Oil Painting: Oceans & Seascapes

Learn to paint step by step

Martin Clarke

• Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781633228467
• eBook ISBN: 9781633228474
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

With Oil Painting: Oceans & Seascapes, you can discover how to capture breathtaking oceanic scenes in oil.

Welcome to the incredible, diverse world of painting seascapes in oil! Oil paints are versatile and forgiving, produce wonderful color, and can produce areas that are smooth or textured. This is an ideal medium to portray the ever-changing moods and drama of this very special subject: the sea.

Oil Painting: Oceans & Seascapes is essential for any beginning artist who wants to paint beautiful oceans and seascapes. After introducing you to the basic tools and materials needed to begin painting in oil, talented artist Martin Clarke shows specific techniques for painting realistic waves, rocky shores, and other seaside elements. Learn about color theory, and basic painting techniques before moving on to the step-by-step projects in this 10.25 × 13.75–inch book.

This comprehensive guide contains step-by-step lessons for painting five different seascapes in oil, using a number of simple yet effective techniques. You don’t need a large palette of colors to produce these vibrant, dramatic works. You just need to grab a few supplies and learn observation skills, a few painting techniques, and how to produce a well-composed scene. Then paint as much possible (and have fun while doing so) to practice creating amazing seascapes!

Designed for beginners, the How to Draw & Paint series offers easy-to-follow guides that introduce artists to basic tools and materials and includes simple step-by-step lessons for a variety of projects suitable for the aspiring artist. With comprehensive instruction, plenty of artist tips and tricks, and beautiful artwork to inspire, Oil Painting: Oceans & Seascapes is the perfect resource for any aspiring oil painter.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

You don’t need a large collection of paint colors or every size brush available at your local art supply store. Begin with just a few basic supplies. Feel free to experiment with the tools and materials presented here and choose the ones that you are most comfortable with.

Paints

Oil paints are made up of pigments suspended in oils (such as linseed oil) with additives for durability and consistency. Paint is available in two main qualities: student grade and artist grade. Artist-grade paints contain a higher quality of pigment and fewer additives. Although they are slightly more expensive, they tend to last longer.

Paintbrushes

Brushes vary greatly in size, shape, and texture. Natural-hair brushes, as opposed to synthetic, work best for oil painting. There are four main brush shapes: round, filbert, flat, and bright. Round brushes taper to a thin point and are good for detail work and fine lines. Filbert brushes taper to a thin point and are good for detail work and fine lines. Filbert brushes are slightly flattened with long bristles, making them good for blocking in large areas and rounding out forms. Flat brushes can hold a lot of paint and are great for creating corners. Bright brushes are similar to flat brushes, but allow for more control. Clean your brushes after each use to keep them in good condition. Remove as much paint as you can with turpentine. Then wipe the bristles with a paper towel, and clean with warm water and mild dish soap.

Palette Knives

Palette knives are mainly used for mixing colors on your palette, but some can also be used for applying paint to your canvas or creating texture in your work.

PALETTE CARE TIPS

• If the paint has dried on the palette, lay some paper towels on the paint and add turpentine to the towels. Let it soak for a few minutes, and the paint will scrape off easily with a palette knife. Before using turpentine, ensure that you have adequate ventilation.

• At the end of a painting session, cover the remaining paint with a sheet of cling wrap, ensuring no air is trapped underneath. This keeps your paint from drying out; the paint will be good for use the next day!

Palette

Whatever type of palette you choose—glass, wood, plastic, or paper—make sure it is easy to clean and large enough for mixing your colors. Glass is a great surface for mixing paints and is very durable. Palette paper is disposable, so cleanup is simple, and you can always purchase an airtight plastic box (or paint seal) to keep your leftover paint fresh between painting sessions.

Supports

The surface on which you paint is called the “support”—generally canvas or wood. You can stretch canvas yourself, but it’s simpler to purchase prestretched, preprimed canvas (s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Tools & Materials
• Color Basics
• Copyright