thank you for sharing. I stopped using turpentine for health reasons. I am currently toning the canvas with acrylic paints and I have no problem. I use oil paints directly from the tube and when higher viscosity is needed I take only pure linseed oil. I have recently started my own channel, I hope you will have time to look at my works sometime.
It’s unmistakably your style, and it’d great but I can see that you are fighting the materials. I completely agree with you about brushes. In fact I would go as far as to say that cheap brushes are a false economy. The more expensive ones hold their shape and springiness (for want of a better word) for much longer - for oils or watercolours. They are also so much easier to control. For someone who is beginning to paint a poor quality brush could be a major barrier. Linen is expensive, and it can be tricky to stretch, but it is such a lovely surface to work on.
In general I agree. Though cheap synthetic brushes can be quite good, though they wear out quickly. And old worn out brushes can be useful sometimes too, for certain effects. But you wouldn't have to do a whole painting with them.
Interesting. I agree, brushes are where I would spend money if I was a beginner. The point I want to make though is that you can get very high quality professional brushes that don't cost much. I use brushes by rosemary and Co, and they are sold directly from the manufacturer rather than through shops meaning there is an immediate saving on the markup the shop would have to add to the end price. Great quality bristle brushes of a handful of different sizes and a few of each size can be got for a similar price as low quality brushes brought from a high street art store. They also last longer before needing to be replaced so they work out cheaper in a very short amount of time. I would suggest buying a few brushes at a time, when you can afford to, and you will very soon have a good collection of wonderful tools that I promise will end up having cost you less than buying lesser quality ones from a hobby shop. Even with the added cost of delivery when buying from a brush maker like rosemary. Also look after them. Find out about brush care and treat them like precious possessions and they can last a long time. Ask the customer care staff at rosemary or another brush maker of your choice. I can only comment on rosemary brushes as they are all I've used for ages now. I'm not connected with the company in any way, I'm just trying to pass on something that made a huge difference to me and recommend this company. I wish I had discovered them much earlier in my early years of painting. I would have saved myself money and had better tools too Thanks as always for the videos. They always have good solid information Cheers, Glenn
I don't paint with traditional media but I was recommended your videos as a way to improve my skills with my own painting videos. Either way, I enjoy your approach to painting.
While I don’t paint in oil, I paint in watercolor, I hear what you’re saying. And I agree, there is a *bare minimum* level to art supplies you should reach, (such as using watercolor paper, rather than printer paper) it almost doesn’t matter what you use beyond that, if and only if, you are familiar with your tools. I started on a simple palette that was student grade, cheap, and not western watercolors even though I was painting in a western style. After a full year of spending every day painting with this palette, I had used most of my common colors up, and they weren’t available open stock. I figured I had spent enough time on it that it was a hobby I wasn’t going to stop doing, so, I bought a new set of paints. These were expensive, lovely, artist grade paints. The best of the best... and I struggled with them. I was fighting my tools. And these were the most recommended supplies out there. That year of practice with MozArt watercolors was worth more than the quality of the paints.
Interesting, why were the more expensive colours harder to use? With oils I find the opposite to be true, once you start using better quality colours there is no turning back. That being said I do know pro artists who still use cheap colours. The thing I find people struggle a lot with at first, when they switch to more expensive materials with oil painting, is the canvas. Expensive oil primed linen is much less absorbent than cheap canvas so the paint slips around more, which takes some getting used to. But the fact that it gives the paint more movement on the surface, means you can do more with it. It also makes the brushwork more visible, as the paint remains of the surface rather than sinking in to it. I prefer a less absorbent surface, but then again there are many great painters who like more absorbent surfaces.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting the color was so brilliant that I struggled to control it down to the more drab tones needed for portraits and pet pictures, which is what I mostly do. Different watercolor brands handle very differently- much like the linen- I was mostly working with a brand that has tons of ox gal in it, and then went to one that had practically none. I’m not sure if oils use ox gal, but in watercolors, if it has that, the colors spread a ton over any wet surface. So if you lay wet color next to wet color, it mixes very well, generally speaking it mixes too well. It also seems to lay down a wash well. There’s nothing wrong with either one: having ox gal or not, but it makes a huge difference in the painting experience.
Very useful video! I am new to oils, and am a bit puzzled by the clean up and disposal of materials. Some as I understand it, are hazardous and should be disposed of carefully. How do you deal with oiled up rags, washing up in the sink, etc. Shedding light on this would help many I think.Would it not be possible to do a video about this in your series on art materials? Looking forward to seeing more.
Good question. I was planning to demonstrate the correct way to clean brushes in my video on brushes, but you've made me aware that there are other aspects of cleaning materials that I should probably cover too. Unfortunately, with used rags and paper towels covered with paint, there isn't anything you can do other than bin them. Also, you shouldn't leave paper towels soaked in solvent in your indoor rubbish bin for any length of time, but take them to your rubbish bins outside, because they can supposedly spontaneously combust and so are a fire hazard. Tho in all my years of working around art studios this has never happened. However, you can recycle your used solvent. So you should never through this away or throw it down the sink. But poor it into a large airtight jar. Once the jar is full, leave it to rest for a couple of weeks, and all the pigment will sink to the bottom leaving a clear liquid which you can re-use.
This may not be the most eloquent phrasing, but I will be succinct in my summary evaluation: you are a damn fine painter!!! Thank you Alex, for your invaluable insight!
Great video as always. I liked seeing your under drawing because it helped me understand the whole process better. Keep up the good work and thanks for teaching. I've leaned a lot from your channel.
Excellent presentation! Your instructional videos are among the very best I have seen. I'm looking forward to working with them as I attempt to get back into learning to paint.
As an artist myself , I have to say April has a great smile , and as she smiles with her eyes as well its hard to replicate this on a one dimensional surface. 🙂
This is what I call "Mastery Level" - even with non-pro materials, you have managed to do a better job than most people (me included, of course; except for the couple of haters here, as at 9th Feb 2020). Many thanks for a great video demo.
I read that Michelangelo could have painted magnificently, the Sistine Chapel, even if he used a mop and a bucket of mud. So Alex confirms this in this demo.
Thank you so much for doing this. A simple point, but it was an absolute revelation to see that the particular quality of the initial ground and of the blocking in of (e.g.) the hair is so related to how absorbant what you're painting onto is. So often I'll see an artist applying a wash or starting to block in some simple colour and will be confused why, even before doing any proper painting, their canvas looks so much nicer and richer than mine. I'm using canvas boards very similar to the ones you used in this demonstration and get pretty much identical results. Thank you for the help.
A fascinating experiment! It's great to know before I begin about the canvas - in this case - being so absorbent and not allowing your initial wash to be blended. You just saved me a lot of frustration. Thanks so much!
My dear, I want to tell you that you are a great teacher! I realized my dream of painting two weeks ago, when I watched a video of him teaching how to paint with 4 colors. That lit up my head ... I was lost with tubes and tubes of colors ... Now I try to find the tones with the three primary colors and just ... and I realize that my eye gets smarter, like learning chords just by listening to them ... I'm really thankful for your lessons. You are great! *Sorry my english from google tradutor
Very interesting, thank you. Excellent painting. I'm not sure what you mean by "moving the paint around", so it would be great if you could give an example sometime. I understood what you were saying about surface absorbency and how much easier it is to lift paint on an oil primed surface. But not sure why you'd want to "move" paint around...
I'm referring to how the paint slips around more on the surface. When I do the video on supports I'll see if I can film it but I think it will be difficult to see on camera. Have you tried painting on oil primed linen yet? If you do, you'll see what I mean.
There seems to be a slight milkiness/chalkiness that I've not seen in work shown in previous videos (I reviewed some just to make sure). I use predominantly cheap paints because I'm still working on the "physics" and need affordable mileage. This video is a good reminder that at some point frugality becomes false economy, i.e. when you want to sell something or have it last longer than a week.
Thanks Andre. I think the milkiness had more to with my mixing, rather than the paint itself, in that the tinting strength of the paint wasn't what I was used to. I think what I learned from this exercise is that it's about more about learning to control and get the most out of your materials, rather than having to use the finest materials. I recently attended a workshop with one of my favourite UK portrait painters, Andrew James. Tho he did use high quality paint, he normally paints on acrylic primed wooden boards and uses just 5 old hog brushes.
This is an outstanding video!! Alex makes such an excellent comment about how skill and practice mean more than materials. I would say that in any skill or sport or trade using quality equipment makes it easier to learn proper technique. So there is an argument to be made that an apprentice given good instruction using quality materials will have the easiest path to technical competence. But someone who has to struggle and strive to learn may have other advantages over someone who has an easy time of it.
great video Alex! you're right, a lot of students (such as myself) use this idea of expensive materials being a crutch, meaning I suddenly believe I will emerge into a Rembrandt as soon as I acquire these expensive tools. I have varied between surfaces, mediums and qualities of paint throughout my short experience of painting and I have forever felt that the reason I couldn't paint so well was that I didn't have a £50 brush. what I realized was that its important to understand the fundamentals of seeing and understanding lights, darks, planes, temperatures, structure, composition etc. just as you have discussed here and not necessarily just the pricey materials that make you understand these to speak. Quality of paint and brushes I guess can be built upon over time with the right amount of money. but if you want to paint and learn to paint and you're like me who comes from a poor background, you have to be resourceful and not rely upon high quality materials. ps. i know nothing, what i say now is only an interpretation of what you have addressed and from my lack of experience.
Well said. As I say in the video, materials are not magic ingredients that hold the secret of painting. The "secret" of painting is learning to see. I think the thing with materials is eventually finding surfaces and brushes etc. that you like and feel in control of. And they don't necessarily have to be the finest quality. If you watch my most resent video, an interview I did with British painter Andrew James, he paints on MDF primed with Acrylic Gesso and a few old hog brushes.
Are there any brushes you would recommend? I use graduate brushes myself so it was intresting to hear that's what you struggle with most, I've never used a higher end brush so it might be eye opening to try! Thank you for the amazing content
Ps. There is one very inexpensive thing that anyone can do that will improve their painting with almost zero cost. Draw more. Even the cheapest pencil of ballpoint pen on any paper you have at hand. Draw lots. It's the heart of the matter in my opinion Also look at the Web archive website. They have loads of amazing classic books on every aspect of art for free. These books have gone into the public domain so cost nothing. Some important books on painting and drawing, books by Solomon, Speed , East, the RA etc. A treasure trove of solid information all for free. That's my biggest best tip that at no cost will teach you so so much Let me know what you think
Grazie tantissimo for tour precious and very professionale teaching. Sorry because they are not in italian and google subtitles not always are so good, so I understand not entirely.
Your videos have been very helpful Alex. Thank you very much! As an amateur artist I use lots of student grade oil paint and support, until now it has not crossed my mind how materials can affect process and result of the painting. Would be really grateful if you could make a video on how you prime your canvas, so that I can try the surface you are used to work on. Btw what's your preferred brand of oil paint? MH, I guess? Many thanks. :)
I will be doing a video on preparing canvas and other supports. And yes I do use MH, mainly because its stocked in more places here in the UK. But there's also Old Holland and I always used to buy the sennelier yellow ochre until MH brought out his French Yellow Ochre. I find his normal yellow ochre too green. With paint good quality paint, the difference in quality between different manufacturers is negligible, they are all just as good as each other, but the colours themselves differ slightly sometimes. So I think it depends on which actual colours you prefer.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting Thank you ever so much Alex for the prompt reply and advice. You are an amazing guy! I Really look forward to your future videos. Although I'm not based in London, I hope I will have the pleasure to meet you in person one day. :D
Ok. If you want to work "Alla Prima" or directly in oil paint, how most painters have used oils since the late 19th early 20th Century, then mass drawing, simplifying the complicated appearance of your subject into larger underlying shapes before you work on the details, is the most efficient way to use oil paint. I believe there is also a certain scientific truth to this method, as it corresponds to how our vision works. I talk about it in a little more detail here: alextzavaras.com/teaching/method/
Really insightful, thanks. This kind of info would take ages to work out yourself! Would love to see more. Would you consider doing a back to back low vs pro quality?
Thanks Robert. I did intend to another painting of this model with the materials I normally use, but this was done just before the first lockdown so all of that git in the way. If you watch any of the other demos on this channel they've all been done with the professional quality materials I normally use. I've also done a whole series of videos on materials: th-cam.com/play/PL55WW9WXRbt-BYo7Wa6eLaxVFMUfwZ1L2.html
I will definitely get around to it, unfortunately lockdown has meant it will take a little longer to get the materials I need. Also, I actually live quite far from my studio at the moment. So I'm not able to go there very often.
Fantastic, Alex. Couldn't you upload this one, in full length, to your Patreon page, perhaps? It doesn't need audio or anything, just the normal speed, I feel this portrait is truly useful.
Very interesting demo. Thank you for doing it. I have told my students to get some linen panels that are oil primed and sold through a discount art supply company here in the US. They can get something like a 10 pack of 9x12 panels for around $15.00. I tellthen to get brushes made by Silver brush company as they are not much more than cheap oil brushes and I suggest professional grade oils and I limit their colors (Zorn palette) then move to a semi Zorn of a warm and cool of each of the three colors. I give them subsitutes for cadmium colors to cut expense. My point is simplify, but use professional grade materials so they do not have to struggle with their materials as leant=ring to paint well is hard enough. This way they only have to focuse on drawing, values and mixing color to begin with. There material cost is less than $50 to get started.
Thank you John, glad you like this video. That's very good advice. Your students are lucky to be able to find oil primed linen so cheaply. The cheapest way to get oil primed linen supports I know of is to make your own. Most of my students still paint on acrylic gesso surfaces, but I tell them to add an extra coat or two of gesso, so, their canvases aren't quite so absorbent. My next video is going to be on supports. With brushes yes, I reckon it's best to start with a few good quality brushes, rather than cheaper brushes as they can be such a struggle to use. With paint I feel the main thing is that students learn to use plenty of it, as most beginners never use enough. Back when I started, my teacher actually encouraged us to use cheaper paint, rather than be stingy with expensive colours. Though I personally reckon larger 200-250ml tubes of better quality series 1 colours are still fairly cheap anyway. It's only series 5 colours cadmiums, cobalt blue, viridian etc. that are prohibitively expensive for beginners. What substitutes do you recommend?
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting The oil primed linen panels I tell them to get are Centurion OP DLX. They can be ordered from Jerry's Artarama (www.jerrysartarama.com/) and they do ship internationally. I really hope this helps. I even use these panels for painting landscapes on location.
Using student grade paint does have it's advantages especially getting a student to use more paint. That said the lack of pigment in them also creates a bit of a problem in mixing some colors I have found. So I had my students stay away from the cadmiums, cobalts and in place of viridian, I recommended Holbein Viridian Hue. I also use it on location and in studio. It looks like thalo green, but it is nowhere as powerful yet loaded with pigment. It acts like veridian in mixtures and is a very pure color even with white added. A typical limited palette for students I suggest Winsor Red or Rembrandt Permanent Red Medium, Utrecht Cadmium Free Yellow (works beautifully) or Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine blue and I really like Utrecht Titanium White. Another, even less expensive is Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Utrecht Cadmium Free Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber. A little experimentation and almost anycolor imaginable short of some modern synthetic colors, can be made with this combination. Throw in a tube of Holbein Viridian Hue and you have 95% of subjects covered.
That is acceptable,I think sometimes we feel we can do better so we are a little hard on ourselves, that is awesome....my father asks me ,how can you paint that, when I show him my art work...and he say,I can't even do a straight line,jajaja.....but anyways,thank you for sharing your knowledge, God bless you brother man.......all the way from Long Beach California.....peace be with you.
Hi Alex. Are you planning on covering types of background. I use the cheap canvas panels and wonder whether it is worth upgrading to canvas roll to make my own. However, I am confused with grades and weights etc. As it is expensive stuff do you have any recommendations. Thanks.
This is a really good video. Answering many questions we improver's want to know. Brushes - couldn't disagree, Rosemary is my place to go. However, I can't get the thought that the substrate is the most important issue. Cheap canvas is a waste of money. How many of us have looked at our work the following day only to see it changed beyond recognition! MDF properly (sealed?) and primed works OK but thought I'd try Oil paper - Arches. Good but I'm still not sure. What, and I suspect many of us want is a surface that is stable and does not change (sink) overnight, I have asked many artists but never seem to get a clear answer. Accept gessod quality linen. I shy away from the cost. Just a thought Alex. Oh! by the way are you doing more patreon work soon?
I'm not a fan of Arches. I find it really absorbent, I like to be able to wipe back which you can't do with arches, tho the end result doesn't look absorbent in any way. For me, the most cost effective way of painting on oil primed linen is to buy raw linen, then stretch it and prime it yourself. I'm planning on doing a video on preparing your own supports as part of this material series. And yes, as far as my Patreon channel goes, right now I'm working on part 4 of the Zorn Palette demo. Then I'm next going to turn my mass drawing course into a series of video tutorials.
gerrysart additional coats of gesso will smooth out a rougher cotton canvas to close to the tighter weave of linen. Of course a hardboard panel or even the aluminum panels now available are even more stable.
Do you have any book recommendations for self teaching art? Im trying to paint and draw but i need to know more about the colors, techniques, more..thank you in advance
Yes Indeed. There are quite a few good books, but my favourites are the books by Harold Speed and "Alla Prima" by Richard Schmid. I made an earlier video about them: th-cam.com/video/UbN0DkSSggQ/w-d-xo.html Also, if you're interested in landscape painting, then definitely read John F. Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting.
I would advice any beginer to buy Gesso. It s cheap, and when you apply 2 or 3 coats on a bad canvas then you work on a great surface. Also you can work many times on the same canvas covering your last paint with gesso, it s a good way to practice instead of buying tons of canvas.
Thank you Jean Luc, I agree completely. I still use gesso to recycle old canvas. As I find going over old canvases with oil primer makes then too slick. I've just made a video on brushes and my next video will be on painting surfaces, stretching canvas etc. I will tell people the first thing they need to do is buy some gesso, to recycle their old canvases and improve cheap ones.
For me, that would've been excellent. For you, probably not. It is definitely a good example of having a bad support. I sell a few paintings but not many and can't really afford the professional grade paints. I do have enough pro grade to make up a limited pallette. I watch those wet on wet landscape painters put out golf ball sized blobs on a pallete....8 or 10 blobs. I wonder how they afford it. There must be $50-$100 worth of paint. Not me. I do buy the highest quality I can afford. This video is very informative. Thank you
Have you seen my other videos on oil paints? I mention a few cheaper less expensive pigments to substitute for the more expensive colours: th-cam.com/video/J09PLnBtUMo/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/azzCDEr0iY8/w-d-xo.html
Alex Your technique alone is strong enough to allow you to paint with mustard and ketchup , and it would still be great. In this case it would have maybe taken longer but no worry's . I know what you mean about the student grade oils . They smell like fish oil and I wouldn't even use it for glazing lol. But yeah good work.
Brushes are pretty important. More important than the paint itself I would say. The one you used that lost like half its hair on the first wash is nightmare inducing.
I started off with cheap material which only caused me frustration! When your learning it’s best to start off with the best materials so ur not fighting against crappy useless products & you can focus your attention on learning your craft. If u buy these cheap products it can really discourage you to the point of giving up. It is Day and Night between quality products & the cheap.
The word "style" also refers to things other than technique. For example, a Salvador Dali painting might have been made with a very similar technique and method of painting and brushwork as the one you are using here but it would be said to be in a different style, the style of Surrealism instead of Realism. So it seems like the word style refers to subject matter just as much as technique. Visual art is an almost exclusively visual thing, so I think it's inherently difficult to use words and verbal language to categorize every little detail about it exactly with words. Great painting here. You proved someone can paint very accurately even with inexpensive materials, although it must be done with more effort.
My philosophy is that people who want to be serious about art should get high quality materials even when they are beginners BUT keep it very minimal -- extremely limited palette, few brushes, non-toxic solvent (like artists grade citrus solvent). To me, the substrate isn't as important. Oil primed paper or primed masonite rather than stretched canvas, especially for doing studies. I really enjoy your channel, I always learn so much from you!
Agreed. Tho some painters prefer more absorbent canvases. I think it's important to find surfaces that you like. I recommend having ago at making your own and experimenting a little. I'll eventually get around to making a video on making canvases.
Expensive materials will make your job much easier IF you know what you're doing. It's better to toil around with the cheap stuff in the begining since you'll learn more on the way. If you don't know what you're doing expensive materials don't mean squat.
With oil paint some have good results with hog bristle brushes for the drawing and block in, maybe modeling stage too and sable or synthetic for details. The bristle brushes are handy to move paint around during the initial stages.
thank you for sharing. I stopped using turpentine for health reasons. I am currently toning the canvas with acrylic paints and I have no problem. I use oil paints directly from the tube and when higher viscosity is needed I take only pure linseed oil. I have recently started my own channel, I hope you will have time to look at my works sometime.
It’s unmistakably your style, and it’d great but I can see that you are fighting the materials. I completely agree with you about brushes. In fact I would go as far as to say that cheap brushes are a false economy. The more expensive ones hold their shape and springiness (for want of a better word) for much longer - for oils or watercolours. They are also so much easier to control. For someone who is beginning to paint a poor quality brush could be a major barrier. Linen is expensive, and it can be tricky to stretch, but it is such a lovely surface to work on.
In general I agree. Though cheap synthetic brushes can be quite good, though they wear out quickly. And old worn out brushes can be useful sometimes too, for certain effects. But you wouldn't have to do a whole painting with them.
Interesting. I agree, brushes are where I would spend money if I was a beginner. The point I want to make though is that you can get very high quality professional brushes that don't cost much. I use brushes by rosemary and Co, and they are sold directly from the manufacturer rather than through shops meaning there is an immediate saving on the markup the shop would have to add to the end price. Great quality bristle brushes of a handful of different sizes and a few of each size can be got for a similar price as low quality brushes brought from a high street art store. They also last longer before needing to be replaced so they work out cheaper in a very short amount of time. I would suggest buying a few brushes at a time, when you can afford to, and you will very soon have a good collection of wonderful tools that I promise will end up having cost you less than buying lesser quality ones from a hobby shop. Even with the added cost of delivery when buying from a brush maker like rosemary. Also look after them. Find out about brush care and treat them like precious possessions and they can last a long time. Ask the customer care staff at rosemary or another brush maker of your choice. I can only comment on rosemary brushes as they are all I've used for ages now.
I'm not connected with the company in any way, I'm just trying to pass on something that made a huge difference to me and recommend this company. I wish I had discovered them much earlier in my early years of painting. I would have saved myself money and had better tools too
Thanks as always for the videos. They always have good solid information
Cheers, Glenn
Great job Alex 👏🏻 You show your serious art training background even if using low quality materials.
I don't paint with traditional media but I was recommended your videos as a way to improve my skills with my own painting videos. Either way, I enjoy your approach to painting.
Great video Man. I know now diferencie btwn phisics and chemistry of art. look forward to your next videos. Hi from Mexico.
While I don’t paint in oil, I paint in watercolor, I hear what you’re saying. And I agree, there is a *bare minimum* level to art supplies you should reach, (such as using watercolor paper, rather than printer paper) it almost doesn’t matter what you use beyond that, if and only if, you are familiar with your tools. I started on a simple palette that was student grade, cheap, and not western watercolors even though I was painting in a western style. After a full year of spending every day painting with this palette, I had used most of my common colors up, and they weren’t available open stock. I figured I had spent enough time on it that it was a hobby I wasn’t going to stop doing, so, I bought a new set of paints. These were expensive, lovely, artist grade paints. The best of the best... and I struggled with them. I was fighting my tools. And these were the most recommended supplies out there. That year of practice with MozArt watercolors was worth more than the quality of the paints.
Interesting, why were the more expensive colours harder to use? With oils I find the opposite to be true, once you start using better quality colours there is no turning back. That being said I do know pro artists who still use cheap colours. The thing I find people struggle a lot with at first, when they switch to more expensive materials with oil painting, is the canvas. Expensive oil primed linen is much less absorbent than cheap canvas so the paint slips around more, which takes some getting used to. But the fact that it gives the paint more movement on the surface, means you can do more with it. It also makes the brushwork more visible, as the paint remains of the surface rather than sinking in to it. I prefer a less absorbent surface, but then again there are many great painters who like more absorbent surfaces.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting the color was so brilliant that I struggled to control it down to the more drab tones needed for portraits and pet pictures, which is what I mostly do. Different watercolor brands handle very differently- much like the linen- I was mostly working with a brand that has tons of ox gal in it, and then went to one that had practically none. I’m not sure if oils use ox gal, but in watercolors, if it has that, the colors spread a ton over any wet surface. So if you lay wet color next to wet color, it mixes very well, generally speaking it mixes too well. It also seems to lay down a wash well. There’s nothing wrong with either one: having ox gal or not, but it makes a huge difference in the painting experience.
Very useful video! I am new to oils, and am a bit puzzled by the clean up and disposal of materials. Some as I understand it, are hazardous and should be disposed of carefully. How do you deal with oiled up rags, washing up in the sink, etc. Shedding light on this would help many I think.Would it not be possible to do a video about this in your series on art materials? Looking forward to seeing more.
Good question. I was planning to demonstrate the correct way to clean brushes in my video on brushes, but you've made me aware that there are other aspects of cleaning materials that I should probably cover too. Unfortunately, with used rags and paper towels covered with paint, there isn't anything you can do other than bin them. Also, you shouldn't leave paper towels soaked in solvent in your indoor rubbish bin for any length of time, but take them to your rubbish bins outside, because they can supposedly spontaneously combust and so are a fire hazard. Tho in all my years of working around art studios this has never happened.
However, you can recycle your used solvent. So you should never through this away or throw it down the sink. But poor it into a large airtight jar. Once the jar is full, leave it to rest for a couple of weeks, and all the pigment will sink to the bottom leaving a clear liquid which you can re-use.
Thank you for your reply!
This may not be the most eloquent phrasing, but I will be succinct in my summary evaluation: you are a damn fine painter!!! Thank you Alex, for your invaluable insight!
You just have to work with what you have, it will make you a stronger artist, its good to push yourself
Great video as always. I liked seeing your under drawing because it helped me understand the whole process better. Keep up the good work and thanks for teaching. I've leaned a lot from your channel.
I like the way you paint fromsimple shapes to mastery
I always love what you do. So exciting to see your new videos . Thank you for sharing 🥰🥰
Excellent presentation! Your instructional videos are among the very best I have seen. I'm looking forward to working with them as I attempt to get back into learning to paint.
Thank you very much Mathew!
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting You are more than welcome. I really appreciate what you are doing!
I intend to 'put my money where my mouth is', when I have begun to get something done, and am in shape for more.
Great idea thanks Alex look forward to the next one
As an artist myself , I have to say April has a great smile , and as she smiles with her eyes as well its hard to replicate this on a one dimensional surface. 🙂
This is what I call "Mastery Level" - even with non-pro materials, you have managed to do a better job than most people (me included, of course; except for the couple of haters here, as at 9th Feb 2020).
Many thanks for a great video demo.
I read that Michelangelo could have painted magnificently, the Sistine Chapel, even if he used a mop and a bucket of mud. So Alex confirms this in this demo.
That's a lovely portrait and a great likeness!
Love seeing what other artists have in their studio stashes
as you used a beginner set for this tutorial - will you do a sequel with a studio tour of your usual kit to compare?
@@LizGridleyArtist I'm going to be doing 4 more videos on my usual kit
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting Awesome, looking forward to them!
Thanks again for being very serious in sharing your knowledge.
Thank you so much for doing this. A simple point, but it was an absolute revelation to see that the particular quality of the initial ground and of the blocking in of (e.g.) the hair is so related to how absorbant what you're painting onto is.
So often I'll see an artist applying a wash or starting to block in some simple colour and will be confused why, even before doing any proper painting, their canvas looks so much nicer and richer than mine. I'm using canvas boards very similar to the ones you used in this demonstration and get pretty much identical results. Thank you for the help.
Yes Indeed. So much to do with the appearance of an artist's work, what we associate with their technique, has to do with the materials that they use.
I am so pleased and thankful to be gleaning from your super vast knowledge! Thank you so much!
You're welcome Delene!
Your advice is spot on.
Best art channel I ve seen.
Thank you!
A fascinating experiment! It's great to know before I begin about the canvas - in this case - being so absorbent and not allowing your initial wash to be blended. You just saved me a lot of frustration. Thanks so much!
Thank you !
My dear, I want to tell you that you are a great teacher! I realized my dream of painting two weeks ago, when I watched a video of him teaching how to paint with 4 colors. That lit up my head ... I was lost with tubes and tubes of colors ... Now I try to find the tones with the three primary colors and just ... and I realize that my eye gets smarter, like learning chords just by listening to them ... I'm really thankful for your lessons. You are great!
*Sorry my english from google tradutor
Thank you very much! All the best with your painting
Thank you Alex.... Its a great video... Very good informations... 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful. Have you watched any of my other videos on Art materials?
Good job - on an alla prima - as you said pushing the paint around.
Very interesting, thank you. Excellent painting. I'm not sure what you mean by "moving the paint around", so it would be great if you could give an example sometime. I understood what you were saying about surface absorbency and how much easier it is to lift paint on an oil primed surface. But not sure why you'd want to "move" paint around...
I'm referring to how the paint slips around more on the surface. When I do the video on supports I'll see if I can film it but I think it will be difficult to see on camera. Have you tried painting on oil primed linen yet? If you do, you'll see what I mean.
You did great even with all the challenges.
There seems to be a slight milkiness/chalkiness that I've not seen in work shown in previous videos (I reviewed some just to make sure). I use predominantly cheap paints because I'm still working on the "physics" and need affordable mileage. This video is a good reminder that at some point frugality becomes false economy, i.e. when you want to sell something or have it last longer than a week.
Thanks Andre. I think the milkiness had more to with my mixing, rather than the paint itself, in that the tinting strength of the paint wasn't what I was used to. I think what I learned from this exercise is that it's about more about learning to control and get the most out of your materials, rather than having to use the finest materials. I recently attended a workshop with one of my favourite UK portrait painters, Andrew James. Tho he did use high quality paint, he normally paints on acrylic primed wooden boards and uses just 5 old hog brushes.
This is an outstanding video!! Alex makes such an excellent comment about how skill and practice mean more than materials. I would say that in any skill or sport or trade using quality equipment makes it easier to learn proper technique. So there is an argument to be made that an apprentice given good instruction using quality materials will have the easiest path to technical competence. But someone who has to struggle and strive to learn may have other advantages over someone who has an easy time of it.
Well said
great video Alex! you're right, a lot of students (such as myself) use this idea of expensive materials being a crutch, meaning I suddenly believe I will emerge into a Rembrandt as soon as I acquire these expensive tools. I have varied between surfaces, mediums and qualities of paint throughout my short experience of painting and I have forever felt that the reason I couldn't paint so well was that I didn't have a £50 brush. what I realized was that its important to understand the fundamentals of seeing and understanding lights, darks, planes, temperatures, structure, composition etc. just as you have discussed here and not necessarily just the pricey materials that make you understand these to speak. Quality of paint and brushes I guess can be built upon over time with the right amount of money. but if you want to paint and learn to paint and you're like me who comes from a poor background, you have to be resourceful and not rely upon high quality materials. ps. i know nothing, what i say now is only an interpretation of what you have addressed and from my lack of experience.
Well said. As I say in the video, materials are not magic ingredients that hold the secret of painting. The "secret" of painting is learning to see. I think the thing with materials is eventually finding surfaces and brushes etc. that you like and feel in control of. And they don't necessarily have to be the finest quality. If you watch my most resent video, an interview I did with British painter Andrew James, he paints on MDF primed with Acrylic Gesso and a few old hog brushes.
Are there any brushes you would recommend? I use graduate brushes myself so it was intresting to hear that's what you struggle with most, I've never used a higher end brush so it might be eye opening to try! Thank you for the amazing content
That was very helpful.
Beautiful painting
Ps. There is one very inexpensive thing that anyone can do that will improve their painting with almost zero cost. Draw more. Even the cheapest pencil of ballpoint pen on any paper you have at hand. Draw lots. It's the heart of the matter in my opinion
Also look at the Web archive website. They have loads of amazing classic books on every aspect of art for free. These books have gone into the public domain so cost nothing. Some important books on painting and drawing, books by Solomon, Speed , East, the RA etc. A treasure trove of solid information all for free. That's my biggest best tip that at no cost will teach you so so much
Let me know what you think
You are a very good painter...well done
Thank you, Alex, for another great teaching vid! You could’ve been using melted gummy bears and a tooth brush and it would still look amazing!
Excellent !
Grazie tantissimo for tour precious and very professionale teaching. Sorry because they are not in italian and google subtitles not always are so good, so I understand not entirely.
Thank you very much!
Your videos have been very helpful Alex. Thank you very much! As an amateur artist I use lots of student grade oil paint and support, until now it has not crossed my mind how materials can affect process and result of the painting. Would be really grateful if you could make a video on how you prime your canvas, so that I can try the surface you are used to work on. Btw what's your preferred brand of oil paint? MH, I guess? Many thanks. :)
I will be doing a video on preparing canvas and other supports. And yes I do use MH, mainly because its stocked in more places here in the UK. But there's also Old Holland and I always used to buy the sennelier yellow ochre until MH brought out his French Yellow Ochre. I find his normal yellow ochre too green. With paint good quality paint, the difference in quality between different manufacturers is negligible, they are all just as good as each other, but the colours themselves differ slightly sometimes. So I think it depends on which actual colours you prefer.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting Thank you ever so much Alex for the prompt reply and advice. You are an amazing guy! I Really look forward to your future videos. Although I'm not based in London, I hope I will have the pleasure to meet you in person one day. :D
I’d like you to talk specifically about what brushes you recommend and what techniques you use with them.
Hey Alex, I was wondering what is the benefit of mass drawing
Ok. If you want to work "Alla Prima" or directly in oil paint, how most painters have used oils since the late 19th early 20th Century, then mass drawing, simplifying the complicated appearance of your subject into larger underlying shapes before you work on the details, is the most efficient way to use oil paint. I believe there is also a certain scientific truth to this method, as it corresponds to how our vision works. I talk about it in a little more detail here:
alextzavaras.com/teaching/method/
Really insightful, thanks. This kind of info would take ages to work out yourself! Would love to see more. Would you consider doing a back to back low vs pro quality?
Thanks Robert. I did intend to another painting of this model with the materials I normally use, but this was done just before the first lockdown so all of that git in the way. If you watch any of the other demos on this channel they've all been done with the professional quality materials I normally use. I've also done a whole series of videos on materials:
th-cam.com/play/PL55WW9WXRbt-BYo7Wa6eLaxVFMUfwZ1L2.html
Very interesting! I'd love to know how you prepare panels by yourself :)
I will definitely get around to it, unfortunately lockdown has meant it will take a little longer to get the materials I need. Also, I actually live quite far from my studio at the moment. So I'm not able to go there very often.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting ok thank you so much. We'll be waiting for it 😊
Fantastic, Alex. Couldn't you upload this one, in full length, to your Patreon page, perhaps? It doesn't need audio or anything, just the normal speed, I feel this portrait is truly useful.
I think it helps a lot
when I draw detailed pictures. thanks~👍
Very interesting demo. Thank you for doing it. I have told my students to get some linen panels that are oil primed and sold through a discount art supply company here in the US. They can get something like a 10 pack of 9x12 panels for around $15.00. I tellthen to get brushes made by Silver brush company as they are not much more than cheap oil brushes and I suggest professional grade oils and I limit their colors (Zorn palette) then move to a semi Zorn of a warm and cool of each of the three colors. I give them subsitutes for cadmium colors to cut expense. My point is simplify, but use professional grade materials so they do not have to struggle with their materials as leant=ring to paint well is hard enough. This way they only have to focuse on drawing, values and mixing color to begin with. There material cost is less than $50 to get started.
Thank you John, glad you like this video.
That's very good advice. Your students are lucky to be able to find oil primed linen so cheaply. The cheapest way to get oil primed linen supports I know of is to make your own. Most of my students still paint on acrylic gesso surfaces, but I tell them to add an extra coat or two of gesso, so, their canvases aren't quite so absorbent. My next video is going to be on supports.
With brushes yes, I reckon it's best to start with a few good quality brushes, rather than cheaper brushes as they can be such a struggle to use. With paint I feel the main thing is that students learn to use plenty of it, as most beginners never use enough. Back when I started, my teacher actually encouraged us to use cheaper paint, rather than be stingy with expensive colours. Though I personally reckon larger 200-250ml tubes of better quality series 1 colours are still fairly cheap anyway. It's only series 5 colours cadmiums, cobalt blue, viridian etc. that are prohibitively expensive for beginners. What substitutes do you recommend?
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting The oil primed linen panels I tell them to get are Centurion OP DLX. They can be ordered from Jerry's Artarama (www.jerrysartarama.com/) and they do ship internationally. I really hope this helps. I even use these panels for painting landscapes on location.
Using student grade paint does have it's advantages especially getting a student to use more paint. That said the lack of pigment in them also creates a bit of a problem in mixing some colors I have found. So I had my students stay away from the cadmiums, cobalts and in place of viridian, I recommended Holbein Viridian Hue. I also use it on location and in studio. It looks like thalo green, but it is nowhere as powerful yet loaded with pigment. It acts like veridian in mixtures and is a very pure color even with white added. A typical limited palette for students I suggest Winsor Red or Rembrandt Permanent Red Medium, Utrecht Cadmium Free Yellow (works beautifully) or Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine blue and I really like Utrecht Titanium White. Another, even less expensive is Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Utrecht Cadmium Free Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber. A little experimentation and almost anycolor imaginable short of some modern synthetic colors, can be made with this combination. Throw in a tube of Holbein Viridian Hue and you have 95% of subjects covered.
@@johncox3083 Thank you very much for the suggestions
Thank you Alex. Ah yes of the two artists traps, materials and methods, I think materials is my worst.
This is superb.
Thanks!
That is acceptable,I think sometimes we feel we can do better so we are a little hard on ourselves, that is awesome....my father asks me ,how can you paint that, when I show him my art work...and he say,I can't even do a straight line,jajaja.....but anyways,thank you for sharing your knowledge, God bless you brother man.......all the way from Long Beach California.....peace be with you.
Thank you. You too Francisco.
Really interesting. The sound quality meant that I had to watch with headphones plugged in.
Hi Alex. Are you planning on covering types of background. I use the cheap canvas panels and wonder whether it is worth upgrading to canvas roll to make my own. However, I am confused with grades and weights etc. As it is expensive stuff do you have any recommendations. Thanks.
Yes I will be doing a video on painting surfaces as part of the material series
Very informative video.
Thank you Todd! Glad it was helpful.
This is a really good video. Answering many questions we improver's want to know. Brushes - couldn't disagree, Rosemary is my place to go. However, I can't get the thought that the substrate is the most important issue. Cheap canvas is a waste of money. How many of us have looked at our work the following day only to see it changed beyond recognition! MDF properly (sealed?) and primed works OK but thought I'd try Oil paper - Arches. Good but I'm still not sure. What, and I suspect many of us want is a surface that is stable and does not change (sink) overnight, I have asked many artists but never seem to get a clear answer. Accept gessod quality linen. I shy away from the cost. Just a thought Alex. Oh! by the way are you doing more patreon work soon?
I'm not a fan of Arches. I find it really absorbent, I like to be able to wipe back which you can't do with arches, tho the end result doesn't look absorbent in any way. For me, the most cost effective way of painting on oil primed linen is to buy raw linen, then stretch it and prime it yourself. I'm planning on doing a video on preparing your own supports as part of this material series.
And yes, as far as my Patreon channel goes, right now I'm working on part 4 of the Zorn Palette demo. Then I'm next going to turn my mass drawing course into a series of video tutorials.
Many thanks Alex. Food for thought. Good to hear about your work on Parteon I'm signing up now. Gerry.
gerrysart additional coats of gesso will smooth out a rougher cotton canvas to close to the tighter weave of linen. Of course a hardboard panel or even the aluminum panels now available are even more stable.
Do you have any book recommendations for self teaching art? Im trying to paint and draw but i need to know more about the colors, techniques, more..thank you in advance
Yes Indeed. There are quite a few good books, but my favourites are the books by Harold Speed and "Alla Prima" by Richard Schmid. I made an earlier video about them:
th-cam.com/video/UbN0DkSSggQ/w-d-xo.html
Also, if you're interested in landscape painting, then definitely read John F. Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting thank you!
Brilliant. 😁🙏🎄
Thank You!
I think it’s excellent
Thank you Vincent!
I would advice any beginer to buy Gesso. It s cheap, and when you apply 2 or 3 coats on a bad canvas then you work on a great surface. Also you can work many times on the same canvas covering your last paint with gesso, it s a good way to practice instead of buying tons of canvas.
Thank you Jean Luc, I agree completely. I still use gesso to recycle old canvas. As I find going over old canvases with oil primer makes then too slick. I've just made a video on brushes and my next video will be on painting surfaces, stretching canvas etc. I will tell people the first thing they need to do is buy some gesso, to recycle their old canvases and improve cheap ones.
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting great, can't stand to watch this video, you're doing great job, very good advices, thank you Alex.
For me, that would've been excellent. For you, probably not. It is definitely a good example of having a bad support. I sell a few paintings but not many and can't really afford the professional grade paints. I do have enough pro grade to make up a limited pallette. I watch those wet on wet landscape painters put out golf ball sized blobs on a pallete....8 or 10 blobs. I wonder how they afford it. There must be $50-$100 worth of paint. Not me. I do buy the highest quality I can afford. This video is very informative. Thank you
Have you seen my other videos on oil paints? I mention a few cheaper less expensive pigments to substitute for the more expensive colours:
th-cam.com/video/J09PLnBtUMo/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/azzCDEr0iY8/w-d-xo.html
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting I will check it out now. Thanks for the link.
Alex Your technique alone is strong enough to allow you to paint with mustard and ketchup , and it would still be great. In this case it would have maybe taken longer but no worry's . I know what you mean about the student grade oils . They smell like fish oil and I wouldn't even use it for glazing lol. But yeah good work.
Thanks Duan!
@@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting 🙂👍
That's the first time i've ever seen a tonalist portrait. A bit muted, but very well done.
Brushes are pretty important. More important than the paint itself I would say. The one you used that lost like half its hair on the first wash is nightmare inducing.
I started off with cheap material which only caused me frustration! When your learning it’s best to start off with the best materials so ur not fighting against crappy useless products & you can focus your attention on learning your craft. If u buy these cheap products it can really discourage you to the point of giving up. It is Day and Night between quality products & the cheap.
Following!!!
The word "style" also refers to things other than technique. For example, a Salvador Dali painting might have been made with a very similar technique and method of painting and brushwork as the one you are using here but it would be said to be in a different style, the style of Surrealism instead of Realism. So it seems like the word style refers to subject matter just as much as technique.
Visual art is an almost exclusively visual thing, so I think it's inherently difficult to use words and verbal language to categorize every little detail about it exactly with words.
Great painting here. You proved someone can paint very accurately even with inexpensive materials, although it must be done with more effort.
You really made her look good. More like Scarlet Johannson.
My philosophy is that people who want to be serious about art should get high quality materials even when they are beginners BUT keep it very minimal -- extremely limited palette, few brushes, non-toxic solvent (like artists grade citrus solvent). To me, the substrate isn't as important. Oil primed paper or primed masonite rather than stretched canvas, especially for doing studies. I really enjoy your channel, I always learn so much from you!
After painting on linen canvas I can't stand those cheapo cotton ones. It's like the difference between ice skating and trudging through mud.
Agreed. Tho some painters prefer more absorbent canvases. I think it's important to find surfaces that you like. I recommend having ago at making your own and experimenting a little. I'll eventually get around to making a video on making canvases.
I waiting for new video bro.
naser❤iran🌹🇮🇷😊👌
you're awesome
Expensive materials will make your job much easier IF you know what you're doing. It's better to toil around with the cheap stuff in the begining since you'll learn more on the way. If you don't know what you're doing expensive materials don't mean squat.
The thumbnail looks like Elyse from funhaus
You think that looks bad? That’s an piece or art!
This is saying a lot and not really giving any info on good brushes😔
The video on brushes is coming. There's too much info on materials to cover in just one video
With oil paint some have good results with hog bristle brushes for the drawing and block in, maybe modeling stage too and sable or synthetic for details. The bristle brushes are handy to move paint around during the initial stages.
I mean yeah, the painting looks very low quality. Like blah
I love your videos! You give me so much hope and I've learnt so much. You're an art hero
Alex I love you man