I’ve often been asked about what steps I take in completing my oil paintings. Nothing ground breaking about my process; much of it is grown out of traditional techniques. I hope that some of the info here can be helpful to anyone looking to improve their works.
I prefer the indirect painting technique in which the final piece is slowly found through the gradual layering of paint. The biggest reason is because I’m pretty indecisive and never quite had the skill or mind for being able to work out a painting in one sitting; I respect those who can though. I love the way the paint slowly absorbs into each layer when painting indirectly and I always felt I could get the richest colors this way. The key thing to remember in this process is “fat over lean”. What this means is that each new layer should contain more paint than the layer before. When you start a painting like this, your first layer of paint will be thinned with some kind of medium like liquin. It’s important that each new one contain less of the thinning material as this can effect the drying of each layer and lead to cracking over time.
Step One – Sketch
Your first steps will be to make sure your canvas is primed and that you obviously have some sort of idea of what you’ll be painting. It’s usually a good idea to do several sketches before you move to the canvas and depending on how detailed you plan to go will determine how detailed your initial sketches should be. Once you feel like you have a clear idea go ahead and transfer your sketch to the canvas.
Step Two – Ink/Seal
After you have your sketch down your next step will be to seal the pencil. I know of a few people that at this step they lay down their first paint by using the brush to trace over their pencil. I prefer pen though. Experts would tell you indigo ink is the preferred, but personally, I tend to use whatever is laying around. In the example shown I used a blue Sharpie and it worked great. You’ll notice too that I washed the canvas with a rough white and gray mix. This is because I prefer my paintings to be a little rough. I like seeing texture, brush strokes and a little roughness in my paintings. You’ll want to make sure at this stage if you’re going super detailed to make sure to work out every little detail and shadow. Think of the ink as your main guide layer.
Step Three – Wash
The next layer is going to be the wash. This layer is going to help bind all the layers above it. Traditionally this layer is created with a mixture of a thinning medium with either a burnt umber or sienna. You’re obviously free to do what you want but I’ve found that these usually make the best base. My washes are always rough because again, I like to see some texture and strokes. If you’re going for high detail you’ll want to make sure this layer is as consistently mixed and applied as evenly as possible. This will be what begins to fill in the canvas for you to make the painting smoother and more friendly for tight details.
Step Four – Dead Layer
Now on to the “dead layer”. Depending on your thinning mixtures you can probably begin this layer in a day or two. I’ve seen painters skip this part but I find it to be the most important one of the entire painting. This will be when you work out the highlights, shadows, and all the other details of the painting. No matter the depth of realism you’re going for in your work, it’s important to take your time here as it’s going to guide you when you apply color. I tend to always add a tint of color to my gray mixes for this step. In this case I gave it a slightly blue tint. Again, just enjoy the painting and do what feels best to you. You should always start with your darker tints first as white tends to take the longest to dry. And remember to continue each layer with slightly less thinning materials.
Step Five – Color
Finally the fun part, color! From here forward it’s really up to you. If you made sure to put all your attention into the dead layer, then the color layer should be a snap. Continue the theme of working in steps and layering your colors and details. For this particular painting I started with the walls, then moved to the floor, and then the bear; allowing for some drying time with each. I then went back through and added detail layers to each area until I was happy with the painting.
Wrap up
The last step…always remember to enjoy the process! Creating art can sometimes take weeks, months, or even years so it’s essential that you have fun doing it. It should be a relaxing release for you where you lose yourself in the work. Hope some of this could be of some use to you.
