Basic Still Life Oil Painting

Hi, I’m Martha Spak, with MLS Gallery. I’m here to show you how to paint a still life oil painting. What we’re going to be covering in this video includes setting up an interesting still life painting composition, brush strokes, including highlights and shadows, and varnishing techniques. You’re going to need some brushes to complete your project. Here are the brushes I’m using, a large flat nylon brush, a number five Fillburt brush, a number five angled Fillburt, and a small brush to be used for your signature. I use turpenoid, which is an odorless turpentine for making color washes. And I also use liquin, which is a gel form medium to mix with oils to make it creamier and go on smoothly. I’ll be using a camera also, to take a picture of our image so we have it as we work through our project. You’ll also need a swing arm lamp to adjust to your setting and determine where you want your highlights to go. You’ll need an easel and a canvass. Some safety issues to keep in mind when you’re creating an oil painting, and that is that you need proper ventilation and it’s important to also to have a set up where you can move, move your materials around and have adequate space. Another issue is using rubber gloves when you use red paint, there are certain implications of red dye on your skin. Before I begin, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. I’ve been painting for about ten years and have taken some classes in the local DC area but primarily I’m a self taught artist. I believe that it’s important to move the paint around so you can see how the paint feels and reacts as you move the paint. My paintings hang in private and corporate collections around the country. And also retail stores in the DC area. So let’s go ahead and talk about our composition and layout of our still life painting. So let’s get started.

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