Tuesday, February 11, 2014

My first Oil Painting

Because of Kelly Berkey's online class I finally started painting with oil paints. I had wanted to try oils for months now, but never could quite get myself to do it because it seemed so overwhelming.
Well, it isn't overwhelming anymore once I've had Kelly explain to me what I needed and how I needed to work. Oil paints are really wonderful for the exact opposite acrylics are great. Acrylics dry so fast that you can easily do a very texture and layered piece in a day.
Oil paints dry so slowly that you can do wonderful blending with your colors and work into the them even after a couple of days. Plus, the sheen of oil paints is just gorgeous - there's a glow about them.
The only problem I had was that by the end I was as covered in paint as the canvas was... I hope that'll get better with practice. 
For this painting, I really wanted to practice working with light and shadow, going a bit darker with my shadows than I usually do. There are a couple of areas I might tweak with a little bit more, but overall I like it!! A lot!

As temperatures are dropping and rain is about to fall, I am grateful that we are not in the snow and ice path of this latest storm. Stay warm and safe, everyone!!

Silke

15 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Good for you for trying something new. I love to learn new things. It keeps life interesting.

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  2. Du hast eine wahre Schönheit geschaffen liebe Silke. Ich mag sie ♥
    LG Sabine

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  3. She's lovely Silke… I took some oil painting classes a million years ago at the academy of fine arts in philadelphia when I was textile design student… I LOVED it…. oh that was so long ago.

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  4. The eyes look so real....they are beautiful. So much expression in them....

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  5. I am totally impressed! I tried oil painting ONCE, and it was not a pretty picture. No classes though

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  6. I love how brave you are...and I don't think it's nearly as fun if you don't end up with the paint on you! Beautiful, Silke - Happy Wednesday...Tanya

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  7. Liebe Silke,

    das ist Kunst.
    Alles Liebe
    Elisabeth

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  8. Beautiful! I guess you need an "artist's smock" eh?

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  9. Its always great to challenge yourself and this painting has turned out very well, love the milky sheen. Annette x

    http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

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  10. I am loving the light and shadow in this. I can't wait until you are world famous and I can say that I knew you when you first started doing oil paintings!! Glad you are not in the ice, I wish that I wasn't!

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  11. You are so right about the glow of oil colours! This lady's skin looks wonderful, I can't believe it is your first oil painting, Silke!

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  12. This is just wonderful..........I love oil paints too. But when my patience level runs out it's acrylics for me;) You have a wonderful weekend.

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  13. I havae never attempted Oils because I don't have the talent to make it worth my while ... but you certainly do. This is a beautiful portrait ... is it someone you know? A selfie with dark hair ... I am just curious how you arrived at the look. I think you may have found your nitch in oils. I would love to see you do more of them. Looking forward to your next endeavor ...

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  14. Lovely Glass bead bracelet. that's what is so much fun about the bracelet. You pick one up, here and there. Special places that you go so later you can look at the bead and think about the place. It's ever changing and lovely and meaningful when you fill up your bracelet!!

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  15. I’m glad you finally found the motivation to start painting. Your works are great. To think that you just recently started, it’s even more impressive! I hope to see more artworks from you.

    Aisha Williams

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