Digital vs. Oil Painting Techniques

[Cyrus]

I recently started taking a painting class at school where we are using oil paint. From what I've seen in digital painting, the general technique involves getting the general colors and shapes of the picture and then building up the forms with lights/darks. I've been trying something along those line in class, and it seems to result in problems such as too much paint on the canvas, excessive smudging, ect. It seems like it might be more than not having enough experience in the medium.

My question, should there be a real difference in the the techniques used in digital and (oil)painting or is building layers in oil a reasonable option? If not, what are some other techniques used in oil?

Thanks.

[ELDER]

Hang in there! The principles are the same but the medium is very different. Start by thinning the paint out by adding just a tiny amount of turpentine. Just enough to make the paint slightly more fluid. As you put down successive layers use less turpentine. Put down no more than a couple of brush strokes before loading your brush with fresh clean paint again. If you look at KCHEN(post #41) and fredflickstones(post#17) paintings on the first page of the life painting thread you will see great example of the process. Use a large brush and try to place 1 large stroke that represents an entire plane instead of a several smaller strokes. As you progress through the painting if you want to refine it you can add smaller strokes that transition between 2 larger tones. If you do this rather than blending with brush it will maintain the form better and keep that crisp look(minus the smudges). Maybe if you post some of your stuff I could be more help.

Good Luck!

[Cyrus]

Thanks for the advice, I've tried building up paint as you said, though I didn't think of starting with a wash and and going from there, I'll definetly give that a go.

I'll try to get my hands on something that I can put up here eventually.