher. A huge selection of subjects for drawing and a range of prices. The manufacturer produces sets of various levels of complexity. This information can be found on the packaging or instructions. The manufacturer - China. The set comes with acrylic paints that do not require mixing, but sometimes you will need to apply them 2-3 times to paint over the numbers. A great option for beginner artists who are just trying to paint on canvas.

Hobbart is a well established company, but kit prices are higher than other manufacturers. In most sets, the canvas is already stretched on a stretcher, but there are also sets without a stretcher. Be careful when choosing. The manufacturer - China. The set uses acrylic paints, which are in sealed tubes. Thanks to this, the colors stay fresh much longer. A wide selection of stories on any topic. Mixing colors is not required.

Paintboy Original - Another popular paint by number company. The manufacturer - China. Pretty good product quality and low prices. Huge selection of subjects for creativity. The canvas in the set comes with a stretcher, acrylic paints are used, which do not need to be mixed. The manufacturer produces sets of various levels of complexity. Be careful when choosing. Unlike Paintboy, the improved version of Paintboy Original includes 2 jars of color fixer.

Color-KIT can offer a small selection of painting subjects, good product quality and a low price. The manufacturer - China. The composition includes canvas stretched on a stretcher and acrylic paints that do not require mixing. The brushes are not very comfortable for drawing, so you will have to purchase a set separately. The manufacturer produces sets of different levels of complexity.

"Snow White" - we considered this company in sets where cardboard was the basis. The manufacturer - Russia. In sets, the canvas is stretched on a stretcher, acrylic paints are used that do not require mixing. The choice of plot with canvas is very large, but a little uninteresting. The price is slightly higher than that of Chinese manufacturers.

Mosfa is another Russian manufacturer of coloring by numbers. The set includes a host with a stretcher and acrylic paints, which are packed in special vacuum bags to protect them from drying out. Mixing colors is not required, so it is great for beginners. The numbers on the canvas are the same color as the applied paint. A good choice of subjects, although less than that of Chinese manufacturers.

Royal & Langnickel- not the most popular manufacturer, since the kits are suitable for experienced artists. The technique of mixing paints of two or three types is used, so it is very difficult for beginners to achieve the desired shade. But a wide field for creativity and imagination is created for those who do not like to limit themselves to the framework of the selected colors. The canvas is already stretched on a stretcher, acrylic paints in tubes to prevent drying. The manufacturer cannot boast of a large selection of subjects and prices are higher than those of Chinese manufacturers. Another disadvantage is the lack of instructions in Russian.

In recent years, such a hobby as coloring by numbers is gaining popularity. This activity is suitable for creative people who have a limited amount of free time. Each lesson has its own tricks that will help you get the highest result, and coloring by numbers will not be an exception.

Here are some tips to help you:

Tip #1. Always start with the lightest colors (white, pink, blue, beige, yellow, etc.), because if you make a mistake, the darker color will better cover the blot. Then we move on to bright shades - green, blue, red, etc. We finish with the darkest colors - black, purple.

Council number 2. It is best to paint from the largest areas to the smallest. This will reduce the number of blunders and allow you to draw fine details and accents much better.

Tip #3. Do not try to paint over areas all over the field at once - you risk smearing paint that has not yet dried. It is much more convenient to move either from top to bottom, or from the center to the edges.

Tip #4. Clear boundaries between colors do not always look natural and sometimes give the picture an unnatural look. In this case, they should be blurred a little, then expressiveness and depth appear.

Council number 5. Use multiple brushes to paint. It is best to separately buy a good set that you will use several times.

Council number 6. On the finished work, check whether the numbers are visible, if necessary, apply another coat of paint. Particular attention should be paid to light shades.

Cardboard

1. Beginners prefer the cardboard base, because it is much easier to draw on it than on canvas.

2. Due to its smooth surface, paints on cardboard do not absorb and lie flat.

3. Borders and numbers are clearly visible, so it does not take much effort and attention to see them.

4. The colors are very bright, but to achieve volume, you will need to apply additional layers.

5. In sets with a cardboard base, part of the paint remains, which makes it possible to finish small details and repaint the numbers if they are visible through the first layer of paint..

6. It is easier to choose a frame on a cardboard base than on a canvas.

Canvas

1. Canvas is preferred by experienced painters as it is more difficult to work with.

2. Due to the textured surface of the canvas, the paint is very absorbed and lays down a little unevenly, so it takes more effort to paint over the areas. Often, after painting, white dots remain, which have to be painted again.

3. The borders and numbers on the canvas are printed very faintly so that they are not visible under the paint layer. However, when drawing, this creates big problems. It helps to navigate the checklist, which you will have to constantly check in order not to make mistakes.

4. The paint after being applied to the canvas is absorbed and creates the effect of volume, so the picture looks much more natural and realistic than on cardboard.

5. Often there is a situation when there is not enough paint, so you have to finish the areas with a different color.

6. The canvas is usually fixed on a stretcher, which greatly increases the thickness of the finished work. To pick up a frame, you will have to contact the workshop and make it to order. However, there is a trick here: if you do not want to spend money on a frame, then you need to paint over the sides of the subframe. Then you will have a finished work.

Cardboard and canvas are the basis for wonderful drawings, and which one to work with is up to you.

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