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elementary notions about oil painting
by Leon Engelen 
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There are a lot of painting methods. They are all good, if you use
the materials
correctly. My technique is a very simple one. Everyone with normal skills can
acquire it quickly to achieve beautiful results.
You have to obtain as many colors as possible by using as few tubes of paint as
possible. No color can be applied unmixed. I mix the paint in very small quantities
so that new colors are formed constantly. These colors always differ from each
other so that variations are obtained within the same color. The paint is mixed in
the middle of the palette. When another shade is needed, the new paint must be put
next to the previous mixture. Then I mix slowly in the direction of the previous
mixture. Every time I make a new shade, I work in the direction of the existing
mixture. Thus I obtain a rich palette with a lot of shades.
When a new canvas is started, as little paint as possible should be applied. When
the paint is put on too thickly, it is almost impossible to put on a second layer
before the first layer is dry. The best brush to start with is a wide flat one of 3
to 7
cm made of white silk or pig's bristles. The paint is not diluted with medium or
turpentine. You only dilute, if you work with thin brushes 0 and 00. The paint can
then be used as ink, for example to paint twigs of trees, blades of grass and hay. The
canvas can also be primed in such a way that the oils keep the
paint wet, penetrate
more or less the undercoat. This makes it possible to apply a second layer without
mixing the coats of paint.
To work canvas yourself you have to proceed in the following manner: You need
unprocessed linen (preferably double-woven), lime, powdered chalk and water.
First, the canvas is mounted loosely on the square canvas stretcher. Take into
account that linen shrinks 10% when processed. The large sizes (from 60 x 70 cm)
must therefore be mounted quite loosely. Once the canvas is mounted, there are
three phases.
First phase. The oil that is in the paint must not come into contact with the linen.
That's why a protective coat must be applied. This coat consists of size of 70 gr.
lime per liter of water. To make size you let the lime grains soak one night in cold
water. When you heat (don't boil) and stir it, the lime dissolves easily. The size is
applied to the linen with a wide brush.
Second phase. When the first coat is quite dry, it is brushed lightly. Powdered chalk
is added to the size. ¾ liter of chalk is added to 1 liter of water. This mixture is
applied on the first coat.
Third phase. When the second coat is quite dry, brush it lightly again. Add chalk to
size that only contains 40 gr. of lime per liter. Add at least 2 liters of chalk to 1
liter
of size. Thus you obtain a pulp that is just liquid enough to be applied easily and
yet
gives a few millimeters of coating. When the third coat is quite dry, it can be brushed.
First brush with coarse, then with fine sandpaper.To process and apply the different
coats the mixtures must be heated. Be careful to keep the temperature under
the boiling
point.
Most paint brands offer different qualities, expensive and less expensive ones. A lot
of painters think they have to use the most expensive paint to obtain the best
results.
Nothing is further from the truth: you have to use the paint that
suits your purpose
best. Expensive paint contains a lot of dye and little filler such as chalk,
beeswax or cork. This paint has a strong color power and is only meant to be
applied very thinly. For example, in order to glaze or to neutralize strong colors.
Some will work with a palette knife and spread the paint too thickly on the canvas.
The expensive paint will crack quickly for lack of fillers, bur the cheaper qualities
have enough body to keep the applied coat of paint in perfect condition.
It is also good to know that the properties of some paints don't allow wrong
treatment. Zinc white, for example does not lose color, but has the tendency to
crack. Titanium white, on the contrary, is elastic but turns yellow. Consequently
titanium white is suitable for the undercoat, whereas zinc white is suitable for the
upper coats. I always use cremser white, which combines the good properties of
the paints mentioned above. If you apply a good coat of varnish, it remains
colorfast.
My color palette is limited to the fifteen colors below
Cerulean Blue
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Naples Yellow
Cadmium Orange
Permanent Green
White
Viridian
Yellow Ochre
Indian Yellow
Cadmium Red Deep
Cobalt Violet Deep
Black
Madderlake Light
With these paints it is possible to make all colors.
I use few brushes to paint. It is advisable to have a second specimen of each size:
one for the light and one for the dark colors, in order to avoid constant cleaning. I
prefer working with flat brushes of 3 and 7 cm, a sable's hair pencil or imitation of
10 mm, an 0 and a wiper (long hairs of 3 cm n°4).
Always place the canvas level and perpendicular and never let the sun shine on the
canvas while painting in free nature. Painting is to be done under mediocre
circumstances, never with perfect light, because when a painting hangs somewhere
inside a house the light is never perfect. A painting should always be made with a
lighting that is less good than the lighting in the place where it is finally hung.
When
painting a landscape, the horizon should not be in the middle, but on 1/3 or
2/3 of the canvas. However, when high trees or nearby houses are to
be painted,
the horizon must be low. As the horizon is always at eye level, a tree or
house
would barely come above the horizon if the horizon is high and would thus
only be two or three meters high. When the sky is dark, the landscape must be light
and vice versa. You have to do this in order to obtain the contrast that is needed
for
the authenticity and strength of the entity. To obtain the depth in a landscape,
everything in the background has to be painted vaguely, in form and color. The
foreground should
be painted with contrast. A meadow in the foreground can be
painted really dark at the bottom, with a light green part above. To sum up: in the
foreground a lot of contrast is used, in the background only a little.
It is very important to know that color changes according to the ground on which
it is painted. Orange is quite different on a white ground than on a green one. Green
on a red ground is different than on a white one. Blue on yellow-orange gives a
much warmer shade than blue on white. I always paint a dark red coat under
everything that must be green, like trees and meadows. I paint the ground of bricks
and tiles dark green and the ground of skies warm yellow-orange.
It is good to know that a lot can be achieved with a Grey color, made of
ultramarine blue, umber stained and white. When a painting comes across as too
heavy, its edge can be coated lightly with Grey, which is applied on a dry brush of 7
cm. The points of light (Naples yellow, white or orange) which give life to a
painting
are applied toward the end. The effect can be heightened by putting a dark small
stripe under a point of light.
It is important that not everything is developed in detail. When all the bricks in a wall
are developed in detail, it will soon become boring to look at it. It is better to
paint a
few bricks clearly and others only vaguely. Thus the spectator can finish the image
himself and will think that he sees all the bricks.The painter must not
be tempted to put immediately on canvas everything he sees.
First he must study the composition of the subject. I divide the work of a painting
in
three phases.
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phase 1 |
phase 2 |
phase 3 |
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Outline and drawing. If the
drawing and outline are not
correct, problems will arise later
on which will force you to
repaint everything . That's why
you have to see to it that
everything is in the right place
and that the composition is
correct.
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Make the outline more clear
and finish it. Touch up the
drawing with brush n° 10, apply
some more light and complete
the darker parts so that the
contrast is heightened. By
painting more and more light
and dark colors the painting is
shaped and the finishing touch
can be given. |
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The finishing. The finishing is
very important because it
determines what the spectator
will eventually see. As opposed
to the outline, improvements can
be applied if the result is
unsatisfactory.
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A great artist once said he looked at his works as if they were painted by his
worst enemy. That seems exaggerated to me, because being too critical is as
inadvisable as being not critical enough. Instead of working on a painting endlessly,
I try to learn from my mistakes and to avoid them in the next painting.
How can a painting be judged in the best way? A good criterion is the opinion of an
outsider, someone who is a layman in the art of painting. Another method is to put the
painting upside down or to look at its mirror image. When I work on a painting for a
long time, I sometimes start something new to be able to look at my work with a
fresh view. |
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