Oil Painting Lessons basic method of oil painting by Carol Santora

Carol Santora, PSA

Animal Paintings ~ Capturing the spirit of animals in pastel

Oil Painting Lessons

Oil Painting Lessons by Carol Santora reviews the basic method of oil painting, a process which can be followed for any of the painting media, except watercolor.

Santora is a contemporary animal portrait artist and painter living in Kennebunk, Maine, and specializes in the art and paintings of horses, cows, dogs, cats, domestic and farm animals, wildlife, bear, moose and the great cats.

Basic Method of Oil Painting:

Study your subject matter
Plan your composition & placement of objects; if outdoors, use a viewfinder; rearrange unpleasant still life or portrait sitters (optional: do several charcoal sketches on paper to resolve problems.)
With a large brush and thin paint, make marks at top, bottom, and sides of canvas to mark outer boundaries of composition.
Make the preliminary drawing with a small round brush dipped in a light color diluted with plenty of solvent
Study the subject matter, looking for mass tones and value differences; don't paint brilliant colors at this stage; mass in the background tone first, it establishes the key tone to which all the other masses must be geared; cover the most important shapes with broad strokes of color; work to the foreground, to the bottom of the canvas, painting flat, unshaded tones covering the entire painting surface with color; use big brushes, save little brushes for details
Develop the picture with color - work thin to thick, save thickest color for last stages; add complementary color shadows, objects become 3-dimensional; add lighter tones & highlights to illuminated sides, darker tones to shadowed sides.
Work from loose to tight, start with broad strokes and big color areas.
Plan color mixtures before touching brush to canvas.
Correct and refine your drawing wherever you see weaknesses; work dark to light, background to foreground.
Step away from the canvas at intervals, to return to the canvas with a fresh, critical eye; add details, continue to correct mistakes, make refinements.

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