Category: Tips and Techniques

Sometimes drawing lines on canvas to start a painting is useful, and sometimes they are a handicap. It’s one of those things where you need to experiment to see which method brings out the best in your painting. Beginners often assume that the more lines to start with the better, but that’s often not true. Too many lines can make for a tight (read: uptight) rendering rather than a free painterly expression. Granted, there are time I recommend lines. Certainly in portrait work, many artists start with a light pencil sketch on the canvas to help with accuracy. Difficult angles in architecture are helped by some lines as well. However, starting without line allows the painter to freely block in shapes and get an overall sense of composition and values more quickly. The best advice I can give is to start with as few lines as possible. And, if you like to start with a pre-coloured canvas that is medium to dark in value, white chalk is a great thing to draw the lines with. 

There is one method that seems to work best for trying to get that stubborn lid off of a paint jar or tube – and that is to run it under hot water for several minutes. The water needs to be really hot, and you need to be patient, holding it there for awhile to let the heat penetrate through the lid and soften the paint. This seems to work with all types of paint. This method is less likely to damage the paint tube or jar than pliers are. Sometimes pliers rip a metal tube. 

There are so many interesting brush shapes – and names to go with them. For example, “Cat’s Tongue” is a square brush that has had the corners rounded – if that makes sense. But which is the very best brush to use? Certainly not the tiny one! You pick up niggley little amounts of paint, and spend more time moving your hand back and forth between the palette and the painting, than you do actually painting. If you are wanting to make thin lines or small marks, a larger round brush that holds a good point will do that just as well. The key here is – it is in good shape and holds a good point. Personally, I use a lot of square brushes. If you hold them on the chisel point, they can still make a thin line, and they can be held at an angle for thicker marks, or pressed flat on the canvas for the widest mark of all. This versatility in marks is fun for me. But which is the very best brush for you? It should be: 1. Large enough to hold a decent amount of paint,   2. In good shape and not having a bad hair day,   3. Make the type of marks that you are excited about having in your painting!    Notice #3 – that’s why I can’t tell you exactly which brush shape will be your favourite. You need to experiment with a variety of shapes to figure that one out for yourself. Happy painting! 

Here’s a list of ideas that may inspire your next drawing or painting. Thanks, “ArtPromotive – Inspirations“ 

One of the key elements in any painting is the type of edges employed within the image. A variety of soft and harder edges give a painting life and depth. Soft and lost edges add mystery and let the eye move through. Hard edges stop the eye and say ‘this area is important – pay more attention to this’. Artistic license is frequently taken with where the softer edges are applied. The painter may decide very differently than the camera does, depending what they wish to emphasize. Oil painters have the advantage on this one – with slower drying time, edges are more easily softened. 

I currently have 4 paintings on the go, and I love working this way! It means that when I need a rest from one painting, an incubation period, I can move to the next and keep on painting. This method has been with me since I first started to learn to paint. At that time, I was working primarily in watercolour, and moving to the next painting helped me let each one dry before painting the next layer, and not overwork it. Today, I’m using a lot of different acrylic mediums that also require significant drying time. Having multiple paintings on the go is such a part of me that if it’s ever down to just 1 painting in progress, I will suddenly notice that I’m not going to the studio as frequently! How about you? Do you like having several painting on the go at once? 

You may have noticed that some paints have the word ‘hue’ after their name. For example: there is alizarin crimson, and alizarin crimson hue. The word “hue” on a tube or jar of paint means that it is a man-made substitute for the original pigment. Originally, alizarin was made from the madder plant, and the colour was fugitive and would fade drastically. In 1868, a German scientist discovered a way of chemically creating a pigment that would not fade, and was therefore a much better choice for artists. But a word of caution. Some ‘hues’ have been created because the original pigment is very expensive, and the manufacturers wanted a cheaper alternate. In that case, the hue may not be as permanent as the original pigment. The best way to be sure is to learn to read permanency and lightfastness ratings on whichever brand of paint you use. Any good artist quality paint manufacturer will give you that information on each colour, right on the tube or jar. And by the way, the science of creating pigments chemically is very challenging. Not every colour can be reproduced this way. There has been no success in finding a safer alternative to toxic manganese blue, which is rarely seen in artist paints these days. 

There are 4 main types of paint that are popular these days. Oil, heavy bodied acrylic, fluid acrylic, and watercolour. Here are some of the basic differences. 1. Oil: The slow drying time of oils allows for beautiful blending and lovely soft edged gradations. It can be used thickly (called impasto) with luscious brush strokes showing lots of texture, or more thinly, with a smooth finish. I choose the water mixable oil. This paint responds to water while wet, so you can clean up with water instead of turpentine. Once dry, it is chemically identical to regular oils. The brand I use has the same drying time as regular oils too. Oil paints do have rules that must be followed so that the paint does not crackle after it is dry. 2. Heavy bodied acrylic: This paint will do the thick and textured brush strokes similar to oil. It is formulated to resist thinning with water. It dries much more quickly than oils, although very thick applications can still take hours, or even overnight. Recently manufacturers have come out with a variety of acrylic paints that have different drying properties, including some that are a bit slower drying to allow for blending of colours. Or you can buy an acrylic medium to extend drying time just when you want it. 3. Fluid acrylic: This paint thins well with water, while maintaining a rich pigment load for bright colour. That makes it perfect for wet and wild applications. If thinned enough with water, it will look identical to watercolour. If used in the consistency it comes out of the bottle, it can look like a smoothly finished oil painting. The main difference between it and watercolour is that when the fluid acrylic is dry, it no longer reactivates with water. This makes layering of colour (glazing) much easier. 4. Watercolour: Traditionally used in a delicate or pale colour manner, today’s watercolour paints have enough pigment load to do both rich and dark colours if desired. Watercolour in a painting reactivates when rewet, making lifting techniques possible. Lifting is used not only for correcting, but for beautiful painting effects as well. And the flow of watercolour paint placed into a wet area on the watercolour paper can delight both artist and art lover. That’s a really brief summary. When new students ask me which type of paint to buy, I suggest that they go to some local art galleries, and see what type of paintings please their eye. Each type has both advantages and disadvantages, its own joys and challenges, and it’s more important to love the effects that you see in a certain paint type, than to worry about rumours of one being easier or harder to learn. Your comments welcome. 

Sure you have your favourite colours to paint with. That’s a good thing. However, maybe you are ready to change things up and try some completely different colour combination. Here are some ways to explore – the idea is to use the colours, but not with the same subject: 1. Check out your favourite multi coloured shirt or scarf. What colours are in it? Paint with them. 2. Go for a walk and choose some colour combinations from nature to paint with. 3. Look at your favourite famous painting. Use those colours in a painting – of a completely different subject. 4. Google “Hubble telescope images” and choose the colours from a part of one of those photos. 5. Go for another walk and find a stone with colours you like – paint with them. 6. Choose a favourite photo and use some of the colours in it to paint a different subject. Possible colour combinations are endless, and each has it’s own unique impact and mood. Have fun exploring!