Discover still life of art materialsoil painting: Fun and Easy Techniques to Try Today

Well, let me tell you, this oil painting thing, it ain’t as easy as shelling peas. I seen them fancy pictures in books, you know, the ones with the fruit and the flowers all laid out nice? They call ’em still life. I thought, I can do that! But Lordy, it’s a whole heap of trouble.

First off, you gotta get all this stuff. Not just any old paint, no sir. It’s gotta be oil paint. Smells like that stuff Pa used to put on the tractor. And brushes! So many brushes. Big ones, little ones. Makes my head spin just thinkin’ about it.

Discover still life of art materialsoil painting: Fun and Easy Techniques to Try Today

Then, you need somethin’ called a…a medium, I think they call it. It’s like a special oil you mix with the paint. Makes it… I don’t know, flowy, I guess. They got all different kinds. Linseed oil, that’s one. And somethin’ called Odorless Mineral Spirits. Sounds fancy, don’t it? But it just smells like that cleaner I use on the floor.

So, I got my paints, my brushes, my medium. Now what? Well, you gotta set up your stuff to paint. That’s the still life part. You can’t just paint anything, you know. It’s gotta be arranged just so. Like when you put out your best china for company.

  • You gotta find the right things. Fruit, bowls, maybe a pretty cloth. I tried using my old teapot, the one with the roses. Looked real nice, I thought.
  • Then you gotta put ’em together just right. They call it composition. Like makin’ a quilt, I reckon. Gotta have a good design.
  • And the light! Oh, the light! You gotta have good light, shining on your stuff just so. Not too bright, not too dark. Like Goldilocks and her porridge.

I set up my teapot and some apples on the kitchen table. Sun was comin’ in through the window, makin’ everything look real pretty. I mixed up some paint with that medium stuff. Three parts of that smelly spirit to one part linseed oil, just like they told me. Made the paint real thin, like gravy after it’s sat a while.

Then I started paintin’. First, I just did the table. Used that brown paint, Burnt Umber, they call it. Mixed it with a little bit of that red-brown, Burnt Sienna. Sounded like some fancy Italian dish to me! Diluted it with that medium mix, made it nice and easy to spread around.

Next, I did the shadows. Darkened up the area around the spoon handle with some more of that Burnt Umber. Just straight out of the tube this time, no mixin’. The paint was still wet underneath, which made it a little tricky, but I managed.

Discover still life of art materialsoil painting: Fun and Easy Techniques to Try Today

It’s slow goin’, this oil painting. You can’t rush it. Gotta let each layer dry before you put on the next. Like waitin’ for bread to rise. Takes patience, that’s for sure.

And it’s messy! Got paint on my apron, on my hands, even a little on the cat! He wasn’t too happy about that, let me tell you.

But you know what? Even though it’s a lot of work, it’s kind of fun. Like playing in the mud when you was a kid. You get to make somethin’ out of nothin’.

I seen folks do some interestin’ things with their still life paintings. They’ll put somethin’ in there that don’t quite belong. Like a toy dinosaur next to a bowl of fruit. Makes you think, don’t it? I might try that sometime. Maybe put my old work boots next to that fancy teapot. That’d be a sight, wouldn’t it?

They got these things called light boxes, too. You put your stuff inside, and it helps with the light. And view finders, little cardboard squares you look through to help you figure out your composition. It’s a lot of rigmarole, if you ask me. But I guess it helps. I watched some videos. They teach you everything. How to do that composition, how to get the light right.

Discover still life of art materialsoil painting: Fun and Easy Techniques to Try Today

They say composition is important. It is how you arrange things. You want people to look at your painting and see what you want them to see. It takes practice, though. Like learning to dance, you got to practice.

It’s not just paint and brushes that are important. You need something to paint on. They sell these boards, canvas boards, they call ’em. I painted mine with some pale brown acrylic paint first. You know, like a primer. Makes the oil paint stick better, they say. The proper name is Pale Umber acrylic ground. It sounds official, right?

This whole still life oil painting thing, it’s a journey, as they say. You learn somethin’ new every time you do it. And you don’t need no fancy schoolin’ to do it. Just some paint, some brushes, and a little bit of patience. And maybe a cat who doesn’t mind gettin’ a little paint on his tail. If you have the right tools, you can make something great, even a simple still life. It is so much fun. And you can have it, too!

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