Oil paints

ravennr

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#1
I'm not very good with pencil drawings, or lifelike things unless it is sculpting with clay. However, I love to paint, more abstractly.

I like pastels a lot, and I can co-exist with watercolours, but I've never had the pleasure of working with oil paints. Does anyone here work with them? And if so, do you have any examples or tips?

I am interested in owning a shop someday carrying this type of stock (paints, canvas, brushes, etc) and I'm trying to learn as much as possible, even if I'm not the greatest artist!
 

smkie

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#2
would love to see your work! Art to me is not about being good at, but being in the process of. Each piece leads me to the next, and each piece teaches me something new. THe process is what i adore, my favorite qoute that i saw hammered into the cover on a fire place was "the lyfe so short, the crafte so long to learne" :D
good luck with your future shop!
 

Brandyb

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#3
I'm not very good with pencil drawings, or lifelike things unless it is sculpting with clay. However, I love to paint, more abstractly.

I like pastels a lot, and I can co-exist with watercolours, but I've never had the pleasure of working with oil paints. Does anyone here work with them? And if so, do you have any examples or tips?

I am interested in owning a shop someday carrying this type of stock (paints, canvas, brushes, etc) and I'm trying to learn as much as possible, even if I'm not the greatest artist!
Definately, as smkie said, post some of your artwork - we'd love to see it!

Oils are a very nice medium to work with. I used to work and take classes in oils many verys ago and very much enjoyed it. They pliable in the sense that they take days to dry, so even if you step back from a painting for a little to figure things out, you can go back and rework that section without worrying about the paints having dried. They are easy to blend, and provide texture to your work, depending on how you utilize them. I believe that all oils are lead free now, however, when I was using them, the whites always contained lead. The major downfall to these paints is the thinning medium. You need to use paint thinner, or some sort of chemical as the base, instead of water. I'm sure that now they must have something that is less, umm, headache causing than paint thinner, and I can not for the life of me remember what we used in class ... but it didn't smell half as bad as what I have at home. I stopped using these because of that reason, however, I haven't looked lately for a better thinning agent, and I'm sure that the art stores carry some that have little to no odor. You should still paint with oils in a well ventilated area.
Check out the below link, its an artstore up here in Canada that I frequent, and they carry everything that I need. This may help provide you with some information as well:
www.currys.com
 

ravennr

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#4
I'd love to have a screened in area where I can paint (can't get much more ventilated than that, huh?!) but as of right now, nothing of the sort is happening.

I'll have to get my scanner working to post some of my artwork. :)
I agree, it's not so much the finished product as the work in progress, but since I'm so nitpicky with what I do, I really prefer my finished product to not only have been fun, but also be an exact replica of the idea in my head that spawned it.

Thanks for the feedback, I will have to find a good artsy store here with people who know a thing or two about paints to help me out with this all. And I'll need to scrounge up the cash too, I suppose!
 

smkie

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#5
I have learned alot of ins and outs in the land of acrylics. Brushes too, like never by them buy the pack (they slip the duds in those) and that for mass work synthetics work best. DOn't waste your money on transparents, or semi transparents, i search out opaques and dark burnt umber is divine to mix with, i almost never ever use back or white. if i can help it. ohohoh and if you wash out your brushes and put them straight away in the freezer you get a much longer life out of them, plus a drop of fabric softner in the water helps keep the paint from hardening in the hairs. I use the non yellowing polyurathane as a cover on my paintings and even inbetween layers so i can get a finer line. Also adds some depth for paintings like the snowcats plus it makes the surface near indestructable. I like acrylics because they do not fade even in direct sunlight. They are however a witch to get use to using for your blending time is so short.

lol Brandy we thought the painting dept at the art institute were a little brain effected from all their fumes since they spent most of their time sitting in the trees on campus:D
 

Katja

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#6
I like pastels a lot, and I can co-exist with watercolours, but I've never had the pleasure of working with oil paints. Does anyone here work with them? And if so, do you have any examples or tips?
Hi!

For tips try checking here ;) :

http://www.pet-art.net/learn-how-to-paint-pet-portraits.htm

I didn´t have time to finish (I hope I will soon) other articles but oils are there. :)

even if I'm not the greatest artist!
Nobody became great over night so one day you still might be one of the best! :) As long as you enjoy it just keep working.

Bye, Katja
 

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