xnicx87x

help!im doing my alevels in art and design and i havent a clue how to use them i tried but they didnt seem to work at all well please give me advice x x

ngdawg

Oils are relatively easy to use..first, they should be kneaded in their tubes before using. They can be thinned, which makes spreading on the canvas much easier. Never load the brush. You can add on a lot easier than take off, so use a lighter touch. Depending on factors such as heat and humidity, oils are great to go back to and touch up while still damp-the downside of that is the painting has to be left where it cannot be touched or gather dust quickly.
Don't know if you have used acrylics but using oils isn't too much different if you maintain a workable consistency in their thickness and, unlike acrylics, which practically dry on contact, you can really work oils around, making blending easier.
But the very first thing you should do is don't panic!!! Practice.

__________________
Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

little_tippler

if you could give us some more info on what you're trying to do exactly with the oil paints, maybe we can help you more.

Also, howcome you're doing art A Levels and have never tried oils before? They're not that much different from any other paints you may have tried. Just a few differences, like ngdawg said. They are more forgiving I would say, because they don't dry so fast and you can actually scrape off mistakes with a palette knife.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

xnicx87x

im trying to create a lanscape scene,when i tried to use then i used a little amount but it didnt seem to spead easily.i have used all other kinds of paints but have been asked to explore with my oil paints.thankyou for your advice

little_tippler

thinning of the paint can be done with linseed oil or turpentine. Turpentine makes it quite thin and it also dries faster with that mixed in. The linseed oil makes it more gooey and it spreads much better, the paint dries slower and the finish is a lot more glossy.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918