Oil painting class
After having worked with pastels, on and off, for some 20 years, I decided to learn to paint in oil. I reviewed many artists online and found one, Mark Carder, whose work I like a lot, and who gave private lessons.
In January 2017 I visited Mark for a six day -one on one- workshop, in his studio in Austin Texas. "One on one" does not mean he sits next to you all the time, but -every hour or so- will watch what you are doing (or not doing) and coach you in the right direction. Below are some pics to give you an idea of what I learned.
The photo's were taken with an old cell phone and are rather poor, but give and idea.
Still life setup.
Learned how to build a still life box and tableau. Lamps, light intensity and color temperature. How to photograph. Settings etc.
Adjustments and cropping in PhotoShop. Printing and lamination.
Ready to draw and paint
Copy photo onto pre-stained canvas, using the 2 "golden lines" and a graphic compas or proportional divider.
The colors in the photo above do not reflect the true sparkling colors of the pottery.
Learn how to mix any color from the above limited palette. Background color of glass palette is same as canvas.
Choose color groups, then mix and make small incremental color and value changes.
The white blobs above all look identical, but are actually all different.
First step
More progress
This is how far I got after 5 days. I left the painting there to dry and a month later it was shipped to me.
I learned a lot, but the most important thing I learned was to look and relook at VALUES and subtlety of the colors compared to what you are painting.
Hibernation
After I came back I did not paint in oil for a year. Somehow I could not bring myself to start again. I had all the necessities, but thought oil too difficult. Can't teach an old dog new tricks.
However, I liked my still life setup so much that I decided to go back to pastel and paint the still life in pastel from the photo I took at the workshop.
Still life in pastel.
Now back to oil
Encouraged by the pastel result, I finally went back to my oil painting and decided to "polish" it up and finish it.
I first did the easy background and then "polished" the silverware.
Then the blue flowers on the pot.
Finished. I had it framed in a silver color, wooden frame.