#i was trying to do the thing lots of gouache artists do | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goron-king-darunia · 7 months

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Eggtober 6th 2023

"Splat" or "Fun with Colors": Raw Egg.

(Clip Studio Paint, Gouache Brush, Pencil brush for details and highlights. 12 colors, I think? 1 Hour.) I actually really liked the rough version I made, so you're gonna get that one at the end as well, for anyone who also likes the rough one better than the smooth one.

But first... I finally discovered a feature of CSP, so now I am unstoppable and I will NEVER AGAIN have to ask myself "How the fuck did I do that?"

Because now I have EVIDENCE. Now curious friends, followers, and my forgetful ass, can watch the full process of how I made a thing. Including what references I used so it's clear how much is iterative and how much I am drawing directly from the visual reference. Today I had to do a lot from imagination because I couldn't find an exaggerated splashy egg, but sometimes I really am just making a study and trying to do a one-to-one recreation of a reference. So now y'all get to know all my filthy little secrets. I was intending to grab footage starting with Eggtober 1, 2023 but OBS needs a version of an NVIDIA driver that will absolutely wreck my computer with BSODs because I own a junker apparently. But it turns out CSP (or at least V2, IDK if it was in V1) has a way to capture a speedpaint natively when you create the file.

Now I am unstoppable, powerful. No more taking a break from art when life gets busy and coming back to pieces I drew 10 years ago and wondering "How the hell did I manage that?" I can just check. It's over for all of you. Once I practice anatomy again and start being able to draw shapes and volumes perfectly from imagination, I will become all-powerful. I will ascend. Hell, maybe someone might even pay me if I learn to draw anything that isn't an egg or a meme. XD Radical self-confidence, baby. I can art now, and I have evidence. My horizons are infinite!

And now, hopefully, any baby artists that are just starting out can get an idea of how I do it from this and future pieces so I can pull you all up with me in a bid of apotheosis. For the EGGsthetic! (Aesthetic.)

I wonder which version of this egg @lady-quen's breadbugs will snap up?

And I wonder which one @quezify will like best? My money's on the sketchy one.

I can't tell which I like better honestly. The smooth one us much more "My aesthetic" because it matches how I render eggs but... The rough pencil-y gouache lines you get with light pressure really remind me of how the classic modern quezify eggs look, and I of course only started doing eggs because of the first Eggtober so, like. On the one hand, smooth and painterly look that goes with all but one of my previous eggs (Eggtober 1, 2023 was a study from memory of quezify's style, after all). But on the other hand... dramatic color changes! Textrure, shine! Colors that aren't in the actual references! EXPRESSIVENESS. Two different moods on the same egg art and I really dig both of them honestly.

#Eggtober 6 2023 #Eggtober 2023 #my art #art by GKD #Raw egg #style experiment #speedpaint

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blakbonnet · 24 days

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Artist of the Week!

So last weekend, I announced that I'd like to feature an artist every weekend for both new fandom joinees who might not have seen some of this art and older fans who like the nostalgia. This week's artist is Ash @aha-my-villainous-thoughts 💖 who also, wonderful that they are, agreed to answer a few questions for me!

Which App Do You Use To Draw When I’m at my big set up I use Clip Studio Paint, I love it so much. It’s very straight forward to dip straight in, has all of the bells and whistles you need from an elite drawing program, and the community elements where you can see assets and brushes is a lot of fun - although I still to this day have no idea how to earn coins to buy assets?! I use a XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro Graphics Tablet to draw into the program, although my best tip with graphics tablets is to get a screen protector, mine got covered in marks before I noticed. Recently I also got an iPad 10.9 to use as a digital sketchbook I can carry around, and while I am enjoying Procreate, I think CSP is a better art program overall.

Fave Brushes? On iPad I stick to the technical pen, studio pen and the soft airbrush, along with the textures and the light pen. I don’t think Procreate has great ‘painting’ brushes, whereas on CSP I would marry the Gouache brushes, I love how they blend and texture as you work.

Your favourite piece you’ve drawn? I’m a super self indulgent artist, I try to draw the kind of stuff I like to look at, so it’s a lot of colour, a lot of fabric and details. My fave piece for detail is the one I did for the OFMD RBB last year - Crescente Devotione, there’s a blushing sentient stool in it! For colour I’m in love with this sleepy time Ed in a lil negligee and a Holly Golightly eyemask, he's my lock screen because I'm trash.

Who harder to draw: Ed or Stede? Oh for sure Stede. I love Rhys Darby, but the man has like no lips. I stand by this meltdown.

One essential tip for beginner artists? Comparison is the thief of joy, don’t measure yourself against others - particularly when you’re finding your groove. Be self indulgent af. Also get a screen protector for whatever digital screen you draw on, and BACK. THINGS. UP. Whether in an online account, or on an external harddrive - or both?! BACK THAT SHIT UP.

Why OFMD? I’ve been in a few fandoms in the past, always as a pretty passive enjoyer, little fanart here or there, little fanfic sprinkled around, but there’s just something about the way this fandom feels? It feels like a group of friends who’ve got their own lives and their goals, but they still exist in each other's orbit, it’s like this feeling of returning home to somewhere you’re always welcome. There’s so many good moments in the show for both comedy and some gut wrenching pathos. Sign up for the hot guy in leather and get got by this beautiful delicate little love story. It’s something about queer joy of thriving, not just surviving. Something about finding love and romance no matter your age or what’s past before. Something about found family, and unlikely friendships, and community and silliness. I was already a goner when Taika put on the wig, but then when he teared up in a blanket fort while trying not to die? Excuse me sir, I did not need feelings that powerful. It was literally waking me up at night thinking about his last shot weeping in the nook - like are you kidding me?! I’m supposed to finish watching and be normal after that??

#artist of the week #everyone go follow ash and gear up for all the amazing art that would now be posted heheh

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foldingfittedsheets · 3 months

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rando looking for art advice if that's okay :p

I've always wanted to be able to draw cool things for myself, in the same way some of my friends can(they're REALLY good). and I know in order to do that I just gotta draw a lot, practice makes perfect, I'm gonna suck for a while but drawing more means I'll improve. yeah, yeah, I know all that.

but I'm finding it hard to get it started, to get motivated enough to draw. cuz sometimes I'll be like "I wanna draw", and then I draw and it sucks and I'm like "I don't wanna draw :("

do you have any tips for a beginner? not technical art tips, just like how do I get started or get motivated to start. are there tutorials you can recommend(I'm good at following instructions)? or things I can draw that are easy if you're starting out? or just whatever advice.

thanks :p

So, as far as motivation I think I might just be a lil freak, but I draw because I actively like to draw. Even when I wasn't very good, I felt compelled to put pen to paper just for the act of creation so my first piece of advice (besides practice) is just: Make art because you want to and try to divorce whether it's good or not from your enjoyment in that act.

My second piece of advice is that the first year of art school is three critical tools that are really boring but really helpful. The first one is perspective. If you can nail perspective, just dumb lines leading back in space, it does so much heavy lifting for you.

The second tool is sight measuring. Have you ever seen artists doing that stupid thing with their pencil or paintbrush while closing one eye? It's literally so helpful. If you are drawing say a tree, and you drop an imaginary vertical line from a branch you can figure our if your drawing of that tree is awry. When you get good at sight measuring it becomes second nature to do those checks, even in digital art, but it's easy to forget. When I'm doing my little 20 minute speed paints I'm constantly sight measuring to keep stuff in proportion.

The last piece is that practicing drawing from life will improve your drawing so much faster than anything else. Doodling your favorite pokemon or anime character over and over won't be as helpful as boring ass still lifes. Seeing how light reacts, observing the objects form, and practicing sight measuring will all help you improve as an artist.

As tax, I'm going to share a couple examples of schoolwork. This was my first class in perspective. This is how much I improved in a three month period, my first middle and last assignment.

These are from my form class, no lines allowed we needed to use value to describe the form. We did charcoal and gouache so here's me trying to show my progression in that class.

These are just freshman work, from my very first semester. Honestly I have a whole folder of all my assignments so I can scroll through and actively see myself improving, and I highly recommend that too, because it's wildly motivational to see how far you've come!

#ask ffs #art advice

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fablepaint · 3 months

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Hello! I wanted to ask what brands you like to buy traditional art supplies from. I've been buying Winsor & Newton products along with some Faber Castell stuff and I wanna see what you use and recommend.

Thank you and have a great day! :)

I mix and match depending on needs. People will swear by one brand, and an equal amount of people think it's mid at best.

For example: Windsor and Newton never behaves nicely for me. I live in a primarily hot, dry climate and so working wet consistently is a non-starter. If I'm doing plein air, the paints WILL dry out. And I've found M Graham to be the best quality paint I can purchase in a tube that won't crack when dry, and rewets good as new. It owes this quality to its honey binder. I also love me Beam Paints, an indigenous paint company in Canada that, like M Graham, uses honey binder. It's pricey but one set goes a LONNG way.

I tend to seek out brands beyond Windsor and Newton too because WnN is so common, I just want to see what else there is. And I've been rewarded for that search.

Faber and Castell served me well for an initial set of ink liners (similar to micron), but I'm more in favor of Japanese brands nowadays. Their scripting techniques mean a wide array of accessible drawing tools with the kind of flex and bounce far superior quality to felt tip pens in Western media. They last too. I have 10+ yr old Pentel Pocket Brushes that I continue to use.

I've been having fun watching a lot of Youtube videos by artists describing their preferred materials. Do note: for actual shopping suggestions take them from the ones who draw or paint like you want to. I've seen people recommend Himi gouache all over Youtube, but most gouache painters would give you a litany of reasons why it's not a good investment beyond "fun to play with". Thing is, Himi sends gouache sets all over art-Youtube and whenver you get free stuff, you're gonna want to say nice things in return. Keep that in mind.

But it's still the same advice: get what you need based on your needs. Don't get super expensive stuff if you're just trying out, but don't get stuff that's such subpar quality that you want to chuck the media at the wall in frustration (You want to make that wannabe Jackson Pollock on purpose at least). There's plenty of cheaper and mid-tier media that's perfectly find for long term use.

But an all-around solid recommendation is Canson paper. Canson is imo way better than Strathmore and at about the same price point and just as common. It can take a beating. Get a Canson sketchbook. Any of them are good. I love Canson.

#question #answer #art supplies #art

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maddie-w-draws · 4 months

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Hello!! I'm an artist who's trying to start using gouche, but I'm having a tough time with it- It's always very watery and thin, not opaque, when I add a little water? I'm not sure if I'm just doing it wrong etc. but I also realized I'm using a kit that's pretty inexpensive (Marie I think is the name) and I wanted to ask what gouche brand you use, and maybe any tips on how to use gouche XD your work is awesome so keep it up!!

Hi! I think the opacity will vary with what brand you use. With gouache I always heard it was important to have a good quality white because you use it a lot for mixing, so if you don’t want to buy all new paints you could just start out with a nice quality white and see if that helps with the opacity. But if all your paints just aren’t opaque enough for you maybe try a different brand and see if that works better.

Currently I use Holbein acrylic gouache, i haven’t had any problems with the opacity with it, the colors are nice and vibrant but its also more pricey. The acrylic gouache can’t be reactivated with water, Holbein also makes normal gouache, but i haven’t tried it.

As for random tips, just this last painting I tried using a wet palette for mixing paint and it was nice and kept the paint from drying out so quick. Here is a helpful video explaining how to set up a wet palette. Keep in mind this is mostly helpful for acrylic gouache which cannot be reactivated with water, and this may also make it more difficult to control the consistency of the paints so watch out for that.

One thing I also like with gouache is drawing on top of it with colored pencils, it is so satisfying, idk. Other than that, paint lots and have fun! Best of luck on your artistic journey!

#replies #painting talk #when i was starting out with gouache i got some less expensive colors and a better quality white so i could paint a lot and get comfortable #eventually moved to getting some better quality paints when i got frustrated with colors feeling muddy #All this to say u don’t need expensive paints to get started #but using low quality materials it can be hard to tell sometimes what limitations are from how you are using that medium #vs the limits of the medium itself #smh im just rambling now- have fun painting!

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harenodrawsthings · 6 months

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I thought I'd finish my gouache painting and put it up before leaving town, but I still have a few more finishing details to do first. For now, here's some from the sketchbook. Still trying to get out of my massive artists block and a bunch of other things, but hoping I can get back to drawing lots again.

#hareno's art #fgo #fate grand order #caster of limbo #ashiya douman #fanart #sketch

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rottingraisins · 8 months

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ur colors r so good and so vivid and beautiful all your art really stands out to me, it’s so bright and vibrant and brimming with character. howd u get so good w color?

thank you! and hm good question. I think like anything its ultimately just practice but thinking on it there's a few things that helped 4 me that I don't see mentioned a lot:

the single most important thing that made my art improve almost immediately once I realized it is that you can legitimately do fucking whatever. I think a lot of younger artists that look at like social media art tutorials a lot get it in their heads that there's a single perfect "system" that art functions in, like using a particular brush for lineart, a particular color and overlay filter to shade and highlight, a particular way to draw noses or hair or hands and while I think this certainly works for some people and even kinda happens automatically as you get better at art bc you create shortcuts for yourself you shouldn't really try to force it! I think the mark of a good artist is being able to vary these things, sometimes even within the same piece, and this goes doubly for color bc when you know how to use it well it can shift the mood of a painting a lot! Unless you're going for realism you can always say fuck it; red skin, purple shadows, green highlights. Whatever gets across the feeling you're going for y'know!

learning some basic color theory is obviously super important. I'm not gonna break it down here bc there's like hundreds of youtube videos on it but smth I recommend looking into is the distinction between local and non-local color! It'll help you start looking at art with more of an analytical eye so you can figure out what exactly artists you like are doing so you can try to imitate it in your own work. I personally learned a lot of what I know abt color from post-impressionist painters like Les Nabis, Toulouse-Lautrec, etc but you could just as well look at more contemporary art or even other people on social media

smth that helped me a lot is learning how to mix my own paint! I really think you only really need a handful of base colors (red, blue, yellow, green, pink, sienna, black and white) and should mix everything else from there. Those huge gouache or watercolor paint sets look very pretty but ultimately are mostly just a lot more expensive than they need to be, and mixing the paint yourself helps you figure out a lot about what base colors actually make up a certain hue. This knowledge even carries over into digital art bc the color wheel you have in most art programs is based off of traditional paint mixing so by familiarizing yourself with that you're simultaneously getting better at colorpicking! I used to be a digital-only artist and I saw a huge improvement in my digital art once I started working traditionally

I hope these helped somewhat! I should reiterate I'm not really classically trained in art at all and these are just what helped me figure stuff out! I've found a lot of it is just trying at it until you find something that works for you but maybe this'll speed it along :]

#not art

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queerdraws · 6 months

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i love your postcard artwork for the zolu playlist SO much!! the colours are so so good and i love the brushwork! i think my favourites are a tie between the one for chikai and the one for simple song <3 also, I was wondering if you could share what brushes you used + how long they took you! looking at your art makes me want to draw again after not doing it for so long

Thank you!! and wow i think this is the first time someone's asked me for my brushes, this is like a digital artist rite of passage!

Answers n screenshots n stuff under cut (I went a little to ham on this oops)

While we're talking settings I want to give a quick PSA to all digital artists:

CHECK UR ASPECT RATIO!!!: (MOST IMPORTANT SETTING BY FAR)

DO NOT DRAW WITH THIS ALL MESSED UP, IT WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY. It's probably good to check this after every system update (I don't, but, you know...). Windows likes to mess w your shit when it updates.

If you have a really tiny tablet you might need to trace outside a bottle lid or something.

Okay now on to the meat of the post

-- Brush Stuff --

I use Clip Studio Paint. For my playlist drawings I think I only used these brushes (these are my main 3 in general) (p.s. they're all default brushes! but i've adjusted the settings):

1) Gouache This is most of what i used for the postcards. I nuked Color Stretch because i hate it (it blends colors together as you're painting, like painting over wet paint. I prefer things to look more crisp)

2) Real G-Pen Used this as little as possible, to keep the painterly effect. My preferred fine-detail pen, has a nice crunch to it. I've fine-tuned my setting further in the thickness dynamics / brush size dynamics settings because I mostly use this brush for linework and wanted it to handle really, really naturally and precisely

The random box is checked by default, probably to make this brush feel more like handling a real inkdip pen (I don't like that)

3) Mapping Pen Least used. I generally keep this brush at the 50-70px range. It's unpleasant to use for detail work (the taper is really fiddly at my tablet pressure settings) but good at filling in large areas very opaque very quickly, with a crisp edge (Also, doesn't lag as much as the gouache brush at large-ish sizes). Has enough wiggle room that it can be used to approximately fill tighter spaces at large brush sizes. Used for when I needed to quickly color over an area that wasn't working or quickly fill in background color that didn't need paintbrush texture. Did not realized the stabilization was set to 10 until just now. I usually turn that waaay down to prevent lag (my laptop isn't very old but it's a sensitive beast)

Other stuff that'll help:

General pen pressure: (under File -> Pen Pressure Settings)

tweaking how CSPaint handled my pen pressure helped a lot with making lineart look more natural. It's worth messing around with this and trying out different settings for a while to see how they feel.

-- How Long it Takes 2 Draw --

I don't really keep track of how long art takes me from start to finish, and making the playlist drawings was kinda nonlinear 😅 sorry!

-> I started out sketching really quick composition and color ideas as the songs were playing, limiting myself to just the duration of each song (so like, 5 minutes for this part) -> i did that again at least 2 more times per song -> after that, idk. I would work on one pic then get stuck and move to another. Some I could hammer out in like... 5 hours? Some took me upwards of 20 (30?) hours for no real reason (I have "will graham clock" days, where I'll try to draw a face over and over and it'll look really strange, like will graham's clock drawing every time) (this seems to be either a vitamin deficiency or a brainfog inflammation type thing 4 me 😵‍)

I'll use ur two favorites as specific examples: -> Chikai was one that went pretty quickly (with the exception of their arms and the clothing folds there giving me trouble). Probably took 4-6 hours? -> Simple Song had a couple different versions, partially because I initially had the cards all laid out landscape-style, and I decided I actually wanted them all portrait-style & repainted it after it was already done. That aside, the colors /atmosphere on that one gave me trouble and the general composition / perspective had a lot of tweaks (I was trying to figure out if I wanted it to be a kinda flat stylistic perspective or if I wanted it to make more literal sense, trying to figure out what to do with luffy, trying to make him not look Too baby boy sweetie pie). Probably took 7-10 hours...?

In-progress landscape versions: (varying levels of in-progress)

Misc in-progress of Chikai and Simple Song:

Simple song looks kinda sequential like this lmao. Luffy looks like he's A-posing and floating away to the boat and then sitting down pleasantly in it. Wonderful. --

Anway -- hope any of that was helpful!

#i draw on my bed because i hate my lower back and hips #every day i pray to god to make my sacroilitis flare up #not art #well...hmmm #some art #long post

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0ddbugs · 1 year

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If you haven’t already answered and if you want to; what brushes do you use for digital art? I like the texture tbh! Also (forgive me I haven’t seen stranger things) but that drawing in the recent lot where he’s covered in flower thingies looks so cool!!

I don't think I have before, not that I can remember. I was actually trying to help Pal find what brush I used this morning too. I downloaded it when I first got Clip a couple years ago:

We tried finding it on the community page and in my downloaded brushes- but it looks like the artist may have removed it? I guess any rough pencil brush is close to it. I really love the scratchy edges. I also use the Gouache brush when I'm coloring for everything. And tysm! The show is good, I love the atmosphere, but that one was kinda based on the phone game: Puzzle Tales. The chapters focused on the upside-down infecting parts of the town. It's a pay-to-play game, but the enemy designs are REALLY inspiring if you like body horror

the dev's have a twitter where they post some* of their monster designs

#i don't play phone games anymore but I really have to give the artists of the game some credit #these designs are just so good #esp the big ones like the bus or tv creature #not my art

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equ1noxwashere · 1 month

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“Art is the expression of the experience of being alive” -me

welcome!!!

my special interest is art and i will try my hand at any form of art i can!! come along for the journey!!

i am genderfluid and use any pronouns!!

i use a lot of eye imagery in most of my art, and my favorite medium is gouache and acrylic paint markers!

right now i am trying to do one thing of art every day!

you may find religious themes in my art because i grew up christian and am now pagan! most of my practice revolves around the greek gods.

with this account i hope to find more artist friends and grow my reach and bridge the gap between the art world and the rest of the world!

i also have an etsy shop!! please check it out if you can!

#digital art #doodles #artists on tumblr #traditional art #queer artists #small artist #eyes #original art #actually autistic #autistic artist #gouache #etsyshop #art quotes

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pansyfemme · 7 months

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Whats your fav art medium to work with and least fave

hiii ^_^

tbh I work pretty mixed media these days but most waterbased or watermixable paints are my fave: esp inks and concentrated watercolors. inks just allow for this intense saturation but also crystal clear translucent state that I love. Watercolors tend to get kind of milky from time to time so inks allow for a really consistant lack of opacity that I really like working with. They also have more specialized color ranges than watercolors. It’s been not super easy for me to find flourescent watercolors that pack the punch I want them to (and i’ve tried a lot of brands) but acrylic inks are pretty consistant at having the colors i want. Concentrated watercolors are called that but they’re really more like semipermenant inks. They’re dye based, so they stain paper super fast, but you can still lift them a bit so painting with them tends to be in thin layers on top of eachother, which is very good for me. I would compare the finish similar to alchohol markers? but i find it easier to blend since its a painting medium. You’re supposed to water them down very intensly, and i often do, but sometimes I do apply them straight out the bottle for an added punch. I’ve been working with gouache recently as well, and I work with it the way that people tend not to reccomend. That is, in thin transparent layers rather than flat planes. I just prefer painting that way, It works a lot better for me.

As for least favorite, ugh its probably something sculptural to be honest.. i really hated working with plaster and i really can’t stand working in a shop.. But in terms of 2d media, I have a very notorious issue with charcoal. It’s just very much not made more the way I work. I lift it too fast, smudge with it, my line darkness varies too much with different papers and types and even just individual sticks.. I really try, I do, but i cannot believe when I see someone draw with charcoal without smearing and smudging it everywhere. It’s just not possible for me! I still work with it several times a week, though. It’s kinda crucial to in art school, I’m not allowed to use other media in some classes. I’m just much more of a painter at heart. I’ve spent a lot of time with media that I felt would fit my graphic style better, markers and digital, but i’ve had a soft spot for watercolors since i was a kid. I always loved how unforgiving they were, they force you to work within their means, so you have to work slow and build your way up, I always really respected that. I like things to be finished. I can’t do anything else when i’m done with them, I have to stop, I have no choice. I’m just not allowed that with dry media or opaque paints. With charcoal, everytime i feel close I seem to have smudged something else and have to redo it.

That was pretty long winded but I have a lot of thoughts about my artistic process and how I like to work.

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inkabelledesigns · 1 year

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I am so flipping excited right now. So about a month ago, there was a BJD artist by the name of yummysweetdolls on Instagram that proposed and tested a sealant method that I'm so curious about. It utilizes a nano atomizer (which is one of those electric misters for your face) and liquid sealants intended for use with an airbrush, diluted appropriately, for face-ups.

So long as you're working with a varnish that isn't flammable (as nano atomizers work by heating up the liquid into a fine mist), this sounds like a very viable sealant option, and it could be a HUGE game changer for those who want to do doll repaints with watercolor pencils, pastels, and gouache, as those materials are hard to seal with the brush-on method. It's also considerably less toxic depending on your varnish, though it's still best to wear a respirator mask, as you should with any spray or aerosol craft supply to protect your lungs. Not to mention, the amount you'd spend on sealant this way could be considerably cheaper in the long term, though that's some math for the future, I don't have enough data to say for sure yet.

All of these things could significantly change the barrier to entry for a lot of people who want to try doll customizing. So naturally, I want to experiment and see just how well this works with my own eyes. I've been doing this for almost five years now, and if I hadn't seen this artist's post going around, I was gonna try something pretty similar anyway. And I'm happy to say I have the nano atomizer the artist linked coming in the mail next week! (Also a Frankie, because yes please free shipping, and wave one of G3 MH have a lot of dolls on sale right now across retailers.) It's a really exciting time! Ugh, but now I have to figure out a doll to test it on! X'''D We'll see how much eye wonk Frankie has and go from there. Can't wait to report back on my findings!

#doll customization #doll repaint #doll sealant #seriously SO EXCITED for this #I was originally waiting for Abbey to come out #because again free shipping #but she's sold out and won't be restocked until maybe June?#also reviews indicate her hair is poly and I'd rather wait for clearance on her if that's the case #She's such a pretty doll but I have textural issues with that #but also really psyched about finally having this particular Frankie #they are such a cool doll and I really wanna experiment with them!

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tzaraat · 9 months

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Thank you for answering my previous ask. I’m getting into drawing/painting - What would you suggest for someone interested in starting oil painting? Like, videos/books/general tips? Sorry for an annoying big question like that, I’m just a little lost and wary about wasting materials

first of all, good luck, i hope you have fun :)

second of all, this is not authoritative - just what works for me, and i don't have formal training. another disclaimer is that i am not personally too concerned with archivability, which means i am unbothered by the idea of my paintings and drawings warping and degrading over time.

the actual advice is under the cut.

supplies:

oil paints are expensive. if you know someone who used to paint, or still does, and can give you their old stuff - that will be the most economical (and most convenient) way. if you don't have something like that, i recommend going for cheap, but decent-quality materials. get everything at a small-medium size, it will last you a relatively long time - and replace things as needed.

linseed oil and turpentine (mineral spirits also works) are gonne create your medium and let you clean your brushes. go to an art store and get a container of each. i have half-litre containers which i have been using for the past 3 years and are not yet done. you don't need to replace them that often.

paints

if you already paint in another medium (acrylic, gouache, watercolor, etc), and have a base of pigments you're comfortable working with - get the equivalent oil paints. try to narrow down your list - 5-10 pigments.

if you are on a limited budget, get a basic kit - one of those 8-tubes in a cardboard box things. make sure you have a dark blue and a dark brown in there. you don't need black. i would aim for something with two blues, two browns, two yellows, two reds. also get a tube of titanium white.

if you prefer picking individual pigments and don't know where to start, these are basic ones i like:

titanium white, burnt umber, raw umber, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, magenta, prussian blue, cerulean blue. you don't need all of them, just make sure you have at least one from each color family, and that some of them are dark.

get 37ml tubes at the largest. if you like it and run out, you can replenish your kit. most people use white a lot - get a larger tube of that one, or two small ones.

my main pallette is this one: titanium white, burnt umber, raw umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, naples yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, magenta, ultramarine blue, prussian blue, phthalo blue, cerulean blue. if you buy all of these at once, they will cost a fortune. don't do it unless you're super rich or someone else is paying. acquire paints over time.

substrates

the common substrates for oils are canvas or wood. that said, you can paint on other things - paper, glass, metal, whatever - you just need to prepare them first.

i paint a lot in my sketchbook. this isn't necessarily a great idea unless you can predict how long it takes for stuff to dry, and other things of that nature.

regardless of your substrate, if you are just beginning, aim for things around the size of an A3 sheet of paper. this is large enough to give you space, but is not overwhelming. you can go a little smaller, but - at least at the beginning - no smaller than A4.

if you already have a preferred size of work, or once you get the sense that some size is the most comfortable for you, go for that one. i'm usually a large-canvas artist, but those are hard to fit through the door. i know people who rarely if ever paint or draw anything larger than an A4 sheet of paper. your mileage may vary.

because you will be preparing your substrate anyway, this can be the place to cut costs. high quality substrates are nicer to work on, and are better for archival purposes - but you can paint on anything, shitty canvas included. try to get non pre-gessoed canvas, though.

if you get paper, default to something relatively heavy. 300gsm is standard watercolor paper weight - if you're going to be oil painting, and you don't want it to warp, this is the ballpark. don't get high quality watercolor paper if you're gonna paint with oil or acrylic though - get a different heavy paper.

if you want to work on an unprimed substrate, test it before you begin. if you work on a porous one, like wood or paper, the oil will seep in. if you work on a smooth one, like glass or metal, you might have to rough it up so the paint adheres. in any way, this is not great for longevity - but you don't have to care sbout longevity.

gesso

get white acrylic gesso. not a huge container, unless you're gonna be doing it a LOT. also get a large, square brush, like for painting houses - this is your gesso brush. it's ok if it gets kind of shitty over time. if you are bothered by textured substrates, also get some sandpaper.

if gesso is too expensive, or you can't find any, get white acrylic paint. it will do the same job. get something cheap.

brushes:

if you already paint, use those (or buy doubles, if you don't feel like washing brushes all of the time). if you don't, buy some that are sold as a set, they tend to be cheaper. get decent quality - you don't want them shedding on your painting all the time.

clean-up:

get a rag, your turpentine or mineral spirits, and an all-purpose soap bar (the kind that's good for stain removal). don't pour stuff down the drain - you're using toxic materials, and oils clog up pipes.

general:

you'll need rags and a few jars.

get a pallette - can be any flat, smooth surface. i used to use a bath tile i picked up on the street. now i use the surface of my desk. you can use anything, just make sure it's large enough.n

the process of painting

priming and preparation:

if just acrylic gesso: with your big brush, spread gesso to cover the canvas, preferably with your strokes going in one direction. try to create even coverage. i usually do two to five layers, letting the gesso dry in between my second layer has brushstrokes perpendicular to the first. the texture will be somewhat plastic-y.

if ground: mix gesso with modeling paste. spread evenly across the surface with a brush, using the same perpendicular layers as when using just acrylic gesso. smooth between layers with the edge of a razor. the texture should resemble an eggshell.

if you're very traditional, you'll make and use a rabbit skin glue gesso. that is far too expensive for me.

gesso typically dries between 30 minutes and an hour. leave it to dry COMPLETELY before painting - you don't want moisture getting in your paint.

for general preparation, fill a jar about a fourth-or-third of the way with linseed oil. fill another jar with your turpentine. lay the paints on your pallette - i like having them around the edge, with similar pigments grouped together. you do whatever is comfortable for you.

open a window! you're working with toxic materials, and solvents fume. ideally, don't do it in your bedroom. (i paint in my windowless bedroom. do as i say, not as i do).

oil painting- general notes:

most people paint with a mixture of oil and solvents. if you want to create a medium, mix linseed oil with turpentine. use more oil than turpentine (2:1 or 3:1 ratio, usually, depending on many factors, just play with it until you figure it out).

i personally use linseed oil almost exclusively, and reserve turpentine pretty much only for underpainting and cleanup. the downsides are that it dries relatively slowly and that it yellows easily. the upsides are that i'm used to this method and that oil does not fume the way many solvents do.

many people will tell you you should paint fat-over-lean, thick-over-thin, slow-over-fast. all three "rules" serve the same purpose - they try to make sure that, as the painting "dries" (oxidizes) and its surface deforms, it does not lose structural integrity (e.g. by cracking). the main principle is that, if you work in layers, you want your top layers to remain flexible as the bottom layers dry. "fat" paint means paint mixed with oil or medium. "lean" paint means paint with solvent mixed into it. fast-drying pigments include most earth tones, slow-drying pigments include most jewel tones.

oil painting - common techniques:

many people paint alla prima. this means your painting does not dry between layers. your initial layers should be loose, thin and lean - ideally semitransparent washes. the top layers should be the most vivid and opaque, with the most tonal range - highlights and deep shadows go last. working alla prima, you also have the option of taking paint away from your canvas - don't be afraid to experiment with scratching it with the blunt end of your brush or with a pallette knife. account for mixing on the canvas by making the color on your pallette more vivid, and load the brush heavily.

if you let your painting dry between layers, there are many classical techniques. mix and match between those as you see fit. you can use as many or as few layers as you like.

regardless of specific technique, people usually go through these stages:

graphic layer - this is the process of establishing your drawing on your substrate.

underpainting: there are many styles of underpainting, like imprimatura, verdaccio and grisaille. for imprimatura, you apply a wash of colour (in a warm earth tone) to the canvas, then rub out the light areas and darken the shadows. some add white for the highlights for a fuller tonal range. for verdaccio, the monochromatic underpainting is done in a greenish/yellowish grey (mixture of black, white and yellow pigment). in flemish painting, a verdaccio layer is done (usually in tempera) over the imprimatura background, and neutralises it. in grisaille, the painting is fully rendered in a neutral monochrome (unlike the warm imprimatura and greenish verdaccio), including fully developed highlights and shadows, and detail work.

color: color layers may fully cover the underpainting, or be transparent enough to allow it to it show through. usually, more opaque color is applied for highlights, whereas shadow areas reveal the underpainting by being relatively transparent.

glazes: transparent layers that tone the previous, more opaque ones.

in principle, oil paints tend toward some level of transparency. usually, the very surface of the painting will be primarily a transparent film - with the pigment sitting at the bottom. glazes explicitly utilise the transparency in order to create depth and luminosity. the process of glazing is similar to that of watercolor painting.

wait for the painting to be dry to the touch before applying the next layer.

after your painting is completely finished and dry (this can take a very long time), a varnish can seal and protect it.

ON THE USE OF BLACK: some people prefer using a black pigment, like ivory black. personally, i mostly use chromatic black - a mix of dark blue and brown, which creates the effect of black without use of black pigment. i prefer this way because it allows me to easily change the tonality of my black tones, and push them towards blue or red as i see fit. a mix of prussian blue and burnt umber creates a very deep and versatile black tone.

cleanup:

wash your brushes in the linseed oil, then dry them with a rag. wash in turpentine and dry with a rag until they no longer leave a stain. now get a jar with water and your all-purpose soap bar. clean your brushes using soap and water until completely clean. leave them to dry. do not use brushes which are not yet fully dry for oil painting.

close the jars containing your linseed oil and your turpentine (and medium, if you made some). unlike with watercolors, you do not need to replace your oil once it gets dirty. the pigments sink to the bottom, and you can later use them for glazes and washes. do not pour the water down the drain. it is your choice how to dispose of waste - personally, i wait until it gets too dirty, then evaporate it and get rid of the solids alongside any pallette shavings i may have.

if you still have fresh paint on your pallette, and are not going to be using it soon, you can store it in a box in your freezer to keep it fresh. if that is not an option, store it in a cool and dark place, like a cupboard. if you take your paint out of the freezer, make sure there is no condensation on it when you start working, so that you don't introduce moisture into your oils.

it is generally speaking a good idea to try and avoid getting your hands dirty with oils, because some of the pigments are toxic, as is turpentine. it's at your discretion to decide how much you care about that. i work with my hands a lot and don't care. conversely, i have friends who glove up.

resources:

i don't really watch youtube videos on painting, because most of the popular channels annoy me. if you want to learn a specific technique, there are good videos out there - they usually have less than 10000 views.

as for textbooks, i go for ones that get into specific artists' methodologies. alternatively, research papers. there are also useful books from academies, that have exercises in them.

experimentation is crucial for learning a medium. use it a lot. it's ok to waste SOME materials - it's very likely your first pieces will be kind of bad.

if it scares you to work on a designated canvas, say it's a sketch in preparation for a different painting. prime it roughly, and set yourself a time limit. you can always paint over a pre-existing painting. it's fine.

if you want to paint realistic works, you will have to also practice your skills of drawing and of observation. i'm always a proponent of working from real life rather than from an image, though of course it's a legitimate and enjoyable technique. i also like working from video reference and moving models, but that can be hard for some people.

if you want to paint abstract works, experimentation is your friend. familiarise yourself with the intricacies of the paint and its application, and play with it and your substrates. work a lot on your compositional skills. train your eye to decide what you like and dislike by metrics independent of how much a piece visually represents any specific object. express concepts - philosophical, emotional, visual, whatever - through abstract forms. get really into color and light.

if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. i can't currently think of anything else i would go over before starting to paint. just please don't kill your entire paycheck by buying supplies, there is always a good chance that you can get something for cheap or for free by just asking around or experimenting. there might also be programs around where you live in community centres or something where they teach painting, who will let you maybe borrow materials or something. if you can worm your way out of paying, by any means that don't get you in major trouble, that's better.

#.asked

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kaycees-creationz · 2 months

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Welcome, welcome!

Heya people, I wanted to start off this first blog with an introduction of myself and telling you a bit about my reasoning behind this blog. First of all, hi~! You can call me Kaycee. I am a hobby artist and crochet enthusiast who recently got diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses. I have a wonderful little dog, who's name is Kaida! I'm very fond of musicals and music in general and I love to sing along as well. For art I mostly draw digitally and traditionally with colored pencils, but I am also working on learning to work with Gouache. Crocheting wise I am mostly into Amigurumi, although, making a biiig blanket is also something I really want to do someday! Because of my recent diagnosis' my life has been going through a big loopty loop, leaving me searching for ways to cope with all the things that come my way. Constantly searching for the right treatments, what symptoms come from what, what doctor can help with this, etc, it's quite a lot to be honest with you all.

I can't imagine me being the only person having gone through this.

Because of this, I want to share my journey through this all, both the good and the bad, intertwined with updates and blogs about my creative hobbies. Maybe it will help others feel less alone and more understood, and at worst, at least I've found something to try to see if it can help me cope. I can't wait to see where this journey will bring me. No doubt there will be difficult times, but nothing I can't conquer, nor you can't do!

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day/evening and hopefully I'll see you all soon again! Stay safe, stay strong

Signing off, Kaycee

#introduction post #chronically ill #new blog

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acaseforpencils · 1 year

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Gustavo Magalhães.

Bio: My name is Gustavo Magalhães and I am a Brazilian illustrator/cartoonist. I live in Caçapava, a small town in São Paulo state. I have worked as an illustrator since 2013.

As an editorial Illustrator, I've been published by The New Yorker, Golf Digest, Forbes, The New Republic, GQ Magazine among others. The first time I was commissioned by The New Yorker was in 2021, for "The Critics" session on a portrait of Sandra Oh" for her new show at the time, "The Chair," which aired on Netflix.

Sketch, refinement, finished piece.

I also have a web comic strip called "Curb Talk." It's published twice a week in a classic Comic Strip format.

Lately, I am a Senior Illustrator at a Studio called "Fried Design Company ,'' in Springfield, Missouri. But I work from Brazil.

AOIKTYE Procreate Keyboard for Ipad / Apple Pencil / Ipad Pro

Mac Mini / Asus Proart PA248QV Monitor / Huion Kanvas Plus 22 Display

Tools of choice: My process of work is mixed, I like to sketch the first thumbs and sometimes more advanced pieces on paper and "ink" / color them using digital tools. It's been 5 years that more than 90% of my final pieces are done in digital, and along that period I discovered that I'm a person that likes to do a significant amount of tests while inking, and digital tools help me a lot in that.

Lately, I've been trying to achieve an inking process that I could do both on paper and on digital, that way I could do my pieces however I feel on that day, and my comic strip has been a good place for this test field, and I'm enjoying that mix very much.

Pentel .09 Mechanical Pencil / Staedtler Water Brush / Staedtler Pig LIner 0.3 / Royal Talens No. 2 Brush

If you were asking me "You are on a desert island and can bring just one setup with you," I'd say I would bring my iPad. It allows me to sketch with an "analogic feel," where it's important to feel that you are actually crafting something. But it also gives me all the testing possibilities the digital work has.

Huion Display pen Battery Free Pen PW517

Tool I wish I could use better: Coloring in general, but mostly painting. It's always a struggle to translate what I have in mind to the final piece. And there are some aspects of texture and rendering that you can only get in analogical tools like gouache, oil, watercolor. Of course there are excellent artists that do those digitally, but there are certain aspects that you need a physical touch to achieve and I have never done anything like that. Maybe one day.

Tool I wish existed: A chair + desk set that automatically corrects your bad posture whenever your body is hurting or sitting in the wrong way. I hate having lower back and wrist pains while working, haha!

Tricks: One thing I brought from the full analogical days is an adaptation of the "drawing from your shoulder thing." Personally, I found it very hard to do, so I use a bandana on my pen hand, and use the other hand to pool this and drag. This is a thing that helps me a lot when drawing straight lines with a handmade feel, instead of just using shapes in Photoshop or any digital tool for precise lines.

Misc: "Go easy on yourself and have fun!" I never thought I could work with illustration. I spent almost a decade working in the aircraft industry (half of it doing freelance illustration jobs for local bands and brands) and the factory mentality lever left my mind, just now (after 10 years as an illustrator, 7 as my main activity), I'm recovering the passion that I had as a young doodling kid. Everyone sees artistic careers as this romantic thing, but it's always a struggle (at least for me) to face your passion as an obligation day to day, and make this trade of time and love for money. So after several years going hard on myself I am finally learning how to be lighter and having more fun and joy in my work.

(Outro/Editor's note: I asked Gustavo if he would care to discuss how working in the aircraft industry affected his work as an illustrator):

I think the biggest influence I got from this industry was the routine and how to deal with work. Artists naturally tend to be less rigid in the aspect of routine because of the nature of creativity, and I think that having almost a decade working in another industry in a more conservative environment helped me in how to take it more serious in all aspects, from my day to day process, to how to treat my clients and deadlines.

That's basically the biggest influence and learning I got from this period. How to understand that the work isn't just the drawing and thinking, but everything that happens behind it, from the clothing choice I pick to work at home, from the time management I need to have in order to balance all simultaneous projects I have.

Website, etc.

Portfolio

Curb Talk Comics

Instagram

Twitter

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If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

#Gustavo Magalhães #artists on tumblr #illustration #illustration process #art process #comics

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