3 Simple Tips To Bring Your Oil Painting To Life

Artists love using oil paints on canvas because of its many advantages. Whereas its slow drying process could seem as a drawback, especially for those who would rather finish their pieces faster, for the majority of artists is a plus. This is because it provides them with enough time to work on an artwork piece in different sessions without worrying that some parts will dry faster. They also find it much easier to make changes to their creations thanks to the slow drying characteristic of oil paintings. Oil paints also come with an advantage of creating luminous colors that are hard to wear. It is also much easier for the paints to blend with any surrounding colors so in the end an appealing artwork is achieved.

If you are new to oil paintings, you might consider taking oil painting classes so you can start off on a high. But you can still use the following simple tips to start getting familiar with the painting and ensure that every one of your artwork pieces oozes life.

Tip 1 - Use thick paste on foreground to convey volume

Three dimensional looks are quite lifelike and it is actually possible to achieve this when painting with oil. Oils and acrylics come with the advantage of building thick impastos compared to pastels and watercolors that lack the quality. To achieve the 3D look, apply the thick oil paste on the foreground of your painting and then thin it with receding planes on your piece. In the end you will have a very thing paint layer in the distant background creating the three dimensional illusion.

Tip 2 - Create texture on your piece by dry brushing

Texture is very important, especially on pieces with leaves, grass and crashing water waves and the likes. By using a dry brush technique you can make sure the texture is visible to the eyes. Dry brushing involves skipping your brush so that the paint can peel off achieving the desired results. When you hold the brush horizontally and graze it you can tickle bottom surfaces dragging to different directions to create weathered appearance of your wood or make the water foam on the painting look bubbly. There are so many effects you can create with the method so your painting is lifelike.

Tip 3 - Create interest by varying your colors

Instead of adding a number of variations of the same hue in a given area to get rid of boring solid monochromatic colors, generate more interest on your oil painting by mixing colors partially on the palette to neutralize saturation and they squeeze paint out under lots of pressure so you can see subtle color variations with every stroke. It may seem challenging at first, but you will love how realistic the painting becomes once you master the technique. This color mixing variegation can be used on different types of oil painting including those with grass, rocks and foliage to get paint variety that makes them look real.

Artists love using oil paints on canvas because of its many advantages. Whereas its slow drying process could seem as a drawback, especially for those who would rather finish their pieces faster, for the majority of artists is a plus. This is because it provides them with enough time to work on an artwork piece in different sessions without worrying that some parts will dry faster. They also find it much easier to make changes to their creations thanks to the slow drying characteristic of oil paintings. Oil paints also come with an advantage of creating luminous colors that are hard to wear. It is also much easier for the paints to blend with any surrounding colors so in the end an appealing artwork is achieved.

If you are new to oil paintings, you might consider taking oil painting classes so you can start off on a high. But you can still use the following simple tips to start getting familiar with the painting and ensure that every one of your artwork pieces oozes life.

Tip 1 - Use thick paste on foreground to convey volume

Three dimensional looks are quite lifelike and it is actually possible to achieve this when painting with oil. Oils and acrylics come with the advantage of building thick impastos compared to pastels and watercolors that lack the quality. To achieve the 3D look, apply the thick oil paste on the foreground of your painting and then thin it with receding planes on your piece. In the end you will have a very thing paint layer in the distant background creating the three dimensional illusion.

Tip 2 - Create texture on your piece by dry brushing

Texture is very important, especially on pieces with leaves, grass and crashing water waves and the likes. By using a dry brush technique you can make sure the texture is visible to the eyes. Dry brushing involves skipping your brush so that the paint can peel off achieving the desired results. When you hold the brush horizontally and graze it you can tickle bottom surfaces dragging to different directions to create weathered appearance of your wood or make the water foam on the painting look bubbly. There are so many effects you can create with the method so your painting is lifelike.

Tip 3 - Create interest by varying your colors

Instead of adding a number of variations of the same hue in a given area to get rid of boring solid monochromatic colors, generate more interest on your oil painting by mixing colors partially on the palette to neutralize saturation and they squeeze paint out under lots of pressure so you can see subtle color variations with every stroke. It may seem challenging at first, but you will love how realistic the painting becomes once you master the technique. This color mixing variegation can be used on different types of oil painting including those with grass, rocks and foliage to get paint variety that makes them look real.