Daily Painting improvement plan - J D Harford - Now with oils

**jharford** · August 27th, 2006, 01:52 PM

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by my sketchbook.
I became interested in art years ago, when i was a small boy , as many others of you. Now i work as a modeler 3d artist in the games industry. The power of the computer is obvious, but I wanted to step away and back to traditional painting I come.
Calling inspiration from ron lemen, duane keiser, david darrow, seedling, and other daily painters. Along with many of the obvious masters.

**Seedling** · August 27th, 2006, 02:35 PM

Drawing from life is the best possible way to learn. why not try a painting-a-day, like I've been doing with my sketchbook? It would be fun to have some company. :-)

Cheers!

**jharford** · August 27th, 2006, 05:13 PM

here is another

any crit would be great, whatever it is.
I have trouble seeing what color it is in the shader, just under the object, where it is on the white paper.
The white paper is lit by incandescent normal household lightbulb. I should set up an area specifically for this with white lighting, and a proper colors backdrop.
*things to do list*
Set that up

In the reflection area on the top, where the shiny plastic glaze wrapping reflects the environtment ( white/cream walls ), should i paint cream into the reflection area?.

I try to but it looks messy.. pershap i have too much cream paint on the brush, i'm not sure how to paint it and blend it.. ( i try and blend everything, I'd like to be looser and make larger more confident strokes ).
Ok onto the next object.

Should i move onto larger more detailed objects?,. or make more smaller studies like these until i grasp the lighting shading and oils and colors?

Thanks

**Seedling** · August 27th, 2006, 10:01 PM

Hmm, green paper with scribbles on it folded around a rectangular object? Looks like a good still-life to me!

Should you paint a particular color? I can’t see your object in real-life, so I can’t really tell you. If it is a reflective plastic surface, than your guess is probably correct. Trust your eyes, take some risks, experiment. Heck, since you are working on the computer, make five copies side-by-side and slap a different color on each, just to see what happens.

I’m a fan of small, simple objects. But what’s right for you may be different. Try a variety of things and see what feels the most fun and the most educational.

Above all, keep going! Woot! :-)

**jharford** · August 29th, 2006, 03:32 PM

Thanks seedling for your reply and help in PM.
Here is another one, Post it notes.. yellow light.
Feel i got a bit better with this one, but had trouble when it comes to defining edges with the right values..

The background also feels way too bright , as probably is everything on the image.. washed out.

**jharford** · August 30th, 2006, 02:00 PM

Todays painting..
well its a spoon!
I think i did a little better today.
30 minutes time taken.

I have such hard time deciding on the color of the canvas.

please let me know how i can improve
thanks.

**Seedling** · August 30th, 2006, 02:28 PM

Wow, nice spoon! I've been thinking of painting a spoon, but I find the idea of all those reflections intimidating. You really did that well. It looks loose and quick and, at the same time, detailed and accurate.

The perspective on the post-its seems ever so slightly off, but the colors are spot-on.

Something to try with these: by a pad of cheap-o construction paper. That will give you colors to play with for the table surface.

**jharford** · September 2nd, 2006, 06:40 AM

thanks seedling, ill reply later in detail, but here is day 5, ill post day 6 tonight.

**Seedling** · September 2nd, 2006, 12:11 PM

You just got another "wow" out of me! That wallet is spot-on. Keep up the good work!

**jharford** · September 14th, 2006, 04:46 AM

hi Seedling,
Thanks for your comment!. Makes me feel good that i'm progressing.
I've done another 2 which i'll post up tonight. Un/fortunately I was on vacation last week, for 7 days, and my partner thought it best I didn't bring all my computer equiptment

. So now i'm back on track.

I went to the art store and bought all the selection of oil materials I need to begin oil painting.. so i'm looking forward to putting some oil work up!.

**gigglepixie** · September 14th, 2006, 05:10 AM

Looking forward to seeing the oils. Keep it up!

**jharford** · September 14th, 2006, 06:29 PM

gigglepixie: Thanks, I've got my little oil studio set up ready now to begin painting.
heres a little picture.
and my latest pic.

**Seedling** · September 14th, 2006, 10:16 PM

Oooh, a studio! *squee* Have fun!

**jharford** · September 17th, 2006, 07:35 AM

Hi seedling,
It's great to finally have a little studio set up!.
I began my first oil painting yesterday , i learnt a lot. it's very diffulcult, makes me respect you and other artists 10 times more!.
I found it very diffulcult to mix up a color for the cloth it was on , and i dont think there was enough contrast there, they colors of the garlic were almost the same as the cloth, perhaps i should choose a darker cloth to put the still life on.

The onion i think i got the colors ok.. but i know i had diffulculty painting on top of the colors i laid down as bases. Wasn't sure whether to work from dark to light, so i started with midtones, and laid in the shadow areas. but painting wet on wet highlights is harder than I expected. Perhaps i used to little paint?

Anyway, enough from me for now, let me know any comments . thanks

**jharford** · September 17th, 2006, 03:06 PM

Hope to get some comments from you guys soon.. find out where im going

Heres my latest.. I think i got the colors ..ok for the knife and the tomatoes, and when looking at the painting from a long way it shapes up.....ok.
The greenery was so hard i gave up on that for this painting. When i put a dark color down, its pretty hard to paint a lighter one on top of it!, wet-on-wet.
Can anyone help a little with some fundementals of structuring a painting. ? Thanks.Also, how to desaturate a color? I hear not to add a little white or black, but to mx in 2 other colors? or ..
thanks . I'm quite new to this and i hope you guys can help , on top of my reasearching

The background again was too yellow for me, and i didnt like that. I'll still get a different sheet for subsequent paintings.

I'm already runnign out of white.

**jharford** · September 21st, 2006, 12:55 PM

2 drawings

**Seedling** · September 21st, 2006, 01:15 PM

Add some vinegar to that oil, and you'll have a dressing for the salad you appear to be making. Woohoo! Oils! You're doing great. Is this your first time ever using oils?

I can't give you great advice on the technical stuff, because I'm pretty much just flailing about, myself. But yeah, I try not to put any paint but the highlight on the spots where highlights go. Also, thick paints can be stacked on thinned paints easier (thinned with paint thinner, that is. Good luck getting a layer of paint to stick to a layer of mostly oil.)

Have you watched Duane Keiser’s videos? I found those to be very helpful. (At least in about the first half. They get so fiddly in the second half that my brain can’t keep up.) I’m honored and sheepish to have my name mentioned in the same sentence as him. :-) I am only an egg!

To desaturate colors, I usually add a bit of its compliment, and in most cases, I mix a “black” that way as well.

I think a real painter would laugh at the way I fail to arrange colors on my palette. Absolutely no order whatsoever.

Yeah. . . keep going! :-)

**jharford** · September 23rd, 2006, 10:47 AM

Hey Seedling,
Thanks for the comments.
I watch the duane Kesier videos a lot, they do help in approaching a painting,
same with the Hall Groat II videos.

Here is my latest one, it's a birthday cake from my birthday on thursday. In my opinion i oversaturated it, and didnt pic the right colors, but i had a lot of trouble mixing the right ones for the the fluffy cake part.
Also the little candle stick holder , baby blue , i found impossible to mix

.

**Dile_** · September 23rd, 2006, 11:02 AM

Shit man, great sketchbook, yes, as sed says, the best way to learn is to draw from life, but mix it with imaginations, or you'll end up without one

Good stuff
keep it up!

~Dile

hp · September 23rd, 2006, 12:03 PM

i would say watch where your brush strokes are going, sometimes you go in the wrong direction and it flattens it out, esp in the backgrounds. if you want some tips on oils, there are some "notes" written from the workshop in the workshop forum. i like your sticky notes the best

**jharford** · September 23rd, 2006, 03:55 PM

New one, cards and a key.
really messed up the colors, and when i try and put highlight on.. it just mixes with the paint already there.. and disapears. I guess it's all learning! I cant get hard edges yet , cuase the paint just messses together. More practice needed

pld:

**Fishspawn** · September 23rd, 2006, 04:37 PM

Hey jharford, you have a nice start going here. I really like those cards. When painting with oils, if you want a highlight, you have to be brave and just load up your brush with it - lay it on really thick. Highlights should probably be done after you get everything else right. Keep up your pace, thats the most important ingredient in improvement!

**nineself** · September 23rd, 2006, 05:03 PM

Hey man. Im digging your daily oils, much respect! I ran away from oils long ago to go back to the comfort of acrylics. Your torso drawings have some real nice tones in them too! Keep it up!

**jharford** · September 23rd, 2006, 05:31 PM

Fishspawn Thanks!, I really should take your advice and be more confident in putting in highlight, and wait till the end. Keeping up my pace.. i'll remember this.. i think it's the way i'll improve faster anyhow.

Nineself Hi there nineself.. i appreciate you coming and visiting my thread.
How are acrylics different and more comfortable? I'm really not well edecated on different painting mediums, if you could explain a little that would be great. Thanks .
I'll be doing a lot more torso/figure studies too. .they are great fun, but i'll wait till i go to life classes never month, it's not so good from photos.

**Jason Rainville** · September 23rd, 2006, 05:45 PM

Agreed, those cards are damn cool. Good torsos too, but the lady's is getting a bit more flat than the man's. Keep on truckin'

**nineself** · September 23rd, 2006, 05:56 PM

Hey jharford, I'll admit that my experience with oils is limited and it was about 6 years ago I last used them. I had the same problems you mentioned earlier, like highlights getting demolished by darker colours underneath when you work them in.
I like acrylics more as they dry faster and are more forgiving when working from dark to light and blending. They are also easier to clean up and cheaper, but you have less colour richness and texture than oils.
Even so, some of the more experienced painters could elaborate more on this as I moved to mostly digital painting a while back and my traditional paint skills are rusty.
Good luck with the life class!

**SantaClaus** · September 23rd, 2006, 05:58 PM

nice sketch book. I have painted post-its before and I feel like the colors should be more vibrant.

**Gilead** · September 23rd, 2006, 06:13 PM

These are good. I was doing this for a while and highly reccomend that you stick with it forever, it will always be a useful learning tool.
As for harder edges and brighter highlights just use some thicker paint. On those cards in particular you could make that top card really stand out by dragging a thick ridge of white paint all along that middle edge where it overlaps the other card.

**jharford** · September 23rd, 2006, 08:17 PM

Rhineville
Hey mate, Thanks for the comments, and glad to be in your SSG. I agree about the womens chest, and whole image not really standing out as well, i'll try to rectify that in further drawings.

nineself Hey , Thanks for the quick explanation, I will stick with oils and battle them out. I love the look of other oil paintings over the acrylics i've seen,. Just personal taste.

santaclausI guess this is my lack of color picking knowledge and understanding, they seemed pretty accurate in the low light environment i was using to paint them in. no studio lighting etc..but i take on your comments, I'll try and post them when 've painted them in oils in my new little studio env.

gilead Hey!,. Thanks , that's great advice. I plan on sticking with this as long as I possibly can. It's exhilarating.
I still am not in the knowledge of how to approach a larger more final painting yet, but i dont want to skip ahead. I'll get some solid undersatnding of colors and forms first, before attempting something larger scale. I will paint the cards again with more accuracy. i feel i dont have a small enough brush ( or steady enough hand to paint details like the 'A'. Any excersices you recommend for steadying hand?

thanks guys