Watch this video on YouTube Making Graphite Oil Paint — The Alchemical Journey Series — by Damian Osborne 1 | What is graphite actually? 2 | Can you mix graphite and oil paint 3 | When was graphite first used as an art medium? 4 | How does graphite black oil paint compare with other black pigments? 5 | How do you make graphite black oil paint? 6 | Did any of the Old Masters use graphite oil paint? Continuing with my handmade paint series, The Alchemical Journey, I decided to experiment with graphite oil paint. Graphite black…
Best Ideas for Oil Painting Every Painter Should Try
Watch this video on YouTube Best Ideas for Oil Painting Every Painter Should Try by Damian Osborne So, you’re wondering what you should paint? Here are some of my personal favourite ideas for oil painting: 1 | Landscape painting 2 | Seascape painting 3 | Still life painting 4 | Figure painting 5 | Self-portrait painting 6 | Painting portraits of your friends and family 7 | Painting animals 8 | Dreams, fantasy, mythological, allegorical and imaginary painting Throughout the history of painting, artists have found inspiration for their art from these universal and personal subjects. What were…
Alla Prima Still Life Painting Demo
Watch this video on YouTube Alla Prima Still Life Painting Demo by Damian Osborne Painting an alla prima still life is a really valuable exercise for any artist. For this still life painting demo, I set up some apples in an African bowl. The painting was another still life commission for a collector in the U.K. In my last post, I showed how to stretch a canvas for painting. I showed how to make a strainer frame and talked about the differences between a strainer and stretcher frame, and the pros and cons of each for stretching canvas. I…
Weird Questions Beginner Oil Painters Ask
Weird Questions Beginner Oil Painters Ask by Damian Osborne 1 | When does one do underpainting? And is that synonymous with a wash or blocking in? 2 | If you do an underpainting, what medium do you prefer to use? 3 | How many layers of oil paint can you pile on top of the underpainting? 4 | Do you paint an oil painting in subsequent layers by just adding more oil? Or is it more paint? 5 | Can I use acrylic under an oil painting? 6 | What is the difference between alkyd medium and linseed…
Alla Prima Portrait Study in Oils
Watch this video on YouTube Alla Prima Portrait Study in Oils by Damian Osborne In this alla prima portrait study demo, I did an oil sketch of my sister in one sitting, using a limited palette. This quick oil portrait was done in my sketchbook, painting it wet-on-wet. I primed the paper with a basic white acrylic primer in order to paint my oil portrait studies. This is a great way to practice alla prima portrait painting in oils without the expense of canvas. Generally, an alla prima portrait sketch uses a limited palette (the Zorn Palette is…
How to Paint Flowers in Oils
Watch this video on YouTube How to Paint Flowers in Oils by Damian Osborne It’s time to paint flowers! I had these beautiful and exotic Amaryllis flowers from a house warming gift. They were blooming nicely. So I decided to paint them. The painting is a Christmas present for my mother-in-law. Flowers are easy to paint in oils since you can set them right up in front of you and paint them from life. If you’re new to oil painting, make sure you quickly read Beginning an Oil Painting – My 5 rules before you start. This is…
Final Stages of a Figurative Painting – Painting the Figure – Part 4
Watch this video on YouTube Final Stages of a Figurative Painting Painting the Figure – Part 4 by Damian Osborne Figurative painting has become the main ‘body’ of my work. This painting is part of my Siren Series, where I depict a female figure in isolation before the sea. If you missed the last blog, I started working on painting the skin tone. In this chapter, I complete this figurative painting with several stages of glazing. What are two different techniques for figurative oil painting? Artists who paint the figure in oils can usually be divided into…
Painting a Portrait with the Zorn Palette
Painting a Portrait with the Zorn Palette by Damian Osborne I gave a live portrait demonstration with the Zorn palette at the Blaauwberg Art Society in Cape Town. The model was my friend Rohan and the duration of the demo was about an hour and 20 minutes. It was quite intense giving a demo lesson to a room full of artists. Especially since I was trying to create a near enough likeness of Rohan in a really short time. And talk about my process while painting. And so, for my first ever live portrait demonstration, I learnt quite…