Transcripts
1. Paint a Seascape in Oils: Have you ever wanted to
learn how to use oil paint? Or maybe you tried
using oil paints, but you didn't get the
results that you hope for. Hi, I'm Amy. I'm an artist and educator. I've been a professional
artist for more than a decade. Now. Paintings hanging
galleries, offices and homes of also having
worked, published. But enough about me. I am excited to share with you my real painting techniques. This class, we will
paint a seascape. I will guide you step-by-step on how to become a
successful painters. Also, you all the
supplies that you need, best safety practices
when using oil. I'll walk you
through how to paint this seascape and
help you photograph, share, and protect
your paintings. Let's create a
successful painting together and find an oil
painting flow state. Thank you so much for
following your passion. I look forward to following your art journey and I will
see you in the next class.
2. The Project -Paint A Seascape : The project is to paint
a vibrant seascape. We're going to paint it. Then we're going to photograph it and we're going to share it. In order to make things as convenient and
simple as possible. I've created a short
list of supplies. This list is in the
Class Resources tab. On the left you'll find all
the supplies and I used some alternatives just
in case you can't find those same
supplies in your area. I'm also included links
of where you can purchase these supplies from different
onto online retailers. Like most of the material
that we're going to use you can find at
arts and crafts stores, Michaels or other retailers, all of the supplies that we're going to use
can be purchased from big box stores like Target or
Walmart, except the paint. We will talk about paint
in the next video.
3. Save Money on Supplies: The single most important
thing that you will need to complete this
project is the paint. The better quality paint
that you begin with, the better quality
finish painting we'll have when we're finished. I really recommend that
you start out using the best paint that
you can afford. I've included links to
those pink types below. If you purchase
student grade paint, your paintings will look
like student grade work. Please splurge on
professional paint, but purchase fewer tubes. In the Class Resources
tab the supplies, list and clean his friends. I'm colors of paint that are essential for immediate success. The list of pigments is small. This is purposeful. A smaller range of pigments is a quick way to hone your
skills and find your style. When you're shopping for paint, you can be really distracted by all the variety and selection. Let me simplify this for you. I use only paints with the
AIP label on the back. Api means approved product, and this generally means that these paints are thought
to be non-toxic. They're also paints out
there with a labeled CL, and this just means
cautionary label. You can still paint with them. However you need to use caution. I recommend using gloves even if your paint has the
API product label. Solvents. We have to be very
careful when we use solvents and if you don't
know what they are, solvents are used to
send the oil paint, good quality oil
paint and squeeze out of the tube in a thick state. And if you've painted
with that thick paint, you would just have a glob
of paint on your Canvas. It will be very thick. It will use all
your paint and it might take years to dry. Painters use thinners
or solvents to reduce that viscosity of the paint and leave it in a
spreadable state. Of commonly people use turpentine or odorless
mineral spirits. I prefer to use natural
lavender spike oil as a solvent instead of
turpentine or mineral spirits. And that's because there
are no carcinogenic fumes, know turpentine
and no petroleum, and besides it's lavender,
it smells wonderful. I also use non-toxic
lavender essence brush cleaner for
the same reason. Now, paint is also
thinned with oil. To keep the paint from
cracking over time. We usually start with thin
layers of paint that has been had a solvent added to them on the bottom layers
or lean layers. And then we paint on
top of those layers, adding a little
oil or fat layers. Patrons typically
use walnut oil or linseed oil to achieve
this fat overlay method. The toys are wonderful, but they can take a
year or more to dry. So today I am using Gamblin
solvent free gel medium, and I'm using it instead of
well-known or linseed oil, which both work wonderfully, but they have super
long drying times. This gel will allow
our paintings to dry faster and it's
very easy to use. If you decide when you're
purchasing your supplies that you want to use turpentine
or odorless mineral spirits. Please be sure that you paint in a well ventilated area and take any necessary precautions when you are disposing of
your paper towels. All wheels are flammable. So you need to be
sure that you store these solvents in a safe place. Now, saving money on supplies, the best way to save money on supplies is to
limit your palate. The most expensive thing you're going to buy or the paints. I cannot stress this enough how important it is to
purchase the very best, highest quality paint
you can't afford. Need to spend more per
tube in the beginning, but you only need
a small number of tubes and just a
tiny bit of paint. Also, instead of buying paint to containers or
something like that, ONE, jars work well for spike
oil and brush cleaners. An eight by ten
photo frames from any store works wonderfully
as a glass palette. You can use a razor
blade and just scraped the paint right
off and we use it. Lint free paper towels. This is another thing you'll
need for oil painting. I bet these blue shop towels at the automotive
section of my store. There. I use them for cleaning brushes. They don't leave any limp behind that could then get
into your painting. Also, I use them to
white paint off. If I paint something I
don't like paper towel, wipe it off and start over. You can make do without
a palette knife. But if you want one, they're kind of nice to move paints from the tube
to the palette. I don't use it for mixing paint. I use my brush. Speaking as brushes. You need to start also with
a small number of brushes, maybe around three or four. Not only will this
save you money, but it will also save
you time when you finish painting because
you won't have to spend as much time
cleaning your brushes. It is a small brush for details, a larger brush for the majority
of your paint process, and then a brush for blending. That's the cool thing
about oils as you can blend them and
it's the best. The reason that I use
mostly round brushes and what I highly recommend
you purchase is because you can
flatten them and boom, you have a flat brush. I use this soft filbert
brush to blend the paint. I really like the brand Robert Simmons titanium
round brushes. They're versatile and sturdy. But I have definitely
included my favorite brushes. The supply list below. What kind of painting
surface should we use? Dependent on cameras. Should you paint on panels? This is really a
personal preference. I like to paint on panels for smaller work in Canvas
for larger word. The reason for this is
weight and portability. Canvas as much lighter because, because you're just starting
out on this project, I highly recommend you start
with pre-stretch Canvas. We're primed panels. I included a list of preferred services for
painting on the supply list. Do I need an easel? Good question. Easels take up space and they're
very expensive. It's okay to start
painting without an easel. In fact, I recommend not using
an easel for small works. If you use a sketch
book or a journal, you can paint on
that same surface where you would write or draw, except your dinner table. You don't want to paint at
the same table where you eat and you don't want
crumbs in your paintings.
4. Setting Up: This setup, take your
glass photo frame. We're just going to
put paint on it. This may be a
personal preference, but I like to sit on palate up the same way every time I paint, I start with the white here
at the bottom left corner. And then I'm move warm colors to cool colors
around the palette. I like my tones over here as far away from
the widest possible. Now, I always fold
my blue paper towels here and place my spike
oil on the towel. I also raise my rest my brushes here when
I'm not using them. I use the oil for Clint
the spike oil for cleaning my brushes between
colors and then I wipe the brush on
the paper towel. So let's do a quick
check of our setup. Shop towels, paint
on the palette, spike, oil, solvent free gel. Almost forgot the
photo reference. The reference on
using is a photo that I took when I
went to the beach. I've linked it in the
class resources tab below. I have my laptop
right here close by so that I can look
at it while we paint. I think we're ready to start.
5. Painting the Sky: Here we go. If you don't have a lot of
drawing experience, you can divide this
panel into quarters, like a window frame. This will help you keep an
eye on your proportions. I'm just going to
very lightly draw in guides for where the
horizon line falls. A little bit, where the
bottom of the cloud, the waves touching, keep
these lines super light. They're only a di dt. Let's begin with a
thin layer of paint. So we're going to dip
our round brush into this spike oil or turpentine
if you're using that. And we're just going to puddle
some of it on the palette. Now with that same brush, pull just a little bit of
cool blue into the solvent. The paint should be the
consistency of watercolor. Now, we're going to paint the horizon line just
right across the palate. Notice how in the
photo reference, the sky is the darkest blue at the horizon line and the lightest at the top
of the picture plane. That's why we're
using the cool blue. It appears darker. In value. We're just going
to paint this thin line of paint on the canvas until
we run out of paint. Forgot my gloves. Safety first. Now we'll wipe any paint off the brush using our shop towel. Dip it in the spike oil or the turpentine and wipe
off any more pain. Now, did that same brush
into the spike oil, pool it on your palette and
pull out some warm blue. Again, it should be
thin like watercolor. This time, we will
begin at the top of the panel and paint down
to the horizon line. You might be asking yourself, why are we painting
such thin layers? Why is the paint so thin? The reason we paint so thinly is because
we're going to paint clouds over this layer using
the fat overlying method. We've leaned the paint. This thin layer
has less oil than the layers that are going
to rest on top of it. They'll, they will
have more oil. I like how this looks. So now it's time to
add some clouds. Now if we notice clouds
are in the reference, clouds are darker on the bottom. We're going to make
some paint now. Make sure your brush
is very clean. We could take a little bit
of black to white to make gray light reflects off everything else. And so the dark sky, the blue in the sky, and the water is
reflecting onto the Cloud. So I'm going to add
just a teeny bit of my cool blue to
this gray mixture. We're going to adjust lightly, hint the bottom of
the clouds for now. Just where the bottoms
of the clouds go. This guy. It doesn't look like much now, but I'm pleased with it. So let's go ahead and work on a big fluffy
parts of the clouds. For this, I'm using a
stiff bristle brush. These brushes are
less expensive. There are stiff. I'm loading
this brush with white. Now the fun part. I'm making these circular
movements with the brush. I'm trying not to
disturb the gray. I'm just laying in where I want the widest parts of
the clouds to be. Now once I get blue
on my paintbrush, I just flip it over. Get blue on that side. I just wiped the blue off. Get more paint. How these clouds
are coming along. So let's blend these a bit. I'll do this using my
filbert blending brush. I'm just going to
soften these clowns. It reminds me of
softening makeup. Just carefully. You need, you need a
light touch for this. Just lightly, lightly
blend these clouds. I'm looking at the sky. Want to add deeper
value to the sky. Remembering our fat
overlain technique, I'm going to use the
gel medium as my fat. Pull a little medium down and I'm going to
grab this warm blue. What I'm doing is going over that thin layer
with fatter layer. And in doing this, I'm darkening or
deepening the value. I'm sculpting the cloud
shapes using the paint. Now I'm going to clean my brush. Going to deepen the value of
the cool blue. The same way. Our filbert blending brush. To soften the edges. The clouds just lightly,
lightly soften them. Be careful not to
overwork the paint. If you blend it too much. This thing happens. It's called muddy. Muddy. You do not
want to overdo it. Then your colors all mixed
together and look muddy. Sometimes it's hard for a
beginner to know when to stop. But it's very easy to tell
when you've gone too far. If you get frustrated, you can wipe the paint off, let it dry for a day or two, and then start this whole
process over again.
6. Sea and Sand: It's time to paint the scene. Let's start with a clean brush. Dip it in our spike oil. Will pull this
Caribbean blue down. Down the paint right
on the horizon line. I want the paint to be thinner. As it goes down the panel. Moving my brush. I'm thinking about the way
you use and how water moves. And I think I want
it to be darker. Here. The farther
away something is, the darker it is. It's really important
to include that. Landscape drawing,
landscape painting. Because I'm going over a
thinner layer of paint. I'm going to add a
little gel medium here. Taken my filbert
mixing blending brush. And I'm going to blend
this, see this guy. Because not only are
things darker in value, the farther away they go, but they're also out-of-focus. So if we just blend this, it'll give it that
effect we're going for. I'm going to darken the value of the sky where
it meets the sea. Because again, things just get darker the farther
away they are. Added. Gel medium to this. I like that. It gives it this dark, dramatic. Maybe a storm is brewing. Sculpting the clouds. Here. Just get a blend a little
bit, soften the edges. Be careful not to overwork. I'll do it the same way. Some spike oil. I'm using an ocher here. Start in this left
bottom corner because in the photo reference That's where the sand has the least
amount of water. Some caution here
because when you mix yellow and blue, make green. I don't know about
you, but I don't want my sand to be green. Now is a really good time
for us to take a break. And you may look at your
painting and you say, why are we taking a break? It's not finished.
Sometimes taking a break as just the thing that you need to take your painting
to the next level. Just taking 20 minutes away, make yourself a couple
of t, I take a walk. Watch a Netflix show. Then when you come
back to the painting, you'll have fresh eyes, see you in a new way and
know exactly what to do. All right, enjoy your break and I'll see you back
here in just a minute.
7. Painting Waves: All right, you're back from your little time
away from the painting. Now, let's add some way. I want you to be
cautious with this, but have a little
fine. For these waves. I'm using a stiff brush
and I'm really loading it up with just paint,
titanium white. I'm just carefully,
carefully pulling my brush where I want the waves. I'm going to take this
teeny tiny brush size. I'm going to put in
some little wave bits. What is it, blossom Jetson. I'm going to keep doing this. I'm going to add some
gel medium to the white because I wanted to do
over the sand layer. I'm going to go back and
take some Caribbean. I'm going to darken the value. Under the waves. They always look a little
darker right before they crest. I'm just adding that. The magic of the round brush. I'm going to dip this
brush in some gel, white. Then I'm just squeezing
it between my thumb and my index finger, making it. But now I have a flat brush. I can get that little
detail that in there. I don't want to
overwork this painting. I'm going to have to step away from it for a
minute and make sure that I'll see you
in the next class.
8. Share, Store, And Varnish: Now it's time to
share your painting. Let's take a picture
of the painting. Let me give you a
couple of quick tips on photographing your paintings. You can use your phone. Just try and place your
painting in an area with natural light, not
direct sunlight. I can't wait to see
your finished piece. If you remember to take any
photos of works in progress, please, please upload
those as well. Our painting should be dry in
about three to four months. And until then, you'll need
to store your painting in an area that's mostly
kid pet and lint free. Use a box, you can use
an Amazon box or I use these garment boxes
typically used for Christmas. Dual purpose. When you're painting is dry in about
three or four months, you'll need to cover
it in a light varnish. I usually use spray varnish just because I can go
outside, spray it on. And the varnish will
protect your painting from dust and limped
fingerprints In etc. I hope this class
has inspired you. I thank you so much for taking this journey with
me and trusting me. Please, please share your work. I love seeing my students work. Share it in the class projects. You can find me on Instagram
at EMI run studio. Tag me so that I
can see your work and share your paintings
with my followers. I hope to see you in the
next video. Bye for now.
Emily Warren, Artist, Painter, Educator.
