Oil Painting Materials Needed:

1. A photo to reference for your painting.
2. Canvas panel.
3. Canvas mount or easel.
4. Oil paints, using colors from your photo.
5. Mineral spirits.
6. Brushes

To start the process, lets work on a canvas panel mounted on a board. Then take your photo reference for the oil painting and have it next to your canvas.

First dip your brush into mineral spirits so you can start out with thin paint.  Mix your colors to start with your background. Start with a lighter color first.  As you paint your background use the thin light paint to also block out the shapes of your painting. You can squint at your photo reference to isolate the shapes in the photo. Keep the paint thin and light during this process. The goal of this first step is to create all the shapes of the painting.

As you continue use your dark colors but paint your canvas with a focus on contrast. Then carefully blend your shadows with your highlights. Make sure you are aware of how your paints blend on canvas. Continue to fill in your bigger shapes first. Do not focus on detail at this point.

Once you paint your big shapes and your contrast of shadows to highlights then start to bring out your color. First identify the colors in your photo reference and then mix your colors for the canvas. Use color tones to create space and define the separation of objects to background. Put more attention and time on the focal points of the art work.

To finish your painting it is best to take a break. I recommend that you get some food and take a walk. You need to come back with some more energy and fresh eyes. Remember contents is in a glimpse. Now take a finer brush and start to paint in the details like small objects that will bring the painting to life. Continue be aware of your light source and paint highlights on all objects to create a 3rd dimension.

That is it! You can now clean your brushes with the mineral spirits and hopefully you have a beautiful masterpiece to show your friends.

Scumbling

Scumbling is painting thin layers of opaque light color over dark colors, which gives a broken color effect. Scumbling is rather like glazing, but with light colors over dark. The colors mix optically rather than on the palette, and the result is shimmery, opalescent.

Stippling

Stippling is similar to scumbling but you are adding more texture than contrast. Same strokes of paint but you are working for a texture effect instead of a color effect.

Sponging

Is using a seas spong to create dimensional paint. It is similar to stippling but you are using a thicker surface and creating a more dynamic color and texture effect.

These three techniques should be used on a dry canvas or the under painting with a thick brush head. These techniques can be used with all types of paint but they work best with acrylic or oil.

Best practice would be to add the under painting. Under painting  is an initial layer of paint applied to a ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. Then use these techniques to add more layers of detail to bring out the focal points of the painting. These techniques would be characterized as a more impressionistic style of painting. Impressionism is an art movement beginning in France in the 1870′s, founded by an individualistic group of artists including, among others, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Camille Pissarro; all concerned themselves mainly with the components of light and the immediate visual impression of a scene using unconnected colors that were to be mixed by the eye; bright colors and bold brushwork were often used to achieve these impressions.

When using these techniques in your paintings start small and always remember less is more. If you add to much texture and contrast to your work it can become very chaotic. I call it tunnel vision. Always keep the big picture and try not to get lost in adding more detail to your work.