Priming and ground color for oils

I find that I read/watch what artists have learned, apply it and see results. 

An inching forward then pausing to learn. Here's Hershey, a real dog at Animal Aid.

I found a couple of good books at our library. This first one is packed with

information. I learned about primers (the surface you prepare before applying

oil paint) and coloring grounds (covering the white surface so you can better judge tones 

and values). I took this chunk of info and applied it to my painting this weekend.

I had been painting on illustration board primed with gesso. The surface was

gritty and too absorbent, pulling paint right off of the brush. Stiff application=stiff results.

I switched to priming with airbrush (acrylic) medium...

recommended on a youtube video (I'll link it here later).

After fixing my preliminary sketches with workable fixative spray, I chose four

thinned down colors for several primed boards. I tried to match the ground color

to the mid tones in each dog's coat.

I made a note of the color on the back and added it to my palette. 

In this case, thinned Gamblin Chromatic Black.

I was able to skip a layer of painting by starting with a colored ground.

This will need about 2 more painting sessions. The surface is smooth doesn't

pull the paint off the brush. A much better surface for me.

Also trying to work on backgrounds which work with the dog's colors.

 I see a big difference here. Put away that Portland Cool Gray.

This week I'm working on brushwork and this book covers it better than any I

could find. Also looking at Impressionist brushwork. Amazing. This is my

next challenge, to make the marks more interesting and powerful.

Speaking of marks, look at the result of steaming the buttercup tamales for

one hour. Mother nature is always the best artist. Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day.

More painting, more learning, more practice

Yesterday I hung about 9 new paintings of Animal Aid pups in

Plantiques.

I'm discovering that painting a glossy black dog is much harder than I'd thought.

Highlights in Titanium white after building transparent white/black layers...now I just

need more practice. I like Black Spinel (Gamblin) for this.

More practice and brush strokes. Also need to practice noses. Today I'll

practice noses. 

 

Learning when to stop painting

I think I stopped in time with this guy.  There's a lot to learn about stopping and looking while
putting down the brush.

I went a bit too far on this dog. Still trying to get that expression.

I learned to begin the value study with a larger brush here. Very over done but a good lesson
learned.

I feel the practice is having returns.This is much more expressive without the fussy little brush
strokes. I think it's almost done. The snow here wants to stay around with temps only getting
up into the 20s. We're having a heat wave today-into the 40s.

 The white-white snow light is great for painting. My little space is filled with light.