Let's paint oils from life!

[ColorEnthusiast]

I do not work in oils, but I wanted to stop by and say it's a interesting thread and I like the posted paintings a lot.
So I will watch it and see what comes up here.

 

[moscatel]

Arty, thank you for "sticky". Yes, you are correct about Grotius.
LOL for "the brightest crayon in the box" ..
Esther, thank you for commenting and your kind words. I admire your watercolors!

 

[triss]

Dm7 - Wonderful, delicate colour handling in your vegetable painting, and great work on the fabric. The values are beautiful, and you've absolutely caught the light!

moscatel - I love the shine on the pumpkin in the first painting, and I like the sparse composition with the fallen leaves. The more haphazard arrangement in the second piece works for me, too, and I enjoy your background brushwork. Looking forward to seeing if you develop both/either of these any further.

I veer into scribbly mess territory with oils, but I hope it's still okay to join in here. Tree sketch from life this morning, oil stick, A1 gessoed paper.

 

[Enyaw]

Please work primarily from life — not from photographs or imagination

can you clarify this .. half of a painting is imagination. When you look at an object and see shapes formed by values and you express your impressions of those shapes you are painting from life but using your imagination. Vincent Van Gogh for example: his paintings are not replicas of what was before him but his impressions of what was before him.

 

[Grotius]

@Artyczar and @Terri , thanks so much for stickying this thread! I really appreciate it. And yes, people also know me as Geoff. Sorry for any confusion!

can you clarify this .. half of a painting is imagination. When you look at an object and see shapes formed by values and you express your impressions of those shapes you are painting from life but using your imagination. Vincent Van Gogh for example: his paintings are not replicas of what was before him…

@Enyaw , thanks for your comment. I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that people must submit only mechanical reproductions of the scene in front of them! I simply want to encourage painting from observation, as opposed to photographs. I think work from direct observation has an energy all its own, and I also think it’s a great way for us to develop as artists and draftspeople.

Note that my instructions say “primarily” from life, not exclusively. As a plein air painter, I know full well that the scene changes, figures enter and exit, clouds move, some elements need to be moved for compositional reasons, the lighting shifts constantly, etc. Like many painters, sometimes I invent a background or move trees or delete power lines. That sort of thing is welcome and encouraged!

In fact I don’t feel that strongly about excluding work from imagination. If James Gurney posted some of his splendid Dinotopia illustrations here I certainly wouldn’t delete it! Indeed, he works from observation even when he is making illustrations. That’s the core idea here: to encourage and appreciate the vitality of work from observation, from life.

Incidentally, I do intend to post my own work here soon. I had to rush to see my mom before I could do so. And it looks like I may be visiting her for a while now, with no art supplies at hand. But I am loving what has been posted by others so far!

 

[Terri]

Thank you, Geoff, for expanding on your ideas for this thread. I think it's going to be fascinating to see what people come up with.

I'm glad you're here, and looking forward to seeing your work. Best wishes for your mom's good health.

 

[Dm7]

@triss What a wonderful work. Isn't nature chaotic anyway? So it fits. And thank you!
Also, many thanks for your comments everyone, I really do appreciate them!

@Grotius Don't worry too much about it, take it easy and post when you can.

@moscatel Lovely pumpkin once again! I like the composition and how you included the silverware- perhaps I should try that as my next composition. Thanks for the inspiration!

@ntl It's good to see you here too.

It might be awhile before I can paint again. Believe it or not, I'm actually running dangerously low on my art supplies and am slightly panicking on the idea of running out of it in the middle of an art session.

 

[Lazarus]

Oil from life is realy hard if dont have the needs. to carry the painting back if you are not mobile it isnt easy situation although i have an idea.
ofcourse im aiming at plein air bcz still life we can do as much as we wish everywhere.

 

[Enyaw]

thank you for the explanation .. your mom is more important at the moment so don't worry about art.

 

[moscatel]

triss, lovely work! Good values on this piece. I don't know what kind of medium is oil sticks but I recommend for you oil paint. Thank you for commenting on the pumpkin. Fallen leaves can be fun to paint.
Dm, Oh no, you are running out of oil paint!! That sounds serious for an oil painter and a good one like you are. I hope you find more paints. In Holland you have lots of good oil paint stores, I visited one in Utrecht before corona time and I was blown away how long and large shelves full of Old Holland oil paints there were, all the tones and I saw OH colors that I couldn't even imagine they would exist: a paradise for a painter to see that.
Lazarus, your plein air plans sound wonderful. Do you have a good weather for it now?

Here's another recent oil painting try of root vegetables. I found them from a store and wanted to give a try with oils but couldn't really finish the piece as I had hoped for. The table cloth (it's a towel actually) needs much more work still, I didn't pay yet that much attention to it b/c I have it always available and can work on it any time. It's the vegetables that get bad sooner.
Name could be something like: "Still Life with Kohlrabi and Red Onions",
The size is about: 35x45 cm, oil on canvas.
Sorry for the bad photos, the painting is wet and photos often won't turn out well.

The following is the original setup photo: I had thought to add the ginger but it really didn't work so to the final painting I added another kohlrabi instead. The red onions were as a group but by the time of the photo some of them were eaten already.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Artyczar]

Thanks for clearing things up and coming back to the thread Geoff. It's great to have you here, and please know that we all wish you and your mom the very best. I know what it's like to take care of a parent. Make sure to also take care of yourself.

I have not really painted "from life," as I use photographs mostly, but maybe I will dry to join in the fun here. I will definitely follow the thread at least. It's exciting to see everyone's work here. I look forward to see yours too.

 

[Lazarus]

Lazarus, your plein air plans sound wonderful. Do you have a good weather for it now?

Weather is good. very ideal for plein air unfortunately im not mobile and live at very bad place for painter.
Very beautiful paintings.

 

[ntl]

Triss, yes, of course. The oil bars/sticks ARE oil paints ( https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2019/05/16/oil-stick-vs-oil-pastel/ )
Oil sticks (also known as oil bars and pigment sticks) are composed of pure pigment, a drying oil (such as linseed or safflower oil) and a small amount of wax which allows the paint to be moulded into a cylindrical bar. They will dry and cure like oil paint and are fully compatible with traditional oil painting techniques.
And your piece is wonderful. You're using R&F, aren't you?
Geoff, I hop your mother is stable and doing better. We're thinking of you both. Take care.
DM, you've been painting a lot, it's not surprising you're getting low. How awful to run out.! Watch for estate and yard sales sometimes I pick up supplies at those... Yes, I'm still here, haven't been doing much painting at all. Thought I might try some oranges, but I'm not sure I could paint one in all it's hues...
Lazarus, I'm not often able to get out, but I'm thinking of doing a (not) plein air, painting in my home at a scene outside.
moscatel, that's lovely! Colors and forms are true, quite life-like. Good shadowing and highlights, and I love the lucious greens and reds. Well done!
Arty, I thought you were going out to paint your barrel cactus!

 

[Artyczar]

ntl, did I say I would do that? Maybe that was before I got a date for my solo show (and caught a cold). Now I am struggling to plan out all the work I have to get together for the show...however, I will be doing Plein air sketching outside soon-ish in the coming weeks.

 

[ntl]

Okay, here's MY art from life, (not) plein air--It's part of the view I have at my computer desk--while at that desk.
Burning Bush 5.5x7" oil on gessoed 98 lb. Canson mixed media paper, limited palette. (NO cad yellow light!)
I didn't realize how rough the paper got with the gesso. Crits and comments welcome! First the painting, then the photo:

 

[P. Barrie]

Tris, Moscatel, ntl, paintings looking real good!
Here’s an 8” x 10” on panel that I knocked out this morning. Set the apples on a board and painted fast to keep up with the sunlight coming through the sliding glass door.

 

[P. Barrie]

Moscatel, i like the incusion of the cloth and pattern, real nice touch.

 

[Grotius]

Moscatel, your “Kolrhabi and onions” put a big smile on my face, as the composition is so comforting and inviting, the kind of picture I long to look at right now. Plus I laughed out loud when I read that some of your subject was eaten. That’s still making me chuckle! As if painting from life weren’t challenging enough!

Ntl, Burning Bush is great fun, and by some lights it would qualify as plein air. One artist at this year’s plein air Easton competition won an award for a painting he painted while indoors. I wish I’d known about that rule while I was painting outside in the heat! Anyway, I’m curious what colors you used for the star of the show. Alizarin?

P. Barrie, my favorite things about your beautiful apples are the cool highlights against the warm fruit. What colors are in the highlights? Also, I’m impressed that you used the sun as your light source. I should try doing that more often with still lifes. How long did the piece take?

Looking at these paintings made my day better! Thanks for posting them.

 

[triss]

Grotius - Wonderful words on working from life! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it, and I'm looking forward to seeing your work when you have the time to paint - best wishes to you and your mom.

Dm7 - Thanks, I do love a bit of chaos! I hope you can replenish your supplies soon.

Lazarus - Dealing with getting wet oils home is one of the plein air stumbling blocks for me. I have a few DIY solutions, but nothing ideal. I hope you're able to come up with some options for your own situation.

moscatel - Beautiful vibrancy in your start on the kohlrabi and onions, and I love the beginnings of the tablecloth edge.

ntl - Great work on your window view, and nice work handling your limited palette - you mixed some lovely greens from it.

P.Barrie - Glorious light and shine on those apples - beautiful bit of painting, and excellent feel of the sunlight.

ntl does a much better job of explaining oil sticks than me (thanks for that!). I use the R&F sticks, and for monochrome I have the larger sizes. I love oils, I just enjoy drawing with them more than using a brush/knife. Scroll sketch - oil stick, A1 gessoed paper.

 

[Lazarus]

Grotius - Wonderful words on working from life! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it, and I'm looking forward to seeing your work when you have the time to paint - best wishes to you and your mom.

Dm7 - Thanks, I do love a bit of chaos! I hope you can replenish your supplies soon.

Lazarus - Dealing with getting wet oils home is one of the plein air stumbling blocks for me. I have a few DIY solutions, but nothing ideal. I hope you're able to come up with some options for your own situation.

moscatel - Beautiful vibrancy in your start on the kohlrabi and onions, and I love the beginnings of the tablecloth edge.

ntl - Great work on your window view, and nice work handling your limited palette - you mixed some lovely greens from it.

P.Barrie - Glorious light and shine on those apples - beautiful bit of painting, and excellent feel of the sunlight.

ntl does a much better job of explaining oil sticks than me (thanks for that!). I use the R&F sticks, and for monochrome I have the larger sizes. I love oils, I just enjoy drawing with them more than using a brush/knife. Scroll sketch - oil stick, A1 gessoed paper.

View attachment 12672

Stunning work. no words to express. very very good one.