The Artist - UK (2021-03)

28 artistMarch 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

OIL PAINTING MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES: 2nd of 4

March 2021

O

il paint is such a versatile

medium, whatever your

skill level. One of the main

attractions for me has to

be its fl exibility. Oils can be applied

in such a huge variety of ways, from

thin transparent glazes to thick

opaque impasto, each having its own

characteristics.

The technique you adopt for a

particular situation may well come

down to trial and error at fi rst, but it

can help if you have some knowledge

of the different processes and how to

achieve them. I am constantly exploring

techniques and experimenting in the

studio – oil painting has no limits or

boundaries, which makes it such an

exciting medium; the sheer depth and

vibrancy of colour is unsurpassed by

any other medium.

Techniques for

oil painting

In the second of four articles, Alan Bickley explains some of the

techniques you’ll need to develop your oil painting skills

Scaling up

There may be occasions when you want

to transfer a drawing or painting to a

larger size support. I fi nd it particularly

useful if I have a small plein-air oil sketch

that I think is worth developing into

a larger work back in the studio. The

traditional squaring-up process is the

method that I was taught at college

and has stood me in good stead ever

since – I actually enjoy this preliminary

process.

Start by drawing out a grid of equal-

sized squares on your sketch or

painting (or use a transparent overlay).

Your larger support must be of the

same proportion when scaled up,

ie, a 10 3 12in canvas will scale up

proportionally to 20 3 24in, then square

this up in the same way and transfer

your work over using a thin charcoal

stick. I often like to draw in the image

using a small round Jackson’s Black Hog

brush loaded with thin raw umber. Don’t

use graphite pencil or marker pens,

they can bleed through the surface

of the painting in time, particularly if

you’re painting with thin layers.

Fat over lean (thick over thin)

Without delving too deeply into the

technicalities, fat-over-lean is about the

various drying times of oil pigments,

making sure that the upper layers of

paint don’t dry faster than the lower

ones. The basic principle to follow when

painting in layers is to build these up

progressively, starting by fi rst thinning

your paint with turpentine (if needed)

in the early underpainting stages, and

gradually adding linseed oil or similar

as you progress. The fi nal layers can

p Lichfi eld Cathedral, original plein-air

sketch, 9¾ 3 11¾ in (25 3 30cm).

Here I have added a grid to my sketch

u Lichfi eld Cathedral, 15¾ 3 19in (40 3 48cm).

This is the scaled-up drawing, which was drawn

in charcoal, with some initial blocking-in

SCALING UP