Drawing

 Drawing and interpreting your scene

What do we do with that photo! That is a great question. A photo can supply you with multiple scenes within a scene to choose for painting. Cropping is key to make this happen. You certainly can copy the photo as a whole, but what fun it would be to find other areas within the photo to make a painting with it. 

Now you have a sketchbook and value view finder lets put it into use. 

What do you want to say

What is it about this photo that attracted you to the scene? Was it the light and shadow pattern? What made you stop and take this picture? What is my focal point? 

    The Focal Point? What is that?

• A focal point is what you pick to be the main area in a painting that you think is the most important part you want your audience to focus on or relate to. 
• Next, is where in the format do you want this Focal Point or FP to be placed in the space of your format.
• A format is the rectangle (in the landscape or vertical frame) or the square.

This is where you start. Typically we will begin with a rectangle and divide your box into thirds like so. This is done in any format you choose.

The 4 circles represent where your focal point might be placed. This grid may also serve to help you with the placement of objects within each square for better drawing accuracy. A photo should at the beginning  be in a black and white exposure to help you determine the shapes of your idea. Here is an example of what that may look like

As you can see I changed the photo to silver tone, placed my grid and identified where my FP will be placed. I also used the L's to breakdown this 4x6 photo I took to a smaller area within it. It is useful at this point to place your idea of this format in your sketchbook. Try and draw a likeness of what you see, making sure you follow the values with your drawing. Remember; not every attempt will be successful. This is true with every artist. Sometimes, we have to abandon ideas until we gain more experience. This is normal. Don't be hard on yourself. Check out my bookclub on drawing. Most of these books are available on Amazon. Draw using this process for multiple objects around the house inside and out. All things are paintable, don't get caught up with trying to find something to draw. Just use any picture or item laying around. (I would stay away from portraits at this point, including pets). However, if you want to do an exercise in placing them within a landscape, don't include detail. Our goal is to look at shapes not things.  The next most important concept is Make no two shapes the same. These two things will be true throughout the painting process no matter how experienced you are.

Next Time

We will talk more about shape identification, how to use that to your advantage and why its important. Also, look in my labels for information on notans. Also, we will start with the cylinder shape and drawing it. We're not done with the photo either, there is so many things to say about it. I want to encourage you to work from life too. It is the very best way to learn to draw.

Pinecrest Lake

 So here it is.... my progress with this 20x20 oil painting. Continued from the last post "Starting an oil painting". 

Day 3 of painting, as you can see I have laid out what I think are all what I want to be the local color. This does happen to follow the scene closely in that detail. But if you notice I'm not committed completely to the color concept. Could I have exaggerated color choices? By all means yes! Maybe, in the future of another painting (Pinecrest 2) maybe I will. I seem to have a fondness to this scene. It is been sketched and painted already multiple times. I'm becoming very familiar with it and how I want to say things with my paints.

Basically on my palette these are paints from a few days ago. They are still fresh to use. I add walnut oil to my brush to help change the consistency to butter for better application to the canvas. It does take a bit longer to dry...with that being said, it's helpful to go back into an area and scrape out with my knife or wipe off or just paint over if I feel I need to. I also, mix up colors I think I want to use and then use my brush to grab another color and let some of my mixing happen right on the canvas. What do you have to loose! It wipes up if you don't like it. Also, I should point out when I do that, I just do a little dab to see if I like the color. check the value and if I even need it. 

You can see here, I have adjusted the shadow shape in the lower left hand corner. I will address this again on another day as I didn't like it's shape. I also addressed some of the clouds in the sky. I felt even though the picture I took some of the clouds had sharp angles to them (that's how the picture showed it) but it didn't work for the painting. So I started to bring them up. I'm not done with them yet. I Almost had reservations about the shoreline that dipped down in the right hand corner. Big No-no in composition. So I knew I would change that in my next day of painting. I also wasn't keen on the water color. But I'm leaving that for another day. I note I could have some graduation detail in the sky so played with that , but ultimately I would later not like what I had done. What I did enjoy was the red showing through in spots, I hoped I would not loose that. 

Day 4 next time. Any questions feel free to comment to me, I will get to them as quick as I can. Hope this is helpful. Hit the follow button if you want to be notified when I post updates...

Thanks Again, Debi

Starting the Oil painting

 How do I start my Oil painting?

I started working small to get the feel about how the oil paint flowed, values and wet into wet process or do I like it better if it dries in-between some painting techniques. There definitely is a learning curve when you start any new media. Not an absolute necessity but very helpful is your drawing and painting prep needed before starting a piece. You can find those process under the labels "Drawing" with in this blog if you have any questions. 

So I start by putting a layer of Gesso on my painting surfaces including store bought pre primed stretched canvas. It doesn't take long and I do several at once of all different sizes. After that I coat them with  an acrylic background color  I experiment with many colors and techniques. I've used quinacridan magenta, yellow orche which is common, to lime green with a brayer roller using very dark blue green color, to putting drops of fluid acrylics and rolling with the brayer to waiting a minute and using a very light spray of water and then taking my brush and very lightly go over the water. It creates a snow like affect on the paint. Have fun, oil and acrylics are opaque mediums and if you don't like it or want to repurpose a painting you didn't like just Gesso over it. 

Here is my initial set up with my Open Box M set up. I have my brushes and Jar paints set out just like I will put them on my gray palette. Also, I have a rag to wipe off extra oil on my brush or to wipe off my palette knife I use to mix paint with. To the right I have my mini iPad on a stand with my subject manner on it. I have on the window sill some thumbnails I did in this square format. My photo I can hold in my hand and on the left are 2 mini paintings of the same scene. One is in oil and one is in acrylic. Liquin is used to help dry things along today on the right in a metal clip on bowl. My walnut oil is hanging in front of the palette. This canvas is a mixture of Q magenta and Cad Orange

20x20 

Now, I will put some burnt umber & Ultramarine blue mixed with some added oil to put my initial drawing down. This is just a guideline, an advantage to this is if I don't like how I put some lines down I just wipe them off and re make them. I also at this time shade lightly my dark areas I defined in my thumbnails. Keep it very simple.

You can see here I have laid my paints out starting with titanium white in the far upper left corner. In order from top to bottom on the far left is:

Titanium white

Buff white

Paynes gray

Raw Sienna

(My own) mixed gray with left over paints from previous paintings kept in a plastic jar with lid.

Across the top:

Hansa Yellow

Cad yellow medium and below it is Cad yellow deep

Yellow Orche

Cad Orange

Cad red medium

Rose Madder

On the right side top to bottom

 Ultramarine blue

Cobalt blue

Pthalo blue

Chrome green oxide

Will I use all these? I'm not sure but I might in some form. Mixtures I keep because I don't want to mix them, but use them often enough is the Cad Org, Chrome Green. I also have dioxide purple but didn't put it out for this painting. It's good to keep plenty of white on hand. I find that it's a color used a lot to lighten passages in a painting. The Buff white is used to lighten and gray a color down if needed. In the end if a skin develops over the paints, I take it off with a palette knife and use what ever is left. If not much is there it goes into that gray pile I keep at the bottom left of my palette. 

Here are my references for this painting including thumbnails

So I got my sketch out on the canvas. I've kept it as a ghost image. I happen to start this painting with the sky. Why did I pick that? Well, its a pretty big shape so why not. I can use the color to key off of with the rest of my painting and its darker than the clouds. I can always adjust but the clouds I know will be light but I don't want to use white straight out of the tube for them for sure. 

Do I like all the shapes? Do I have a good base for local color I want to use? Are my values where I want them? Notice, there is no real detail anywhere at this stage of the painting. This is a key concept  to keep in mind. Good habits to start with will lead to greater successes. Some of this painting will be slightly dry by morning (because of the Liquin). You don't have to use that, the paints will still be  workable for blending the next day if you don't use the Liquin. The palette will also stay wet along with your brushes. I put them in the Turpenoid Naturals over night anyway, but you don't have to. I place my rags I use outside just because I don't like the smell ( I'm working in my living room until my studio is done). But my methods are non toxic. 

That's it for today. I will continue to update the process of this painting. It's not a bad idea to have several paintings or drawings going at once. Especially if you work in other mediums. 

Any questions regarding my process or on content please feel free to ask. Anything special you would like me to cover just let me know. To improve on your drawing skills check out my posts under the drawing labels for more information. Have a great day!

Thumbnails

• What does the thumbnail tell you?

    Thumbnails can hold so much information for you. They are your roadmap for a painting. By doing thumbnails you are creating pathways to be successful in your paintings. Lets face it art is expensive. Paper or Canvas isn't cheap so it becomes precious. The main way to reduce failure is to practice and plan everything out so you are successful. So how do you do this? Practice!!  😉

     I hope to explain to you my journey into the drawing process. Give you tips on subjects that they don't tell you in books, but are tricks every artist uses from time to time to be successful in a subject that they may not be so familiar with. Some of the most successful artists today have been former Illustrators and have years of practice and college training. If you can start in a junior college, take all the art classes you can. There is so much to learn from the History of Art. Visit museums and study from the Masters in history, you will often see students sitting and drawing or painting in the museums with permission of course. Copying their (The Masters) works. You shouldn't try to sell these, but can give them away to friends and family. It's an ethical thing. At the very least you should give the original painter or photographer credit. But the experience of copying them enlightens you with so much "Aha" moments in drawing, color mixing and composition you can't help but come away with knowledge. 

    A note on today's Artists, if work is done in practice workshops as long as the artist gives you permission to post your work you may. It is not excepted practice to post those pieces for sale in a public domain atmosphere or enter a competition. However, this is a very deep and talked about subject for another post. Just keep these key points in mind before selling your work. As long as you made the drawing, your picture and your rendition of the scene, you will not be infringing on any other artist. 

     Here is an example of a copy of work I've completed. This is originaly a work from 'Edgar Payne called "Morning Light". I won't sell this, I could give it to family though. This held a great amount of information on how to handle greens and his composition decisions for me. This also was started as a classroom study of the Masters. 

18x18 pastel

Notice in the left lower corner my signature and copy of Edgar Payne, even though copyright laws have expired it is highly recommended to give the original artist a nod. This painting will never be for sale, however I may frame it for my personal use. 

Edgar Payne's "Morning Light"

• What are my main shapes?

    Identify the main shapes of your composition. Try different formats of these shapes to see if they are pleasing to you. 

    Here is a photo I took many years ago in Knights Ferry California. Not that great of a photo but it has potential for many compositions. 

original photo

These following pictures are possible format and shape identification possibilities, to consider.

    So you can see how 1 photo can become more paintings. I did try different ideas of color for the first example. They are so different as I explored this idea. These were done on Canson paper because I wasn't concerned about a finished painting. Remember, Canson paper does not hold many layers of pastel marks. It's ok to stay with a light touch especially with soft pastels since they tend to deposit thicker deposits of pigment on the paper. I like to use it to identify in color light and shadow areas. I also like to try different background colors for effect. On this particular example I used a green leaf color paper, but could have used red as a compliment just as easily.

  

  

  

8x8 pastel

    Next time we'll talk about using the photo verses life, it's advantages and disadvantages. I'll share with you the process of making this little study. I hope this is helpful for you. There is so much to say that I don't want to cause confusion. I'll try to give this to you in steps that flow. I know your probably anxious to get going. Please refer to the book club for suggestions in books of drawing that directly relate to the information I am sharing. This will get you going as we go through the subjects to help you to get started. Practice and Practice in your sketchbook will help you get where you want to be with greater satisfaction quickly. 

    Please follow me if you like this blog and sign up with your email so you get notifications as I post new content. Thanks again. Let me know if you have questions on this subject or if you want me to talk about concepts you think may be helpful. Have a wonderful day. 😀

Debi

Pastels

 Starting a painting

Number one thing: Use a light touch

Gosh, I can't express that enough. It doesn't matter what paper you use, just that you start with a light touch when painting with the pastels. It doesn't matter if you use hard, soft or pastels pencils this is a must. Why? because you must preserve the paper tooth to apply multiple layers.

Why multiple layers you ask? Well, pastels for one are pure pigment and unlike paint that you can mix on the palette, pastels must be blended to reach the desired color. That's what you do on the paper instead and the end results is color that blends much like the impressionist painted. I started out in the 1980's to get more serious about my art. Back then I didn't have a complete understanding of some of these concepts. Sennelier and Schmincke were the only soft pastels on the market so I relied on Rembrants. Paper was also limited so we made our own paper. A class with Master Pastelist Doug Dawson introduced me to that method. Mostly during that time I used Canson Mi-Tientes. I had no choice to learn a light touch but it was difficult for me. Now there is a beautiful selection of papers to choose from.

Gene Franks asked this question to his readers in a Walter Foster Pencil Drawing 1988 publication, "Why Draw?" "Pencil is the basis for all other media. It is important that every artistic person learn to draw. As you master this medium, other creative fields will open up to you". So I studied how to draw. I can't stress that enough. Please review my pages and labels on drawing in this blog. I go into great detail to bring you the most important concepts that I may have struggled with while learning. I do have an AA in art, but that's as far as I could take my college courses at that time in my life. Largely self taught, I have taken workshops from other very accomplished Artists. 

After you have decided what to paint, you've completed your thumbnails and have decided on the best composition, value placement and if applicable worked out you perspective your ready to start on it. I recommend a woodless B graphite pencil (any pencil will work) or a hard pastel in a darker color (lighter if using black or very dark paper). With a light touch get your basic drawing with indications of object placement and a dark value plan. This is using much like a grisallie approach (a painting completed in shades of gray). 

Notice the margins around the piece that will be used to try out colors and relationships with them before I place them in the painting itself. I don't paint to the edge of a board usually. A good practice. 

With this approach you have identified your darks. Now, its time to decide the next step, Darken up your darks. This example is on Canson paper. I like to explore color options and chose a leaf green sheet I had. I want you to consider this: The hardest thing for me to get through my head was the values of my pastels. Even though they are laid out for you (if you did them like me), you probably have few really light options to pick from. Try to paint the whole piece at once, meaning to begin you can use a very light touch to put in the local color on your work of your idea, including the lights. Add these elements to help guide you to your idea. Your mark making should be a light pencil sketch idea (using harder pastels). 

You will discover that your pastel colors mostly are in the middle to dark values. You might have some lights where the colors are almost white. Pay attention to this, it's been the hardest thing for me. Color change does not equal value accuracy. Please test out your colors BEFORE you put them on your painting next to your work. Ask yourself, How do these colors work together? Are they the same value? What do my lights look like next to the darks? Do I have the value changes in the range on the gray scale like you want. This relates directly to how you want to KEY the painting.

What is Key? Key is how light and dark your values relate to each other in your painting. Let's say it's a very foggy kinda day. Your darkest darks might only register around the number 5 value on the gray scale and lighter lights register 1 on that scale. This can be labeled a high key piece. Using the scale as 5 being your lightest and 10 your darkest would be considered a Low key work. 

These concepts are really important to understand. Once you know you got this, you will have the ability to create successful paintings more often. In unsuccessful attempt repeat the same painting idea over and over until you achieve your idea. This applies to drawing and color skill building. Don't be hard on yourself, bad paintings happen to everyone. just learn from them and move on. Throw them away or repurpose the paper if it's possible. This is partly why I use Canson sometimes because it's not precious and I will toss it. If it's on other paper that has the ability to take more abuse, I will try to repurpose that piece. 

Techniques to fix a mistake. It's good news for all papers that we can fix mistakes. Some papers you can only try a couple of things and others can take much more abuse. Canson Mi-Tientes you can take a small or larger brush and brush the pastel off. Take care with the dust it creates when you do this. You do not want to breathe that in. Wear a N95 mask or respirator (best option) while doing this, or take the work outside. Dust from pastels is pure pigment that you are taking into your lungs, something you want to avoid. You may also use a workable fixative (Outside for safety) that wets the paper slightly and recovers the tooth so you can work in that area some more. These techniques will work with any paper that doesn't take wet applications. Papers that take water applications well. Pastelmat, UArt, Spectrum Art Fix and more that hold up well with wet underpainting in any other painting mediums. Although, I never have used oils it would be something worth checking out. Any painting media used needs to be applied in thin washes to save the tooth of the paper. With these papers you may use the same techniques as on the other papers not acceptable of water products mentioned previously. Additional, you can use a wet brush to wet the areas that you want to remove. It will take the pastel and wet it to recover the tooth. The area will look much darker as you remove pastel with this method but usually dries a bit lighter allowing you to work over that area again and again if necessary. Note, if using a colored paper or underpainting color you will loose this original color. The nice thing about this method it can be done over and over as long as you allow the area to completely dry prior to putting more pastel down. Do you have to wait? No, on the more robust papers you can try painting into these wet areas and discover an effect that may work well for you. 

This was done in the water for this classroom study.

UArt 9x11

Even looking closely next to the rock formation you can't tell I used water to rework that area 2-3 times. It did create a nice dark to work on. 

Next time we will look at the process itself of painting with pastels. Remember as you practice use a light touch with your mark making. Save those thicker applications of pastel to capture your highlights. 

Feel free to comment on the type of art process or questions you might that you would like me to address. I would be glad to help out. 

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Prepping for the painting

 Painting prep

First and most important there are NO RULES in painting. There is however, suggestions to help become successful with your paintings that have been discovered in our Art History. There is known pleasing design concepts to keep in mind. But you are the artist and you are in charge. Keep in mind the suggestions but you are not married to them. Give yourself freedom of expression in your work.

When preparing for any painting, it is wise to do the prep. Some artist who are familiar with painting and have been doing it for awhile skip these steps. That's ok. They have the experience to draw on to make it work. But, as beginners DON'T skip this part. This is where that sketchbook will become your best friend. Don't be afraid of failing in a painting, it will happen! It happens to even the best of the best. Sometimes we need several tries to figure out how to express what we see on paper. Don't worry about your style (mark making), it will come. You will create your own as you learn from others and practice. We want to create a habit in sketching. All successful people spend time practicing their field.

Reasons to sketch

• Where to start?

You guessed it, sketching! Lots and lots of practice. I find the more I ponder over a painting the easier it is to actually do the painting process. Also, you will set yourself up for more winners than failures. Prep always, always, always paves the way to a more intimate connections with the subject matter. Who says you only need to paint something one time. The more familiar you are with the subject, the more expressive you can become with mood, mark making, abstraction or realism. As beginners, we want to depict our subjects as we see them with increased detail. This is normal. Eventually, you will want to branch out further and maybe move away from realism, this is normal too. Some will move to hyper realism and that's ok. You have to start somewhere (A Marla-ism).

• Why was I attracted to this scene?

Why do we paint what we do? Do we have a fondness for the subject matter? Was it the light and shadow patterns? Was it the colors that grabbed us? These are all important questions to ask our selves before we paint. By answering those kinds of questions, we are already making decisions on how to paint our subject. Here is an example of a photo I took a very long time ago in California. I have taken the mat from a 4x6 and cut it in 2 corners to form 2 L shape mats. This is used to crop the photo into different areas within the photo. Why? In most photos of the landscape you can find at least 2-3 (maybe more) paintings or scenes you'd like to see if they can become a painting. A more in-depth look into photo use with art work will be in another post. But for now lets look at what we might use to help us get started.

This is the original photo 4x6

this is the cropped version of a potential pleasing design option

What is the reason I might like to paint this? The attraction for me in this cropping is the morning light and the tree bush design. Can I make this work? I don't know. Lets break this down and see. I did spend some time with thumbnails on this cropping of the photo.

• Is this about the sky or the earth? (For Landscapes)

Is your subject about the sky? Is it about the earth? Is it a still life or portrait? This gives you direction on how to divide your subject matter within the frame you choose. Richard McKinley (Master Pastelist) always teaches this concept. Discussions on dividing spaces will be presented in greater detail under composition. 

For me this photo above is about the earth. As you can see above, I have very little sky in my cropping. This idea may look something like this. In each format rectangle, square or vertical I have taken the very basic shape and placed it with the sky dominate or the earth dominance. It is up to the artist how they want to express their painting. Or, they could try all formats in quick thumbnails to see which they like the best. This helps to familiarize yourself with the subject and become intimate with it. 

Possible formats of dominance of the sky or earth

• What format do I use?

Is it a rectangle, vertical or square format? This is when you start making decisions with thumbnails. A view finder is VERY helpful if on location. L shape mats help to narrow down areas in the visual field or on a photograph. Try sketching in different formats what  you want to say. How well does your shapes fit into the format? Do the shapes have an easy flow to them. Here is possible options.

Format and Value options

I have taken the basic shapes important to the design and using the notan idea, flipped values around to see if any catch my attention more than others. These are possibilities left to the decision of the artist. None are wrong. Some just look better than others. 

The Notan.  Notan is a Japanese word that means "light-dark balance. It is an arrangement of shapes in the simplest form. To artist it is a way to explore the elements of design without having the distractions of color, texture and detail while designing the potential painting.

This is the most basic shapes of the photo above. I placed it in a square format to try for this study.

Basic Notan

Well, that's it for this post. More on Notan's and Photo use in your work to come. Don't forget to subscribe by email to get notifications of new posts. 

Thanks again, If I ever get the like button working (hopefully soon) we can use that. My brain is wired on the right for artwork and technology is left brain. But, I'll get there.

Have fun and sketch!!! If you do a little each day in 6 months you will see significant improvement. Start Today. 😉

Pastel prep

 My work space for pastels

I like to have my tray setup on a workbench that rolls so I can place it where I want it. Not everyone has a lot of space. I'm currently using a table in my home to hold my 4x6 foot pastel tray. I will provide link to how to build this from Marla Baggetta's mini lessons Marla's mini lessons that you must sign up for by email. 

I learned along time ago the concept of color. My bible then was Blue and Yellow don't make Green. I read and did the exercises in mixing to understand the importance of color. I missed, I think along the way that the Value or Intensity of the colors importance in painting. 

Everything about color and our choices hinges on what is the color next to it. I also learned that separating my pastels to reflect not only the Hue and Intensity of the colors, gave me a better understanding of the spectrum of color. 

I separate into this tray by Hue (color), Intensity (Value). There is some consideration for saturation but not as important to me.  I also removed all the wrappers around any pastels. This is a must, you want to learn to be intuitive in your color selection. You also won't remember the names of the colors, it's just to daunting and frankly we aren't wired that way in our brains. You will eventually have colors that you really enjoy and you will remember them. That's ok, it's perfectly normal.

These are some pastels I use to keep in a Jackson's pastel box you can purchase from the website .

Jackson's Wood Pastel box is located in the UK. I have 2 here. They have assorted sizes to fit your needs. I've also purchased other items I wanted from them without any hiccups. You might also check out Dakota Pastels they are very easy to work with as well. I buy all my paper from them located in Washington USA. 

I lined my box with thin white foam I bought at Joanne's. I also lined a small butcher tray I use to hold the pastels I use in a painting while I'm working. This also holds a wood graphite pencil to draw with initially or a dark hard pastel to do the same. I would not recommend using the graphite pencil if your planning a background wash to color your paper. I keep a small inexpensive brush to remove unwanted pastel color on my paper to reclaim an area I'm not happy with. Any slightly stiff brush will work. 

I keep a damp rag next to the box to wipe my hands off. You may wear gloves. The SDS of each company is available on their websites to view any toxic concerns with the sticks. I protect my hands with baby oil before I start. I rub it in really good and have not had any problems. Some artist use a lotion called Gloves in a Bottle, it has good reviews. When your done for the day just wash your hands with soap and water. I have a small scrub brush on hand to get into the nail beds. I also keep a kneaded eraser on hand to dab out areas too and reduce paper damage. Its helpful to keep a disposable small cup with a bit of water on hand too. Some artists use this technique for corrections, but caution is needed to make sure your painting surface can except water or other wet techniques safely. 

List of additional supplies:

• small butcher tray
• small painting brush
• graphite wood pencil
• moist rag
• kneaded eraser 
• reducing glass (to help limit the distance of stepping back to view your work)
• a dust catcher to collect falling pigment as you paint. I use foil.
• masking tape
• recommended papers; Pastelmat, U art, Spectrum Art Fix, Lux, Pastel premier, Kitty Wallace are examples of papers that except light amounts of water, inks, alcohol and paint without buckling. 

here is an example of my easel set up. This is Canson paper I plan to do multiple studies of a scene. I will share those processes in another post.

Drawing basics

 Drawing & the Sketchbook

Sketchbook thumbnail of trees in the backyard

Why a sketchbook

Drawing is an important concept to understand. No, drawing doesn't need to be exact in your future painting process and may represent such areas like painting abstract, impressionistic or Amine etc. But, you do need to understand form, spacial aspects of your subject and perspective. Especially if your goal is drawing or painting 3D on a 2D diminutional surface. You can dive very deeply into this subject and start producing phenomenal pieces of art. You can also understand these basics to produce paintings that may be similar to artists like Picasso, Piet Mondrain, Edgar Payne, Monet and others. Its up to you how far to go. This blog is not meant to replace the classroom, but will help to guide you in your journey to produce better paintings.

My suggestion is to start drawing in a sketchbook and make it a habit. If you do this and dedicate just 15 min a day you will improve your drawings and paintings 10 fold. 

Tools

Sketchbook 5x7 or a square 8x8. Binding method of your choice. I like the spiral bounds the best, but I have both. Carry these with you everyday. They make pocket sketchbooks too. Draw everything you see. I know I use to spend time telling myself  "I don't see anything to draw". Everything even as simple as your dinner plate and glass to a more complicated piece like a tree. I have seen very unique subject matter drawn and it looks really good, maybe not always a painting but lots of fun. 

Pencils -  HB and a B to start. 

• The differences for these are the HB is a harder lead and B is softer for shading. I use the HB for getting in the shapes I want and B for pulling out the form. You can also use an everyday ink pen and achieve the same results.
• 3 shades of Tombow markers (found in most art stores) I use browns and grays. I like them because you can suggest form in your sketchbook studies without the marker bleeding through to the back side of the paper. I'm huge on savings, art has the potential to be very expensive.
• Browns I use are numbers: 879,977 and 990
• Grays I use are numbers: N15, N55, N75
• A plastic box to hold your supplies
• kneaded eraser and a white eraser
• 3" ruler metal
• X-ACTO knife for sharpening
• Value scale tool. Dan Rankin has one with a built in view finder that can be helpful in the beginning. Certainly can make your own by taking a mat frame (from any framing area in a hobby store) and cutting t
• 2 opposite corners to make L shapes. You can make the L's from any size mat you want. I suggest smallest. 

Now lets start drawing! 😊

Introduction to Oil

 Hello 

So oil painting is fairly new to me but WOW I sure do love it.

 I found a way to safely paint and clean your brushes. I use terpenoids naturals for cleaning. You can dispose of the paint residue and used oil into some kitty litter before throwing away. I reviewed their website and found out some really good information. This product has a citrus odor to it. I still place my used paper towels outside to vent after a painting session but they are not combustible unless you boil them. Which that shouldn't ever be done. However, this product is very toxic to aquatic life for a very long time. Environmentalist should take caution on the disposal of this item. Please review the SDS I provided for the information on the product and the Weber website. I have provided the links to those sites. 

Safety:

Turpenoid Natural.Their website link is Turpenoid Natural SDS. Weber website

Walnut Oil is used as a medium. This allows the paint to flow easily off the brushes and onto your painting surfaces. I use this sparingly. The draw back to this is longer dry times of your piece when finished. It will not yellow over time (Linseed oil can be used but, has shown over history to yellow) if that's not a concern you certainly could use that. Oil paint is made with Linseed or walnut oil. 

If you want to use a fast dryer I would recommend Alkyd Walnut Oil to accomplish that. The paint has a tacky quality usually within 24 hours. 

I use it in my paints and total dry time is about 1 week to touch. 

I use a spray gloss varnish from Golden  to finish off a piece and protect it (if I feel its worthy 😏) I save my paintings that I don't feel are worth saving to Gesso over later. This helps to reduce the costs of buying new too. 

I buy inexpensive panels of cotton canvas to play and experiment on. There is nothing wrong with this. Explore and see what you like. You can always Gesso over any canvas, wood or other painting options to prepare and create a barrier for the paint. You can add color oil washes thinned with walnut oil (acrylic works only with oils as a way to cover the white of the canvas). You can paint with oils over acrylic but not paint with acrylics over oil. Your paint will not adhere properly and will peel off the canvas. That would just be horrible.

11x14 Summer Walk Home

This painting has an acrylic background with oils on top using the products listed above. I have not put the varnish spray on this yet. By the way if you spray your product and later want to make adjustments to the painting you can in small amounts without harm. 

Brushes I use Rosemary Co brushes that I love. They can be expensive and ship from the UK. But I also have Utrecht, and others I have bought in my local art stores. Take care to clean them when you are done painting. I do after every session, but you can clean and condition your brushes later with Terpenoid Natural. I have not personally done that though. 

My oil paints are mostly from RGH artist oil paints .They come in jars which I find I like. I use left over paint mixed that makes up grays that I love and blend with my painting well, because it uses the colors I'm using in that particular painting. I store the extra paint that is mixed in small plastic jars with lids you can find in a craft store. They store well for a long time.I have paint rags handy to wipe my brushes and to take extra unwanted oil off  before grabbing paint. I also use paper towels (Viva is popular among artists). I mix my paints with a small palette knife and find that efficient. 

My Palette currently for both studio and Plein air painting is the Open Box M. I also have others but these are my favorites. The studio one is 12x16 and the Plein Air one is 8x10. Some day soon I plan to get a Best Santa Fe ll easel for my studio. I have one that I like for studio work that can lay flat for watercolor work and is very accommodating for average size work, but I want to work bigger and therefore require an easel that can accommodate the large canvases. 

Please ask any art related questions you may have or any requests you may have for subject matter.

 Thanks and Happy painting!😉 Don't forget to add your email so you don't miss a post. 

Pastel setup

Some of my pastels

Pastels are dry pigment that contains a binder (hard to soft) pumice and talc. Each company has they're own formulas for making their pastel sticks. It is good to get a variety of manufacturers.

The best place to start (although it can become expensive) would be

a complete set of;

     Nupastel sticks. It comes with 96 but a mid range set of 48 will work. 

    Sennelier Paris half sticks

I have many more pastels not shown here, but I have been collecting for 30 years. It's an investment for sure. 

Additional sticks to buy would be;

    Terry Ludwig Intense darks ll

    unison 

I would also recommend papers

    Pastelmat

    Art fix

    U art 400 or 600 the 400 has more layering capabilities.

Canson paper is inexpensive but for the beginner painter it requires a very light touch and I don't recommend it. I enjoy it as a paper for exploring ideas.

Any art related questions feel free to ask....

Introduction

 Hi I'm Debi. 

I wanted to start this blog along time ago, but I just didn't have time with work and life. Now, working part time I feel I have time to this blog.

My goal is to share my knowledge that I have acquired over the last 40 years with you. YIKES 🤪 that a lot of years. I have studied with Master Painters over the years and have come away with so many new insights on artwork in no particular order; Doug Dawson, Dale Laitnen, Marla Baggetta, Bill Inman, Karen Margulis and others. 

My biggest take away is the understanding of light and shadow. But, that's not the only thing. There is so much to learn and you can take it as far as you want. No artist I ever met thought that they had figured it all out. It's a continuous learning journey and a drive to be better in the painting process for most of us. So I'm here to help you with that.

I thought first we would start with drawing. I know some of you probably think ugh. But it is important. Without a good background on value, design (composition), perspective you may get frustrated and quit. Why do you have to draw if were just going to paint? It's not for a paint by number set up. But our goal is to paint a 3D painting on a 2 dimensional surface. We can be representational, impressionistic or abstract, but we need the fundamentals to have a strong foundation. Can't build a house that will be strong without a good foundation. Same goes for art, if it's poor design or draftsmanship it will not convince the viewer. 

Not all art is the same. Initially, my plan is to give you that foundation and then add other fundamental tools that will help you with your art. 

8x10 pastel on board
For Susan

I also paint oils, acrylics, watercolor and mixed media. I love all, and will explain each one to you and how to safely use paints in your home. Products have come along ways in the last 30 years to insure the safety of artists. 

Please comment on subjects you'd like for me to talk about or questions on any art subject. 

Thanks for stopping by. Follow me so you can stay updated with my posts!😉