Learn how to develop a working relationship with the daunting medium of oil paint.
Sometimes, while working, I think on all the little failures I have made over the years, and sometimes I try to compress these into truisms, as far as that may be possible. They follow.
- A blank canvas needs to be claimed, so lay down your stake by cutting a color with turpentine, about a 10:1 ratio. We are looking for a runny, colored water-like consistency. Use a big, floppy brush. Cover the entire work, blocking in all shapes, and then darkening with the same color where needed. This is monochrome painting, and it is the basis for all things to come.
- Restrict your composition to three areas.
- Fat over lean, especially in the beginning, will help with drying times, and general "workability" of the paint.
- Work as large as you can afford. When I say large, I mean over 32 inches on the *short* edge. A small canvas will restrict you to small brushes, further pegging you into a mode of "tiny" thought, leading to "tiny" consideration, and general small-minded-ness.
- Buy everything you can from the hardware store. Get your odorless mineral spirits there, get some flat, small brushes, and buy wood for your stretchers if you have a mind to do a little carpentry. The $$ saved is pretty vast, considering an ample canister of traditional Turpenoid is usually priced 5-6 times more than standard mineral spirits. Some hardware stores even carry canvas dropcloths with a medium weave, which, when poor, is worth every penny.
- If working from life, be faithful to the lights and darks in the reference first, and foremost.
- A sloppy work with a definitive light source is more powerful than a good painting with bad lighting, or inconsistent lighting.
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It does not matter what "your" style is. Let go of this, because only from constant swapping of roles and exploration of working techniques can you actually find yourself. I have painted seriously in over 15 different methods over time, and all my works carry some mark of my hand.
- Preciousness will destroy the work. If a work is very precious to you, put it away for six months, then come back and see how terribly contrived it looks.
- Every 15-30 minutes or so, back up 20 ft if you can. Then make plans for the next 15-30 minutes while you are back there.
- Work on 2-3 different works at a time.
- Remember to break all of these rules yourself to develop your own.
