ArtClicktv Videos

Art Click TV has a free video library offered through the month of July (artclick.tv/free-test) & I've watched a couple of the ones on oil painting. One is by Caroline Jasper and the other is by Sean Dye and I was struck by how involved their process is even before they actually start with the oil paints.

Both use colored gesso by Holbein on their canvas which I can sort of understand coming from a pastel background. However, Jasper does an elaborate value sketch then a small painting/study before she even begins her final painting. She actually did two studies because she wasn't sure which color she wanted for the gesso.

Sean Dye was even more elaborate in that he applied the colored gesso then he sketched his scene in charcoal first then did a value sketch in India ink right on the canvas. After that he used acrylic gouache in mostly complementary colors and finally began to paint with WSO's.

Do any of you work in either of these ways? While I can see the advantages of the value sketch, Sean Dye used a photo converted to grayscale to do his India ink value sketch which seems a little redundant to me.

I guess I'm being a little obtuse here although I know both of these artists allow the underpainting and even the colored gesso background to show through in places in their final paintings

If this is the new oil painting method, I'm not sure I have the patience for all those steps - are they really necessary? If you're going to go through all of that, why not just use the acrylic to begin with for example?

Anyway, would like to hear how you all paint and what you think of these two methods.


Well, I got a message that I can't post any external links since I'm a newbie but I'm sure you can find the free lessons if you really want to.

Hi Jan,

I have not looked at how Caroline or Sean do their work. But I believe since it is a demo they probably went over board with all that can be done and wanted to show all that the viewer can do and try... It is highly likely that they don't use all the technique that they showed in the demo, when they are doing their paintings off camera.

I personally don't do that much prep work. I make mental notes of values and jump right in. I have done a few value sketch before painting, but they are thumb nail sketches mostly and I have noticed that my work that way is better, but I rarely take more than 10 to 15 minutes on this.

I have seen one accomplished artist saying the exact opposite of another accomplished artist and I have finally come to the conclusion that all rules in art are made to be broken and that is what makes art grow and fun. It is a good thing that it is not a precise science...

Take Care and hope to hear more from you and see your paintings...

Faisal

I'm sure you're right, Faisal, about different artists using different methods. I was just trying to see what the most popular methods are here among the members. Thanks for saying how you work.

I guess it may be hard to determine which one is most popular. But I feel when you start out, you will find yourself gravitating towards a technique and method... and in no time you will build upon it and have something that will be as unique as your personality.

If you are curious... you can see some of my work that I have posted on this forum from day1 and have numbered them from 1 onwards, I am on my 28th posting right now. You can see this under the topic "Completed Paintings".

Happy Painting...

Faisal

Hi Jan,

First, I don't know of any reason you couldn't put a link in, but I'll check on it. We may have put a restriction on until a person has x number of posts. Did you use the "LINK" symbol (looks like a chain link that is in the center of the menu just above where you write your post? You have to use that for an active link.

I use all different methods of preparation, most of them not so time consuming as you watched. Here is a link to a demo I did on grayscale and tonal values that might interest you.

https://watersolubleoils.forumotion.com/t687-using-grayscale-and-tonal-values-in-your-painting

If you haven't looked t this demo by Callie, you really should. It helps understanding glazing etc.

https://watersolubleoils.forumotion.com/t654-paint-thinner-and-glazing-techniques

Hee is another link where I painted the pink rose in the February Challenge. If you scroll down about 5 or 6 posts, you will see how I used pastel pencils to draw inthe different colored flowers as a guide on a black gessoed board.
https://watersolubleoils.forumotion.com/t217-february-challenge

Hope some of this helps.
Judy

Jan,

I just found the link problem. We did set up a
restriction for new members. After you are a member for a week, you can
post links. For new members that want to use the forum for spam, if they
wait a week and then try to put in a link, we can ban them if we find
the links are inappropriate.

I'm sure you'll be able to submit
links shortly without a problem. It was good for me to have to refresh
my memory about that restriction.
Judy

Thanks Faisal & Judy. I'll definitely check out the paintings and links. I know I'll end up finding my own method for painting but I do like to know what's been tried and works for other artists.