Starting with oils?

[Wasker]

Hi, I bought some oils, turpentine and a few brushes today. Decided to give it a try.

I know there's alot of talented people lurking in this part of the forum and I would appreciate some tips if you'd like to share your ways.

Got some problems so far;
All color blend into some red black grey soup :$ , how do you keep colors seperated? Do you have seperate brushes for different colors or clean them before you apply new paint to them?
My palette plate gets covered the greyblackred soup in a matter of minutes - same problem here really, should I keep one bright skin color palette plate, one sligthely darker plate, one slightely darker and one extra dark?
If I would like to paint from life, would you keep the colors runny or hard as clay?

I read the William Whitaker tutorial on the forum, he seems to know what he's doing but aren't there anyway to make the process take less than 3 days? Can you make 'quick' studies with oils or is that impossible?

Help :x

The 2 pictures I did look nothing like a human being. Neither does the skincolor.

[Elwell]

There are a ton of "getting started in oils" type threads, search around and you'll find all sorts of info. Oils don't handle like any other kind of paint, and certainly not like Photoshop, so don't expect them too.
Start thin.
Be patient.
Do your color thinking and mixing on your palette with a knife, not on your canvas with a brush.

[bfowler]

I've recently taken up oil painting and here are some of the basic things I've learned or figured out.

I paint with kind of 3 basic brushes. One for darker paint and one for lighter paint and then a separate dry brush for blending. Oil paint mixes so well that any paint on your brush is going to mix or "contaminate" any new paint you go on to.

Make sure to wipe off and clean your brush in between colors. What I do is I have an old yellowpages book that I wipe my brush on until there is little color left, then I'll swish it in my solvent cleaner, then wipe it dry on a rag. It sounds like a lot to do it's really not. The yellowpages book is good because when I fill up a page with paint scrapes I just rip off the page, throw it in the garbage and use a fresh sheet.

Like Elwell said. Paint thin. I took and oil painting class back in collage and have messed around with oil paints on and off for years and this has been my single biggest problem. I would also start out too thick and before long my painting was all different tones of mud. I'm using a 50/50 mix of thinner and Liquin right know because I want my paint to dry quickly and because I haven't found anything better yet. This is due to ignorance and not enough time trying different mediums.

I mix my paint on my palette with a palette knife and pour some of my mixed medium into it. Through I little trail and error this has resulted in a nice creamy smooth butter texture I'd heard about but always had trouble getting.

To me painting thin also means not loading up your brush with gobs of paint. I dip my brush in my paint and dab it on my yellowpage paper just like you might if you painting a bedroom wall and you wipe off your brush on the side of the paint can.

Just do a search on oil painting. There are a lot of good threads on the subject. Good luck.

[HunterKiller_]

I would advise not using turpentine with your oil or any equipment.
If you want a paint thinner, use proper oil paint medium or linseed oil is good.

Turpentine is also too corrosive, so if you want to use your expensive brushes more than once, don't clean them with it.
I haven't tried special brush cleaning solvents but linseed oil which I use as paint thinner also works great for cleaning the brush.

I've just picked up oils again, and I too found them to get muddy rather easily. :S

[Elwell]

I would advise not using turpentine with your oil or any equipment.
If you want a paint thinner, use proper oil paint medium or linseed oil is good.

Turpentine is also too corrosive, so if you want to use your expensive brushes more than once, don't clean them with it.
I haven't tried special brush cleaning solvents but linseed oil which I use as paint thinner also works great for cleaning the brush.

Turpentine is a main ingredient in many mediums, especially any containing natural resins.
It won't damage brushes. I wouldn't use it as a brush cleaner, but only because OMS is cheaper and reusable. Whatever you use to clean your brushes while you're painting, do a final cleaning with soap and water when your done. That's what will keep them clean, pointed, and springy for a good long time.

[RogerAdams]

I've picked up oils recently and all I have to show for it is a few ruined canvas boards. Like, Elwell said, be prepared to do a lot of reading on the past posts. There is just a treasure trove of information I've learned from posts by DavePalumbo, DSIllustration and Elwell.

Like Elwell stated, start thin. The concept of Fat Over Lean is something you should read up on. Here's an article (http://painting.about.com/cs/oils/a/fatoverlean.htm) that helps explain it better than I could. It will help you understand when to use a solvent and when to use a medium.

Then check out this process breakdown (http://www.tlchicken.com/db_images/8_6_pop_workshop.jpg) of a Jeremy Lipking painting. You can how he starts with thin washes and the progress to more opaque paint.

But it all depends on how you want to paint. Light washes is how I use gouache and work digitally. Watching an artist like Mike Hussar paint alla prima is really quite different.

Good luck to you!

[HunterKiller_]

Turpentine is a main ingredient in many mediums, especially any containing natural resins.

So turps in an ingredient of oil paints? o.0
I don't know anything about the chemical properties and whatnot of turps, but my past experiences with it regarding oil paints haven't been very good.
I mean, aren't turps generally used as a painter remover?

[dbclemons]

So turps in an ingredient of oil paints? ...

I'll let Elwell take that one. :hatsoff:

I mean, aren't turps generally used as a painter remover?

Not ideally, although it will if you also wipe it off. Turpentine dilutes oil, but doesn't dissolve it. Using too much will weaken the binding strength of the oil. Paint thinners are something different. The d-Limonene in citrus solvents makes them more effective than mineral spirits at cleaning, and more environmentally friendly, although still hazardous. Don't use them on synthetic brushes, however.

[bfowler]

The d-Limonene in citrus solvents makes them more effective than mineral spirits at cleaning, and more environmentally friendly, although still hazardous. Don't use them on synthetic brushes, however.

Why not? That's what I'm using now with synthetic brushes and I haven't noticed any problems.

[dbclemons]

Citrus solvents are stronger solvents than mineral spirits and can damage the synthetic fibers. Brush manufacturers recommend just soap and water, or possibly gum spirits or OMS.

http://www.silverbrush.com/art/art_pdfs/tlc.pdf
"Some very strong solvents can damage synthetics or blends." [Blends are nylon and polyester fibers.]