Unit 3: Using Oil Paints

How much paint should you squirt onto your painting pallet at a time?

Size of a Pea

(Each of the following examples is the pure color and then that color with an equal amount of white.)

Yellow: Use CADMIUM YELLOW PALE or CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT. Opaque.

Yellow-Orange: Use Cadmium Yellow sometimes called Cadmium Yellow Medium. Opaque.

Orange: Use CADMIUM ORANGE. Opaque.

Red-Orange: Use CADMIUM SCARLET. Opaque.

Red: Use CADMIUM RED sometimes called CADMIUM RED LIGHT. Opaque. Cadmium Red when mixed with blue it makes a very dull Violet.

Red-Violet: Use QUINACRIDONE ROSE (Permanent Rose in Winsor Newton paints). Transparent.

Violet: Use DIOXAZINE VIOLET (Winsor Violet in Winsor Newton paints). Transparent.

Blue-Violet: There is no satisfactory "out of the tube" Blue-Violet. Mix DIOXAZINE VIOLET with ULTRAMARINE BLUE when this color is needed.

Blue: Use French Ultramarine Blue and Thalo Blue. The closest to a true blue is a mixture of French Ultramarine Blue and Thalo Blue (3 parts Ultramarine to 1 part Thalo), Transparent. Use French Ultramarine Blue for most s, but put both blues on your palette.

Blue-Green: Use THALO GREEN (also called Winsor Green, Grumbacher Green). Transparent.

Green: Use CADMIUM GREEN. It is suitable for most situations but is slightly to the yellow side. When a pure spectrum green is needed mix six parts Cadmium Green to one part Thalo Green. Opaque.

Yellow-Green: Use CADMIUM GREEN PALE. Opaque.

Black: Use MARS BLACK. Opaque. Or use IVORY BLACK. Transparent.

The Difference Between Transparent and Opaque Colors

Oil paints are mixtures of dry pigments and a drying oil like linseed oil. Pigments are powdered natural minerals, dyed minerals and occasionally vegetable matter. The powdered minerals, such as cadmium and titanium, when mixed with oil make opaque colors. Pigments made from dyed minerals, (Quinacridone or Dioxazine), or vegetable matter, when mixed with oil make transparent colors. Transparent colors are useful for glazing. When a transparent color is mixed with an opaque color the mixture becomes opaque.

Using Linseed Oil:

Linseed oil, also known as flax seed oil, is a clear to yellowish oil obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum, Linaceae). The oil is obtained by cold pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction. 



Linseed oil is use mainly as paint-drying oil. In making paints the oil is mixed with colorings, a thinner, and a drier. After the paint is spread, the thinner evaporates, and the oil reacts with oxygen, forming a tough elastic film. The drier speeds up film formation. Oxidation continues slowly after the paint has dried and eventually destroys the film. 

Cleaning your Brushes:

 

How to Clean Your Brushes:

Step By Step:

 

 

1. Prepare your canvas with GESSO and sketch your drawing:

 

 

 

 

2.  Under painting Part 1- Umber browns/white:

 

 

 

3.Under painting Part 2-dark browns, brighter whites:

 

 

 

4.  Start developing the mid-tone details:

 

 

 

5. Details!  White whites and black blacks are added at the end.  Sharpen edges/ straighten lines: