The Adventurous Art Teacher

Recipe for an oil painting

Getting started is always my favorite part of painting. If I'm using a photo as my reference I start by mixing different color combination's and painting little swatches of color on the paper. Don't forget to write down what colors you used on paper. I tell my students this is their recipe card. It really helps when you're just staring out. As you can see there are only four colors plus white on my palette, Winsor green, Alizarin Chrimson, Hansa Yellow and Ultramarine Blue.
Keeping it simple is the key.

If you have been following my posts you might recognize this landscape. It's the backyard of the Old Rhinebeck Inn. If you remember, I was commissioned to paint an oil painting of this scene for a wedding gift. I thought you might enjoy watching my process.
This is the first stage better know as the under painting. With oil, your first layer of paint has to be very thin. This prevents cracking as the painting dries. It almost looks like a watercolor. Once your happy with the composition and value choices you start adding thicker paint. If you look closely you can see I started adding detail to the urn and began thickening the paint in the foreground. I'll have more pictures on the weekend to share.


This week, I'm honored to be the artist on Mr. Mmm's blog "Hot Toast & Jam", Feature Friday.
Be sure to stop over and see what kind of questions he had for me.