How do you…

[Eugene Veszely]

…load your brush with oil paint?? Do you soak/dip your brush in medium and then go into the paint…or do you pack your brush with paint so the whole brush is covered and then go onto the canvas… or do you have paint only on the tip of your brush in a big blob….or what?? I tried painting again today after a long time and remembered one or the reasons why I stopped…I cant find any way to make the paint come off my brush that I am comfortable with, or that gives me the mark I want. Maybe I am not using enough paint on my brush or I need to use a medium or something…or it could be the canvas I am using.

Anyway, is it taught in art schools how to load a brush…if so how?? How do you do it?? How did the old Masters do it?? How do the Masters here do it??

[Tony11214]

Originally Posted by 1chameleon

…load your brush with oil paint?? Do you soak/dip your brush in medium and then go into the paint…or do you pack your brush with paint so the whole brush is covered and then go onto the canvas… or do you have paint only on the tip of your brush in a big blob….or what?? I tried painting again today after a long time and remembered one or the reasons why I stopped…I cant find any way to make the paint come off my brush that I am comfortable with, or that gives me the mark I want. Maybe I am not using enough paint on my brush or I need to use a medium or something…or it could be the canvas I am using.

Anyway, is it taught in art schools how to load a brush…if so how?? How do you do it?? How did the old Masters do it?? How do the Masters here do it??

Hi,

When I pick up a dry brush I generally dip it in a little medium before I load it with paint. There must be lots of ways to load paint on a brush, but however you do it I think you should keep paint way from the ferrule that holds the hairs on.

The brush hair stiffness should be right for the thickness of paint you are using too. I generally wouldn't try to work with very think paint on a very soft bush.

There's a great book that tells you a few ways to load a brush, and how to get different effects with your brush. Its called Brushwork Essentials by Mark Christopher Weber.

Here are a few things from the book:

Between-Stroke Cleaning and Shaping; Lets say, while you're painting, your brush has lost its shape because its all clogged up with paint. Well, you pull it through a rag to line up the hairs and point the tip.

Shovel Loading; You put the shaped brush on the palette at the edge of the paint pile and push the tip slightly into the paint and lift it up. Its like your sticking the point of a shovel in the ground an inch or two and then just picking up that little bit of soil on the tip of the shovel. You do this so you can control the paint for better detail work.

Body Loading; You put the side and tip of the brush in the blob of paint and pull the brush to scrape up a blob of paint. Its like scraping a blob of margarine out of the tub with a knife so you can spread it on you toast.

Look for the book in the book store or library and flip through it. I think its what you're looking for.

Tony

[Linoxyn]

There's not one clear cut answer 1chameleon. We can all have our own definition of what loaded means, even though those books use that powerful word loaded as if it's got the same seemingly unobtainable goal as the "Techniques of the Great Masters"

Relax... find out how you'd like your paint to work for the paint manipulations you want, then work towards it - there's really no other way.

[Eugene Veszely]

Originally Posted by Linoxyn

There's not one clear cut answer 1chameleon. We can all have our own definition of what loaded means, even though those books use that powerful word loaded as if it's got the same seemingly unobtainable goal as the "Techniques of the Great Masters"

Relax... find out how you'd like your paint to work for the paint manipulations you want, then work towards it - there's really no other way.

LOL just what I DIDNT want to read !!

I want to know how do it now...no yesterday actually

I get very frustrated that I cant /dont know how to make paint look like what I want it to...like a tree ...or anything really ....practice and wasting ..Umm I mean using paint to learn, is something I dont like to do...maybe I am in the wrong buisness !!!

[bagwash]

Ichameleon, I understand how you feel-painting is incredibly frustrating and sometimes downright depressing! But if there's nothing else that really gives you that satisfaction (or hoped for satisfaction, I should say) somehow, you keep at it. I often wonder why I don't give up, but after a few days I can't help but get back to the studio.

I think you're onto something when you wonder if it's the canvas that's the problem. I find standard acrylic-primed canvas (and all canvas boards) absolutely horrible to paint on-- it's impossible to get the paint or brushmarks looking good. Also to be avoided is Art Spectrum's Oil Primer-it's really nasty-a combo of oil and acrylic-it sucks all the life out of your paint, like most acrylic primers (gesso) do. This is because acrylic primer is absorbent, so it pulls the oil out of the paint. It's also very hard in surface texture and really eats up your brushes. The best thing of all is lead primer but you can't get it in Australia. Next best is what is commonly called Oil Primer by the companies that use it to prime linen, but which is really alkyd-based. WN makes one which is expensive. FineArts makes one which is much more reasonably priced. Oxford Art shop sells it.

Get some good brushes-the cheap ones are impossible to paint with. What paint are you using?

Another tip: try lubricating the surface you are painting on with some medium-rub some on then wipe most of it off-this will be make the brushstrokes go on easier. Also, try painting on a smooth surface instead of canvas-you might prefer it--many artists do. you can make a cheap support out of timber yard--bought plywood or masonite cut to your specifications then primed with the alkyd primer (make sure you size it first). It's a little bit of work but just as cheap as using canvas boards and much, much nicer. If you want the canvas feel, glue raw canvas to it before you size and prime.

Remember it takes a long time to learn how to control a brush. It's very different from drawing.

Good luck.

bagwash

[Biki]

Hi Cham

Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall & watch those big guys do their thing.!!!

The best thing I ever did was find a workshop teacher who demonstrated how to paint like i wish to paint. I only got one shot at him tho coz he lives in Brisbane & only came down for a couple of sessions.
(This guy is having an Exhibition in Melbourne in May. Do you want to go along.? If so let me know & I will get the details for you. You can pick his brains while you are there. He is a sort of surrealist, i think you would call him. But he teaches Flemish & Venetian techniques.)

Can you find some workshops there in Melbourne.?

Some videos might help. I found some at the library, but they were not my kinda paintings. They did help a little tho.

[Tony11214]

Hi,

You know, I EXPERIMENT and play with paint on acrylic gessoed drawing paper. Its cheep and easy. Oh, after I gesso the paper and it has dried for a day, I wipe it with a mix of grayish or tannish paint thinned with thinner. That makes the gesso less absorbent, and less white.

I do any real painting on a canvas support.

I figure it will take ME 20 or 30 years to begin to handle paint and a brush like a master, but that's OK Between now and then I'll just play with it, and learn, and have fun

[khaprendy ra]

i use to have the same troubles(sumtimes still do...)
i found it easier once i knew what the paint wanted to do...
or was prepared to do.
the problem was expecting too much from it in the first place.
k.

[Eugene Veszely]

Thanks Tony11214, bagwash , khaprendy ra

Biki, I think I learn the best by watching people paint...sure PM us the details and I will see if I can make it.

[bagwash]

ICham

I should have mentioned too that you can do a lot by altering (reducing ) the absorbency of the canvas. If it's too absorbent, it tends to grab the paint and suck it out of your brush, which makes it hard to make a mark and work fluently. I find that wiping it (the canvas or board) all over with a very dilute solution of shellac (shellac flakes mixed with methylated spirits then rediluted with meths till it is about the color of very weak tea) helps. You could also used PVA diluted one part to 5 of water, OR rabbit skin glue made up to the strength recommended for a "size". Out of these two, the PVA solution is probably the safest. Lots of people think shellac and rsg are bad in the long term-this is less of a prob if you're working on a rigid support like a board.
Good luck
Jenny

[Eugene Veszely]

Thanks for the help bagwash

[bagwash]

Originally Posted by 1chameleon

Thanks for the help bagwash

You're welcome Icham,

By the way can you post the name and number of the Melbourne producer of the lead primer you mentioned? Sounds like a good find!

Jenny

[Eugene Veszely]

I'll post it here and in the other thread ....just to be sure

They dont have a website so you will have to call them.

"St.Luke Artist Colourmen" Melbourne ... 03 9486 9992 or fax 03 9486 0004