PAINTING TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
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When I was an art student, there were times when I felt frustrated by a lack of specific information. This frustration led me to comb the internet for answers to my questions. However, even that was frustrating. Sometimes I didn't know the right question to ask, and answers I did find were usually strewn over multiple sites.
And so, in order to help you avoid the same time-consuming, frustrating searches, below is a list of topics, organized into primary subjects, so that both you and I may have the information we need all in one place. If you have a topic that you would like me to cover and that isn't listed below, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
Note: I will be linking each Topic Post back to a page called "List of Topics" that can found linked to "Blog" in the site menu.
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Paint
Color Palettes: Limited vs Semi-Limited
Color palettes: Basic and Beyond
What does a Paint’s Label mean: Lightfastness, Series, etc.
Types of Paints and When to use them: Opaque, Semi-Transparent,Transparent
Painting Shadows and Lights: Warm vs Cool colors and Transparent vs Opaque
Paint Brands: Professional vs Student grade
Are Oil Paints Toxic? Yep
Paint Colors
Characteristics of an Oil Paint: A Guideline to Purchasing the Perfect Paint Every Time
Which White should I Use: Lead, Zinc, Titanium, etc?
Which Black should I Use: Lamp, Mars, Ivory, Payne's? Or No Black at All?
Yellow Oil Paint: Pigments, Basics, and How to Pick the Right Yellow
Orange Oil Paint: Pigments, Basics, and How to Pick the Right Orange
Red Oil Paint: Pigments, Basics, and How to Pick the Right Red
Purple Oil Paint: Pigments, Basics, and How to Pick the Right Purple
Vantablack: Can an Artist really own a Color?
Mediums
Types of Mediums: The Simple Option
Types of Mediums: Oils, Thinners, Questions, etc.
How to Keep Solvent Odors to a Minimum while Painting
How to Avoid and Fix a Yellowing Painting
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Brushes
Types of Brushes: Hog Bristle, Sable, Synthetic, etc.
Brush Brands and What to Purchase: Level 1, 2, 3, what?
Saving your Paint Brushes: How to Remove Old Dried Paint and Reshape your Brushes
Going Green: Cleaning paint brushes without Turpenoid
Cleaning your Brushes with Turpenoid
Decanting: How to make your cleaning Oil or Turpeniod stretch
Painting Supports/Palettes
Types of Palettes: Wood, Glass, or Paper
Color Palettes: How to Make your Own Glass Palette
Color Palettes: How to Organize your Paint
Types of Supports: Board, Canvas, or Paper and How to Make Them
Painting Methods
Three Oil Painting Rules: Fat over Lean, Thick over Thin, and Slow over Fast Drying
Direct vs Indirect vs Combination Painting: Differences, Terms, and Artists
Colored Grounds / Imprimatura: What is it, What colors to Use, and Who Used Them
Indirect Painting: The Flemish Technique or Classical Approach
Indirect: Underdrawing
Indirect: Underpainting and Dead Color
Indirect: Overpainting
Indirect: Glazing, true glazing vs color correcting
How to Correct Dull, Sunken Colors: Oiling Out Vs Creating a Couch
Direct Painting: Alla Prima vs Wet-on-Wet vs En Plein Air
Direct: Impasto Painting
Direct Painting: 10 Simple Guidelines to Colorful and Clean Paintings
Tonking: How to Smooth Paint Strokes or Paint Thickness without Disturbing the Paint
How and When to Varnish
How to paint Convincing Shadows: painting the colors that you can't see
How to Avoid Mixing Muddy Colors
Flesh Tones: Warm and Cool
What you need in order to copy an Old Master or Modern Work
Color Theory
Hue vs Color vs Tint vs Shade: What they are and How to make them
A small caveat: There are differing opinions all over the internet about each of these topics. The opinion I am putting forth is my own, but only after extensive research. I normally only decide what to write on a topic after I have found two or three agreeing opinions that stand out from all of the differing ones and I will be citing them when possible.
An addendum: Several of these posts originally appears on my old blog, phin42.blogspot.com. The posts that appear here are updated and/or completely rewritten.