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oils and paintbrush thoughts and help.

Discussion in 'Just starting...' started by jim1215, Jan 23, 2014.

  1. jim1215 Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    good afternoon , i have been a member for quite sometime and will soon post some of my work , looking forward to critique and comments , but in the meantime i have some questions regarding oils . so far i have only used acrylic vallejo paints and some model master or floquil . my question with oils and i own several colors of( windsor newton) is do ypu paint straight from tube or thin with like a mineral spirit ? i would like to try oils over an acrylic base . without a doubt i think oils are best on faces which is my weakness. now for brushes .i own windsor newton series 7 rounds but have since bought some good flats and angle flats and my work is getting better with the flats , are there anyone else from experience who likes working with the flat brushes , i like my rounds for certain areas but have gooten better using flats . just wanted to get some feedback. thanks so much jimmy
    Eludia likes this.
  2. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Eludia likes this.
  3. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    Hi Jimmy, I use oils exclusively over an Enamel base although Acrylics are just as effective. I use straight from the tube but allow some time to drain off the carrier by putting the paint on a piece of card for a couple on minutes and then picking the colour up with a Palette knife onto my palette. I then apply my base colour and with a large brush take off the paint leaving just a stain, from here it is just a matter of applying your shade and highlights. If you look on El Greco's website Eddy Vandersteen has a very detailed Oil face painting SBS. As regards flat brushes they are great for larger areas and for blending, I use a 45 Degree taper brush for blending also.
    I could go on but I'm sure others will also offer advice. As for oil paints if you can give Old Holland a try you wont be disappointed they have a lot less carrier in the tube.

    Keith
    Snowy and Eludia like this.
  4. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Keith has pretty much covered the process (y) I've stopped using acrylic even as an undercoat and have switched back to enamels.
    Welcome to the light ;)
    Cheers
    Derek
    Eludia likes this.
  5. Jazz A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    I am an oily too and the guys above have got it right. I have never been able to get as good results with just acrylics or enamel. I use Windsor & Newton, Winton, and even some Downey Daler oils. Depending on what youre painting I usually find the less you put on the better. Try putting a few spots of oil on the surface and use a bigger brush to rub it in over a larger area. Doing this makes it easier to blend in other colours. Also, say you're painting leather, I use a lighter brown acrylic as a base coat then when completely dry cover it in a darker brown oil. Leave it for a few minutes then by using a soft clean brush or clean rag wipe off the excess oil gently taking care not to also remove the acrylic underneath. This takes a bit of practise but gives a good effect. You're not limited to just leather either. This method can be used with other colours too. It shows a darker shade in the lower areas and lighter shades in the upper areas to show depth. Hope this helps and welcome to the oily fraternity.
    Eludia, swralph, baronband and 2 others like this.
  6. swralph A Fixture

    this is really good advice, also if you end up with a glossy finish where you need it to be matt simply use a matt varnish,preferably sprayed
    Eludia likes this.
  7. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Using heat will also dry the oils to a nice matt finish with the added benefit of speeding up drying times immensely (hours rather than days). Just be careful, don't make the same mistake I made recently:

    http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/schoolboy-errors.61673/

    Billy :)
  8. Jazz A Fixture

    Country:
    England

    She'd a few tears for you there Billy. I always use the airing cupboard to dry oil if I want it done quicker than normal. Most of the time though I just leave it to dry naturally. We oilys learn to be patient.

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