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Materials - Part II: Brushes and Oil Tubes |
Brushes
With so many brushes on the market today, it is easy to get confused
as to which one you need. It is obvious that the more brushes you have,
the more versatility you posses. There are two basic types of brushes:
soft and stiff. The first are used with thin media, and the second with thicker,
as it come from the tube consistency. Another thing worth noticing is that
intricate detail requires smaller and softer brushes, whereas thicker and larger
areas employ stiffer and larger brushes. The best thing to do is by a
process of trial-and-error to arrive at the understanding of which brushes work
the best for you. Don't be afraid to experiment. The beauty of oil
painting is that if you make a mistake, you can either wipe it off, or use it as
a foundation once it dries. There is no final or incorrigible mistake with
oils!
Ok, let us describe the basic designs of brushes and its uses.
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| Flat bristle make very characteristic square or rectangular marks while leaving clear bristle imprints that remain unchanged after the paint has dried. When turned to its side, one can accomplish smaller detail with a larger brush. The impressionists were notorious for the extensive use of these type of brushes. | It is important to have a few of these red sable flat brushes. They can be pricey, but they are well worth it. These type can also be useful when softening and blending. | Rounds in both sable and bristle can be very useful,
although we don't advocate you accumulate too many of these. When the
strokes are applied perpendicularly to the surface being painted, they are
ideal for stippling, which is the technique of applying paint by repeated small touches, and thus
producing a soft, even effect. |
Oil Colors
The group of colors that are a regularly used by an artist is called
the color palette. Some artists use many while others prefer a few. The
following palette is the one we currently use as the result of years of
experience, and in no way is implied that is the perfect one. It is merely
a suggestion or a starting point. Eventually, you have to decide what
works for you. You'll notice that we don't include black, or any secondary
color. The viridian green is a tertiary color. This palette was taught
to the Santa Maria twins by their late uncle and teacher Ismael Santa Maria, who
established Santa Maria Studio in 1939. For that reason, this palette is
called The Santa Maria Palette. In another lesson, we cover the
distribution of the colors and the physical artist's palette.
As far as the brand to use, there are a number of companies that produce high quality oils. Our first choice is Winsor & Newton Oils. They have been produced in England since 1832, and have the best ratings for permanency (ability of a color to last without changing or fading) and quality.
The Santa Maria Palette:
| Earth Colors | Spectrum Colors | Non Colors | |||||
| Burnt Umber | French Ultramarine | Cadmium Red Medium |
Titanium White |
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| Burnt Sienna | Phthalo Blue | Alizarin Crimson | |||||
| Yellow Ochre | Viridian Green | Cadmium Yellow Medium | |||||
And, finally, no list of color tubes can be completed without the help of the Painting
knife. It is not only a wonderful painting tool, but also an inseparable
companion to dispensing color from the tubes to the painting palette, and also
works great to scrape and clean painting from the painting surface and the
palette itself. You can get a set, or one. If you only buy one, make
sure it is the first or last one pictured here. Those particular models
are the most versatile and useful of all. Another quality to keep in mind
is its flexibility and "soft feel" when used.