Blog posts of '2023' 'December'

It’s important when looking at different painting methods to keep in mind that you can really do whatever you want. Yet if you’re looking to learn a specific painting method, such as more traditional in-direct painting method, it stands to reason that you are going to need to find in depth information on that method and adhere to that mentor’s rules. Yet as we all know, what makes paintings unique is the breaking of rules, rather than a strict adherence to them. With that said, there are some super basic rules that apply to oil painting at large, which really can’t be, or to be stated softly, shouldn’t be broken. Beyond those though, go ham, make something weird.

Getting your sketch just right on your canvas before starting a painting can be a tricky thing to do. For the most part, planning the composition on something that isn’t the final surface is always a good idea. This can be quite time consuming and laborious and in a fast paced, meme driven world, so who has time for that? Working out all your mistakes before moving onto the final painting is something that takes a little time, but I promise you, it is well worth your while. No one wants to get midway through a painting, only to realise everything needs to be moved over 3cm to the left. So, if you want to save a bunch of time and have a more accurate and precise recreation of your subject matter, you may want to consider using a transfer method for sketching up an image on your canvas so you can get painting sooner, rather than later.

I love black, black is fantastic, many artists have managed to produce incredible works with the colour black, for instance in The Black Paintings by Goya, Cart with Black Ox by Van Gogh, Zebra by Vasarely, and The Charnel House by Picasso. Black is a heavy colour and when used correctly can bring great depth to your artwork.

If you have spent any time using Copic markers, you may be considering buying the ink refills rather than constantly replacing the markers. Did you know you can refill a Copic Ciao Marker nine times using a single Copic refill? That’s certainly cheaper than rebuying a bunch of individual markers when you run out. So, if you’re finding yourself churning through your markers it might be about time to grab some Copic refills and save yourself some money! How do the refills work you ask? Well, you’re in luck because I’m about to tell you.

Many artists begin painting, or paint for years already, with an extensive palette of 12 different paints. Though it may sound like the right thing to do, and it may be what the starter set gave you, but 12 colours can be overwhelming and make colour mixing confusing, resulting in a grey-brown, flat & dull painting. The truth is that more is always less, especially in painting. We're here to give you a guide to what limited palettes are, and three useful limited palettes to try out to improve your colour theory. Read on for more!