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  • #475861
    Irishman
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        Would members be willing to offer an opinion on how these type of brush marks are achieved? Would it be just solely thick paint? Is it possible to tell if impasto medium has been added? Or is it the type of brush hair? Can anyone guide me as to how to do similarly? Thank you. https://www.amandacolemanart.com/landscapes

        Larry

        #856801
        Ron Francis
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            Looks like neat paint with a hog bristle brush to me, but I don’t paint that way, so it is speculation.

            Ron
            www.RonaldFrancis.com

            #856793
            WFMartin
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                Looks like neat paint with a hog bristle brush to me, but I don’t paint that way, so it is speculation.

                Looks that way to me, as well, although I don’t paint in that manner, either.

                Thinly applied underpainting that has just begun to set up, followed by rather stiff paint, with little, or no medium, applied with a stiff, or semi-stff bristle brush.

                You may need to shop for paints that are of the exact stiffness you need for accomplishing that effect. For example M. Graham paints may be too fluid, whereas, many Old Holland paints may be much too stiff . The paint for that effect will probably need to be of just the appropriate consistency. “Buttery” may be the word to describe such a paint.

                But, I too, am speculating.:)

                wfmartin. My Blog "Creative Realism"...
                https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com

                #856796
                ianuk
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                    Direct paint, looks like a filbert bristle, most of her strokes begin and end in curves. But definitely as Ron and Bill have stated, bristle.
                    W&N artist grade is thick enough to achieve the texture, you could even thin some paints a little and still achieve it.

                    #856794
                    Delofasht
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                        Load a brush using a pull loading (pull brush back through a small pile of paint), you should now have a lot of paint on the side of the brush. Hold the brush nearly parallel to the surface, lightly pull across the surface to allow it to grab the paint.

                        Altering your angle to slightly less parallel will allow you variation within the impasto stroke or between strokes. When I was a new artist, I struggled heavily with applying impasto. Now I think of it like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or frosting a cake. I am not trying to hold the brush in a way that scrapes along the surface like one is sweeping the floor, instead I am letting the surface grab the paint off my bristles.

                        - Delo Delofasht
                        #856798
                        Anonymous

                            Would members be willing to offer an opinion on how these type of brush marks are achieved?

                            These are brush strokes that are laid and staid. In other words, the artist applies a brush stroke and leaves it alone, and does not blend the passages together, smooth out the paint, or blur the edges. I believe it is done alla prima and the style is generally called a painterly style. It is called that because it shows the beauty of the paint itself, and the brushstrokes, in addition to the subject matter, color, composition, etc.

                            Would it be just solely thick paint?

                            not solely thick paint, the application is the most important factor.

                            Is it possible to tell if impasto medium has been added? Or is it the type of brush hair?

                            I can’t tell either one for sure.

                            Can anyone guide me as to how to do similarly?

                            This video and this one also, may be of help in achieving this style. They were made by long time WC member Larry Seiler.
                            On her “about” page, it is noted that she paints on a small scale, postcard size which allows her to respond quickly and make the most of that sudden impulse to paint things.
                            I have also found that painting on a small scale can help or facilitate achieving this type of style, though I have seen many larger works done in this manner too.

                            #856803
                            DaveCrow
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                                I have gotten similar brush marks in small, 5×7, studies with Gamblin paints and his bristle brushes. No medium, just paint straight from the tube. Painting on canvas panels.

                                Like Sid said, I paint them alla prima and the brush strokes are laid and staid.

                                "Let the paint be paint" --John Marin

                                #856799
                                Anonymous

                                    Irishman,
                                    BTW, these are the type of paintings that many do as quick sketches or daily type of paintings. We happen to have a thread going here where we do this style of painting. I like to do them in between my more involved and larger, easel type of paintings.
                                    This morning I just did a quick sketch in this style that is the laid and staid manner, I didn’t do any blending or smoothing at all.
                                    It painted from life of a car that parks across the street from me, done plein air, 6×8 inch.

                                    I use OMS for a medium, and draw the image out with the darks included, and then lay down slightly diluted and/or neat paint for the final layer.

                                    #856804
                                    Irishman
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                                        Hi everyone,
                                        Thank you so much for all the advice, suggestions and guidance not to mention the links to Larry Seiler.I really appreciate all the help.I went off this morning and bought a couple of cheap but not too cheap hog brushes and gave the suggestions a go and I’m delighted.There were the marks coming out of it all.Just a hint.I can see it’s not an easy way to paint and it’s going to need some amount of practice but that’s okay.So thanks again,I really am delighted because I can see how to get to where I want to.

                                        Larry

                                        #856797
                                        AnnieA
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                                            I am only just beginning to seriously experiment with this style myself. Using paint of a brand that is naturally thick (such as W&N Winton) straight from the tube can work well, and it may be that the dreaded “fillers” in many student grade paints provide an actual advantage in this case.

                                            I’ve found two mediums that also can be helpful. The first is Gamblin’s Galkyd Gel. I find it makes it easier to apply a second thicker layer over one that’s still wet. The second is the addition of calcium carbonate to the paint (or mediums made with it and simliar materials) that create a thickened paint, but paint that can still be applied without disturbing the lower layer. You can even just add calcium carbonate powder directly to the paint (but wear a mask, as it’s a lung irritant). Note that both of these are more or less transparentizing. Todd Spurgeon’s putty medium (https://www.tadspurgeon.com/content.php?page=putty+tutorial) is also something you may find useful.

                                            Art Treehouse makes what appears to be a similar medium with calcium carbonate and other ingredients in water-washed walnut oil, and Rubelev offers several similar ones, with slightly different working qualities, as well.

                                            All this depends on loading and holding the brush as Delo described above, and using a very light touch to apply the paint. I think his peanut butter and jelly analogy is spot on.

                                            Your conclusion about the difficulty of painting like this is true. Alla prima/impasto is often quite hard to achieve without a fair amount of experience with oil paint in general. I tried to go straight to alla prima and impasto in the beginning and just couldn’t do it.

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                                            #856800
                                            Anonymous

                                                I agree with Annie that this style of alla prima is not easy and that is why I suggested starting small with simple sketches that are relatively easy to do. Get your chops down at just doing it first, and then tackle more ambitious paintings like those in the first link, which I really like a lot.
                                                I found that using an impasto type of medium, or even an oily type of medium to start with was deadly. That is why I mentioned that I only use OMS to begin with.
                                                And this is directly related to the peanut butter/jelly tip. If you lay down an oily, thick layer first, then you will play heck trying to add a layer on top of it. You will wind up skating around on a slip and slide surface. But if you start with a solvent thinned base, and keep the initial drawing/block in on the lighter or thinner side, then it seems to soak in fast, and sort of set up, and thus allow for the juicy layer(s) to be applied next with ease.

                                                #856802
                                                Dcam
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                                                    I don’t want to get beat up…but.
                                                    If you are not concerned with blending and just want to lay down color values with impasto, acrylic would be a quick way to practice this technique and dry in a couple of hours at most….then move on to oils.
                                                    JUST SAYIN’.

                                                    #856805
                                                    Irishman
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                                                        Thanks again everyone. I’m trying to keep my use of solvent or anything which contains it to a minimum so I’d prefer to shy away from the likes of Galkyd which I believe has some version of a pong off it. I’m only painting in oils a few weeks or maybe a couple of months and so sidbledsoe’s advice about keeping it simple will probably work best for me because I’m spinning plates as it is and taking on any more technical processes is probably not advisable. Coming from watercolours my main learning curve at the moment is understanding the use of white as opposed to water and so I’ll just keep trying to improve all around and build the ‘laid and stayed’ bit in bit by bit. Thanks Dcam but to be honest I’m so on thrall to oils that I think I’ll focus on them rather than confuse myself with the different handling qualities of acrylic. Although I know I haven’t actually wasted time on watercolours I’m sorry in a small way I stopped off at acrylics on the way to oils. Again, all your contributions are appreciated.

                                                        Larry

                                                        #856807
                                                        contumacious
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                                                            One important aspect that I don’t think was directly mentioned is that you may need to limit the number of strokes to one or two before reloading your brush. You may even need to wipe the brush clean after one stroke, then reload your brush for the next one every time when working into different colors / values with a new one.

                                                            Try the “Do Not Touch” challenge sometime. Paint an entire study piece without touching previous strokes at all other than when you lay down a new stroke of fresh paint on top of them.

                                                            #856806
                                                            Irishman
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                                                                One important aspect that I don’t think was directly mentioned is that you may need to limit the number of strokes to one or two before reloading your brush. You may even need to wipe the brush clean after one stroke, then reload your brush for the next one every time when working into different colors / values with a new one.

                                                                Hi contumacious. Yes, I was beginning to see that the load and how fluid/stiff the paint is will also be a challenge. I noticed straight away how I need a couple of strokes of the brush to ‘fill in’ the colour as it were so it’s no harm to do something about that anyway.

                                                                Larry

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