 | |
provided by:
For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.There you are, standing in front of a painting in a museum or gallery or art fair, and you have the desire to create a work of art. You may have had this feeling for quite some time but you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’ve had lessons or a class in the past and it just didn’t work out. We know that for many people, learning how to paint is a lifelong goal. And we firmly believe in your ability to reach that goal. To make a painting or other work of art is to become a part of the cultural expression of your society. It is to create something personal, something of beauty or significance that is your vision alone. We also know that for many people, learning to make art is the best way to gain a true appreciation for the arts. During this process, you learn not only to paint but also to see the world around you with an acute sense of perception. You grow to understand the working process of painting and are able to see its evidence right on the surface of a canvas. If you’ve decided to learn to paint and you don’t know where to begin, we can help. In this initial chapter, we give you an overview of this book and walk you through the process of learning to paint, step by step. We try to make the process understandable, painless, and fun. Collectively, we have more years of experience than we care to admit, and we know that with patience, we can open up this world to you. We’re unabashed promoters for learning to make art and we’re very excited to have this opportunity to work with you in this process. Take a few minutes to look over this article before you go running off to the art supply store. And get ready for an enjoyable experience.
What It’s Like to Paint with OilsOil paint is made up of pigment, the stuff that gives the paint its color, and oil, which allows it to flow off the brush well and to dry in a slow and measured way. The oil in the paint is usually linseed oil, which dries slowly, but it does dry (unlike mineral oils, which never thoroughly dry). Oil paint dries through chemical action, as opposed to the process of evaporation in water-based liquids. You need to understand this process in order to utilize all the properties of the oil paint to their best advantage. The great thing about oil paint is that it’s creamy and dries slowly so that you have time to paint an image. You can experiment with brushstrokes, blending new colors, and expressing yourself with a wonderful art medium. Please be aware that oil paint does have an odor. The smell of oil paint isn’t acrid; it’s more of a nutty scent. After you’ve been painting for a while and you set up your own studio, the smell of linseed oil when you open the door to your studio in the morning can be very welcoming, but some people can have an allergic reaction or otherwise find it undesirable. If you suspect that you may have a negative reaction, purchase a tube of inexpensive color and test it. Find an inexpensive color, such as yellow ochre, and take it home. Open the tube, squeeze a dime-sized pool of paint onto a paper plate, and leave it nearby while you watch TV or do another quiet activity. If your eyes become irritated and you wear contacts, try not wearing them while you try the oil paint and be sure to have ventilation in your work area. Some people have a reaction on their skin from the paint; if this is the case, you can use latex gloves. Also be sure to test the solvent used with oil paint. Purchase a bottle of Gamsol and put it to the same test. If the smell of the solvent is the problem, you can try water-mixable paints such as Max oil paints made by Grumbacker (there are other brands as well). If the oil paint itself bothers you, you may want to try a water-based acrylic paint instead.
Gathering Your MaterialsYou need to know a few things about oil paints before you buy your paints and supplies, so be sure to familiarize yourself with their general characteristics before firing up your charge card. In this book, we get you started with standard oil paints, but as you shop, you run into odd versions of oil paints, such as the fast-drying alkyd paints or water-mixable oil paints. When you have more experience, experiment with these kinds of oils, but for now, stick with the more-traditional materials. Some major brands are Daler-Rowney Georgian, Gamblin’s Sketching Oils, Winsor Newton’s Winton series, Grumbacker’s Academy colors, and Shiva. These brands are all student grade or inexpensive colors and are perfect for the projects in this book. The paints we use in this book are a mix of these manufacturers. Purchase tubes based on price, available colors, and the sizes of the tubes available. In addition to the paints themselves, you need other equipment and supplies. Here’s a quick overview:
Solvent (use Turpenoid or Gamsol)
Brushes
A palette and palette knife
Canvases to paint on
An easel or something to support your painting while you work Other useful items include a paint box for storing and carrying your supplies, jars for your solvent, and special easels for outdoor painting.
Finding a Space to Paint
An important factor that you need to consider is where exactly you’re going
to get your painting done. Here’s what we advise:
You need a space that’s approximately 8 x 8 feet. This minimal space
does well for the small painting projects that we lead you through in
this book.
Be sure to have good lighting, cleanable floor surfaces, and tabletops (in
case of spills).
If you’re working in a room with carpet, a plastic mat designed for home
offices works very well. Many artists get started by creating a studio in a
garage, a screened-in porch, or a utility room. A table, chair, and some inexpensive
clamp lights or lamps can nicely transform a basement room into
your own studio.
Safety issues
The first thing we want to stress is that oil paint is an art material for adults, not children. Oil paints are quite safe to use, but you must be able to take safety seriously in order to have an enjoyable experience and protect your health. You need to be aware of two areas of concern: air quality and exposure to the skin. Some oil paints contain toxic elements that your skin can absorb, so you must handle them with safety in mind. Wearing disposable latex gloves is always a good idea. If you’re allergic to latex, try some of the similar alternatives or barrier cream. You can obtain appropriate gloves at any hardware store. Ventilation is the first thing to consider for the area that you’re going to work in. If you have windows that open and a fan to move the air out of your studio area and living space, you can work comfortably. Paying attention to good ventilation means that you aren’t exposing yourself and your family to annoying and potentially harmful odors from solvent vapors. You can also limit your exposure if you habitually work with low-odor solvents like Turpenoid and Gamsol. To avoid fire hazards and protect the environment, properly handle and dispose of solvents and solvent-soaked rags. You have many options for the safe use and disposal of your discarded art materials. Call your local fire department for specific instructions for your area to find out how to safely dispose of solvents and other hazardous wastes. Also remember to maintain good studio habits. Cleaning up as you go, keeping the paint off your skin, refraining from eating while you paint, and painting with your brushes — not your fingers — makes oil painting a safe pursuit
for you.
Painting in shared spaces
If you have children in the area where you paint, take precautions to make sure that the materials are safely used and put away when you’re not there. We can’t stress enough that good ventilation is critical — especially if children are around. Be sure that you’re using low-odor solvents and keep the air moving out of the room. Solvent vapors are heavier than the air in a room, so they fall toward the floor. Children playing on the floor are therefore exposed to the vapors more than you are. Children love to paint too, so avoid tempting them by storing your paints and supplies in locked cabinets above their reach, just as you would your kitchen and bathroom cleaners. Store wet canvases well above their reach as well. If they’re old enough, distract them with a supply of age-appropriate art materials of their own. Oil paints can also be a danger to pets. Set up a system to put your materials and your wet paintings out of reach. If good ventilation isn’t possible, you don’t have to give up on the idea of oil painting. You can find several lines of high-quality water-mixable oils that have nearly all the qualities of standard oil paints. Many artists who can’t tolerate working with standard oils and solvents use them with great results. You can follow all the lessons in this book with water-mixable oils. Keep all oil paint materials out of the way of anyone or anything that may be harmed by touching, tasting, or smelling them. Be sure to handle and dispose of solvents and used rags safely to avoid fire hazards and to protect the environment. Oil painting is safe as long as you’re aware of how to properly handle and care for your materials and paintings.
| |
provided by:
For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.