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Learn Oil Painting 1/2: How to Paint a Puppy Dog

This video is made for any person who wants to learn oil painting. This video will give you a solid base of knowledge. http://merrillk.com
Today, I am going to show you how to paint a puppy dog. I made this video for beginner to intermediate level artists, who wish to learn about traditional painting…I will try to show you how to paint. step by step. While I can imagine that painting a realistic looking puppy is intimidating for someone new to art, I will try to make my instruction as clear as possible, so that you can get in to great habits for the future. Once you are in good habits, you will progress very quickly.

I split this lesson in to four parts.

1.) Part one will cover what you need to know before you paint.
2.) Part two will give you an effective strategy for painting realistically The mentality of rendering (aka drawing what you see)
3.) Part three will walk you through the process of painting and I will give you tips while I paint. The process of “sculpting” a painting
4.) Part four will actually be a separate video and it will discuss glazing…a great finishing strategy. Glazing: Finishing a painting (Covered in another video)

Part 1.) I have two points to go over in Part 1-

1-1- First, pick a surface to work on. When I was learning painting, I would use cardboard in place of canvas to save money. Ten years later my original oil paintings are still in good shape. However, this would not be the case if I didn’t prime the cardboard with layers of Gesso. Without getting over technical, gesso gives your surface a protective layer that will prevent the oil from being over absorbed. Try to remember this silly saying, “Paint with cream, not with butter or milk!” No, im not saying that you should break out the dairy prodicts…..I am referring to the consistency of the paint. Cream is not a solid like butter …..and is not watery like milk. When you apply paint to a surface it should be creamy in texture. You can make the paint creamy by adding about three to four drops of painting medium to the paint that is sitting on your palette. The object in my hand right now is called a palette knife. I used it to mix the paint with the painting medium. For a long time, I considered this step trivial, but it makes a difference!

1-2 Oil Painters use mineral spirits to clean off their brushes and to thin out a paint mixture. Mineral Spirits is also known commercially as paint thinner and sold as an art supply called turpenoid for quadruple the price. You will only need a SMALL amount of Mineral Spirits because its very powerful. Use it sparingly when you wish to thin out your paint; because too much will make the paint runny and “milk-like” in consistency. Here is a great tip to remember when cleaning your brushes…..WIPE-DIP-WIPE. As silly as that sounds, commit it to memory….In other words….. wipe your brush with a paper towel…..Then dip it in to the mineral spirits and swish it around….followed by another wipe with the paper towel to take the extra spirits off your brush. The last wipe is especially important to prevent the excess mineral spirits from thinning out your paint too much

Part 2

Now you will learn a great strategy to help you paint what you see. I call this strategy, “jigsaw puzzle observation” because it is similar to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Jigsaw puzzles are fun because you fit shapes together to create an image………I want you to think the same way when you paint. Try to see and identify shapes and then put them together like a puzzle. Painters sculpt and manipulate the paint on the surface of a painting until the shapes fit together as a recognizable image. Here….let me show you what I mean…..When you try this, I recommend that you get in the habit of looking at your reference image at least once for every five seconds; and then paint what you observed. After you get the bigger shapes in…..work your way down to the smaller shapes…….. If you feel that you cant work the paint any more. Let it dry and repeat this step on top of the dried paint. You have an advantage by using paint because it is opaque and it can cover over any mistake…… Take your time with this step. Skyscrapers cant be erected without solid supports and good paintings cannot be made without careful placement.
How to begin oil painting vido
Supply List
- Titanium White (paint)
- Raw Sienna (paint)
- Ultramarine Blue (paint)
- Ultramarine Purple (paint)
- Lamp Black (paint)
- Painting Medium (my favorite is called Liquin)
- Palette, Wax Paper or Aluminum foil (to mix the paint on)
- Mineral Spirits
- Canvas or Cardboard
- Gesso (white or clear)
- Paint Brushes (several sizes, tips, and softnesses……based on your preference)
- Cups for Mineral Spirits and Paint Medium

Duration : 0:8:27


[youtube _qyY4j4aOLk]

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17 Responses to “Learn Oil Painting 1/2: How to Paint a Puppy Dog”

  1. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    that70sfan11 says:

    thanks… I’ve …
    thanks… I’ve searched the internet for hours trying to understand how to start oil painting and this was probably the most helpful I’ve found.

  2. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    Yes! It is very …
    Yes! It is very possible to use cardboard (and paper). Just make sure that you use gesso first! Thank you for the comment DJSHADDY2K7!
    -Merrill

  3. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    DJSHADDY2K7 says:

    Hello merrillk i …
    Hello merrillk i did no that you can use card borad for canvas i neve thought that was posable to do that sorry for my bad write.

  4. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    craftyonecent,
    That …

    craftyonecent,
    That is always great to hear! I take the teaching “part” of my youtube channel very seriously…..It (teaching) is more than just “showing” what I know…..the art of teaching is communicating the ideas in a way that everybody can learn! Your comment means a LOT!!! Thank you!
    -Merrill :)

  5. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    imationjay,
    Thanks …

    imationjay,
    Thanks for the comment! Im glad it helped!
    -Merrill

  6. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    imationjay says:

    good stuff dude, …
    good stuff dude,keep it up!!!!

  7. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    craftyonecent says:

    I really enjoyed …
    I really enjoyed this video. Love your instruction methods. Very clear and was able to totally get it! Looking forward to more lessons!

  8. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    Thank you for that, …
    Thank you for that, ildanicolabm!!!!
    -Merrill

  9. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    ildanicolabm says:

    wow 5 stars 4 mee :D
    wow 5 stars 4 mee :D

  10. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    Thank you AS ALWAYS …
    Thank you AS ALWAYS PencilandPaper90!!!!!
    -Merrill :)

  11. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    Sounds like a great …
    Sounds like a great resolution!….Its strange, for me, painting is easier than drawing (because I can cover things up)…..but for youtube videos, it is a lot easier to describe drawing processes; so ive done a lot more drawing videos….anyway, let me know how it goes!
    -Merrill :)

  12. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    kazanjianm says:

    Im glad that you …
    Im glad that you liked it :)
    -Merrill

  13. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    MrBohrenBear says:

    the eye on the …
    the eye on the right*

  14. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    MrBohrenBear says:

    you smudged, you …
    you smudged, you didn’t build the artpiece from brush on brush you just smudged the colors together instead of building tones, there are more colors to add to create the illusion of legs and so belt, the texture is alike to paper but the eye is a good start

  15. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    PencilandPaper90 says:

    its incredible!!
    its incredible!!

  16. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    99273 says:

    i liked that jigsaw …
    i liked that jigsaw puzzle metaphor you used there. I dont paint much (usually just for paper craft) and im kinda impatient for the paint to dry sometimes <.< But i’ll start painting more this year (yay, i just made my 1st new year resolution :D )

  17. March 25th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    Cool2fool says:

    awesome 5 star …
    awesome 5 star awesome thank you