African Art by South African Artist Elga Rabe.

Oil painting by Elga Rabe

South African Artist Elga Rabe

Growing up on a farm in Mpumalanga, Elga developed her deep love and fascination for the cultural wealth and beauty of the people of Africa as well as the continents wildlife. as a farmers wife and mother of four, her talent deepened and expanded over the years as her innate understanding of love for the subjects she paints. Read More

Elga Rabe's selective styles:

Wild Life Artwork

Her experience has taught her that there is no room for error with her wildlife artwork. Her clean images concentrate exclusively on the animal and convey the wide-open spaces of Africa. Wildlife is Elga's passion.

Ethnic Artwork

Elga's ethnic works speaks of the character and beauty of the African Tribes. The depth of emotion is expressed through the colour. The story of each portrait evokes conversation and reflects a myriad of emotions.

Tips on oil painting for amateur artists:

One of South Africa's top oil artists Elga Rabe shares some basic tips. These tips will be changed monthly so come back soon.

July 2010 Tips for Beginners

This month I’ll try to explain how I paint copper objects.
A stillife with a copper kettle or pot can look great if the copper has been painted well.

The secret is really to take time looking intently at the reflections in the shiny surface and of course the colors you apply.
Remember the golden rule for painting metal:
ALWAYS PAINT METAL BY STARTING WITH THE HIGHLIGHT.

Copper and brass objects look best against dark backgrounds. When painting an object against a dark background, mass in the background before painting the subject.

(One suggestion for the dark background of a copper object is a mixture of the following colors: THALO GREEN, BURNT SIENNA mixed into a little BLACK and WHITE. Later on you can adjust the colors slightly if necessary.)

1. Look carefully at the copper object and isolate the highlights in your mind. Starting with the lightest parts, paint in WHITE, CADMIUM ORANGE and CADMIUM RED LIGHT.
2. Add an even lighter mixture of WHITE, CADMIUM ORANGE and CADMIUM LIGHT RED to the highlights as you see them on the copper.
3. Paint the shadow areas with BURNT SIENNA and a touch of THALO BLUE.
4. Then add WHITE, BURNT SIENNA and a little BLACK for the area between the highlight and the dark background.
5. The cast shadow colors would be the same as the shadow areas, BURNT SIENNA and THALO BLUE, adding a bit more of the blue if necessary.

It is okay to mess up a painting or two during this learning experience.

June 2010 Tips for Beginners

I’ve often been asked what type of paint one needs to paint copper or brass objects.

In the following lessons I’ll try to explain how I paint metal pots or kettles.

To start with it’s okay to use a photo to copy from. After following the sequence below you will soon be able to paint a brass pot or kettle from real life.

The usual sequence of painting is from medium tone (mass color) to dark, then thereafter, the highlights. When painting metal, the golden rule is the other way round:

ALWAYS PAINT METAL BY STARTING WITH ITS HIGHLIGHT.
(To add such a light, bright highlight onto a painted-in mass tone would dirty the highlight color.)

BRASS

1. Start your brass pot (or other brass object) with CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT and WHITE, painting the highlights first. Make it wider than you see it.
2. Then add more CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT and a touch of CADMIUM ORANGE to the mixture and cut the highlight down.
3. Now paint in the general brass color on the rest of the pot, using CADMIUM YELLOW LIGHT mixed with BURNT UMBER.
4. Blend these mixtures with a large soft brush.
5. In the basic toned areas you will see shadows, paint these by adding a touch of ALIZARIN CRIMSON and THALO BLUE to the basic mixture.
6. Paint he dark cast shadows with ALIZARIN CRIMSON, THALO BLUE and BLACK.

Some brass objects are so shiny that their surroundings reflect onto them dramatically. It is important to play down these reflections and not make them too obvious.

May 2010 Tips for Beginners

A FEW PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR A GOOD COMPOSITION.

a) Rather have UNEVEN NUMBERS of similar objects than even numbers, ie., have rather a group of five apples,( trees, flowers, etc.) than four, or three instead of two.
b) If you paint the REFLECTION in a body of water, make sure to dull the reflection so that the two similar images do not fight for attention.
c) Objects should rather POINT INTO the painting and not draw the eye out of the painting.
d) Do not paint a group of objects, like bunch of flowers, apart from one-another. Instead, let them OVERLAP here and there. When the shapes overlap each other in a painting, it will also create a feeling of depth.
e) Do not place a strong line (like a horizon) through the CENTRE of the painting. Rather divide the page into three, placing your horizon one-third or two-thirds up. Also do not have a vertical line (like a pole or tree) through the centre of the painting. Instead place that line one third further to the left or right of the painting.
f) Do not allow a strong DIAGONAL line to run out of the corner of the painting.
g) Create good rhythm in seemingly monotonous subjects by purposely VARYING the SIZE and POSITION of the repeated elements. An element repeated without a change of shape or size is monotonous.
e) Too many forms running in the SAME DIRECTION should be broken. Complement a whole lot of horizontal lines with a vertical object or objects. If you have all forms in your painting run vertically, break them with a horizontal form.
f) In the case of a line (like a horizon) running right through the painting, BREAK that line with another form, line or object.
g) When doing a landscape, divide the depth of your painting into three easy-to-define units. Let’s call them foreground, middle-ground and background. Decide which one is most interesting to you regarding beauty in texture or color. EMPHASIZE that one unit at the expense of the other two. The other planes are only to complement the main plane.
h) When painting flowers with visible stems below, choose one or three and emphasize them, then VARY the prominence of the rest and even fade out some of them.
i) Instead of placing all the stems of flowers PARALLEL to one-another, it is a good idea to place some at an angle, crossing over others, to form interesting negative areas between the stems.

April 2010 Tips for Beginners

Look for similarities between your SUBJECT, (focal point) and its context that can be used for both design and expression. It may be similarities in line, shape, size and interval and also in the elements of hue, value, and color intensity. Seek effective ways of arranging these similarities around the focal point.

1. A too stringent kind of organized rhythm is monotonous, dull and much less pleasant than the more disordered order found in nature. If natural objects are accidentally in a perfect monotonous rhythm, the artist must move them around and shuffle them into a natural, easy-to-look-at composition. (see fig. 1A and 1B)

2. An element repeated without a change of shape or size is monotonous.
Create good rhythm in seemingly monotonous subjects by purposely varying the size and position of the repeated elements. When two or more forms are of a similar shape, they should differ in size and vise versa. (again see fig.
1A and 1B)

3. Break the monotony of too many forms running in the same direction by complementing them with some object or objects in the opposite direction.

The shape of a cross is the most perfect form with the most powerful impact in a painting.

In it, the complement of horizontal and vertical is the most complete. A slight play in the lines will prevent it looking rigid and stiff. (see fig. 2A and B)

Fig 1A

Fig 1B

Fig 2A

Fig 2B

4. Look at the CONTRASTS in your focal point (the places that seem to draw your attention) and "echo" them with appropriate similarities in rhythmic repetition throughout the whole painting.

March 2010 Tips for Beginners

MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSITION OF A PAINTING

1) Your centre of interest (focal point) is the most important part of your painting. The rest of the painting will be built around this focal point. Repeat the same COLORS or at least similar colors of the focal point in the objects around the centre of interest in order to compliment and enhance the focal point. Also subtly repeat the same basic FORM, as well as similar LINES in the rest of the painting.

2) SPACE is that area in your painting that objects don’t occupy. Space is NEGATIVE FORM, objects are positive form. Negative form in your painting is as important as form, for the two together make up the composition. We are not so aware of these negative areas, which if not handled with great care, can spoil an otherwise good composition. Negative areas should enhance the positive form (the objects) of your picture and should also have interesting shapes. (fig 1 : Note the beauty of the shapes of the arum lilies as well as the interesting shapes of the dark negative areas.)

3) Do not fill the whole picture with objects. Use negative areas to create ATMOSPHERE and SPACE in your painting. (A helpful guide line is to have about one-third of your painting busy, a third quiet and one-third empty.)

4) No two objects should ever just TOUCH, as if “kissing”, Instead let those shapes overlap or not touch at all. This also goes for objects or shapes that just touch the edges of the picture. (See fig 2 the “kisses” marked with X and fig 3, the adjustment)

(Next month I will give more practical guidelines towards a good composition of a painting.)

February 2010 Tips for Beginners

COMPOSITION OF A PAINTING

Composition involves the orderly placing of forms, shapes, and spaces so that they look and feel pleasant. Our aim is to create a painting with harmony and artistic balance. This results when we place everything with regard to its proper rhythm and relationship within our picture area.

(A) CENTRE OF INTEREST:
1. It is important to take time planning your composition carefully. First of all determine what interests you most in a subject. It can be an object, a person, or even a touch of color. This will be the centre of interest, which is the MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT of your composition. Around this point your whole painting revolves. The strength of this most important element can and will determine the degree of impact of your composition.

3. Light next to dark creates a dramatic effect that demands the viewer’s attention. Hence you must use your CONTRASTS carefully, placing them only where you want them to attract and hold the eye, enhancing your focal point or centre of interest.

If you place strong contrasts way down in the corner of your canvas or very close to the edge, your eye will be drawn away from your focal point.

2. The LOCATION for the centre of interest is as important as the choice of what it will be. Because it is the strongest element in your composition, the centre of interest must occupy the choicest location. Never place it in the middle of the painting but close enough to the centre to demand attention.

( Next month we will discuss how the centre of interest can be complemented by subordinate elements.)

January 2010 Tips for Beginners

COLOUR APPLICATION AND BRUSHSTROKES

The way you apply the paint onto your canvas can either make the color mixtures exciting and vibrant or make the color look dead and “flat”. Instead of applying colors in the same direction (from left to right, or from top to bottom), apply them in opposing stroke directions. Painting an area of color with opposing strokes excites the color, leaving slight variations of the color’s intensity which seems to impart a more vibrant color presentation than an area that has been completely blended in. A combination of opposite brushstrokes instills some of your own identity and unique character into the paint.

Possibly the worst of all is to mix the colors beforehand and then paint the “porridge” onto the canvas. This way of painting eliminates all the possible advantage you could have had by some subtle color variations in exciting brushstrokes.

The textures of some objects are quite complex. When painting a long object, for example a carrot, paint the length first, then the roundness of the carrot. These two brushstrokes are in opposition to each other, and will create dimensional shapes. Even round objects like apples or onions will look better when done with layers of opposing brushstrokes.

The less the colors are mixed and blended in the brushstrokes, the more exciting and vibrant the effect. All over well-blended colors will present a placid, sometimes even boring effect.

December 2009 Tips for Beginners

UNITY AND COLOUR HARMONY IN A PAINTING

Color harmony describes an arrangement of hues or families of colors in such a way that it gives a pleasing appearance in a painting.

The closer the colors you choose are to one another on the color wheel, the more unified the color harmony will be. However, unless some other color is added that stands somewhat apart from those colors, the harmony will be static and lack vitality.

Should you choose a predominant warm color combination then you will need a color on the opposite side of the color wheel as a contrast. To create color harmony though, choose a “warm” version of that blue, violet or green (see the notes in the October-Tips for Beginners.)

The color of the light illuminating all subjects in your painting will influence the development of a particular color harmony. Light always gives some of its own color to the subjects. If the light is warm that warmth will come right throughout the whole painting. All the subjects will have some warm yellow, orange, red and violet hue. In contrast, if the light is cool that bluish cool color will reflect throughout the whole painting.

In a painting a color should not be isolated and disconnected. If the sky is blue the blue should reflect into all the objects. The colors you use should “echo” right through and repeat themselves again and again, even if it is only in a subtle way.

November 2009 Tips for Beginners

SETTING THE MOOD OF YOUR PAINTING
When you plan a painting decide what mood you want to convey.
Do you want to create a vibrant, happy mood full of energy and activity?
Or would you choose to create a peaceful, calm atmosphere,
providing a tranquil feeling to the viewer?

Lighting and color scheme have everything to do with the painting’s mood.
Lots of intense colors and strong contrasts may set the painting in a joyful,
alive, even frenzied mood.

A painting with subtle lighting and a dominant darker more neutral scheme
may provoke a somber or introspective mood. A painting with subtle lighting and more neutral, but light colors will have a peaceful, tranquil, serene atmosphere.

To convey an atmosphere of lighthearted atmosphere, with softness and delicacy, as in watercolor paintings, keep strong contrasts of tones to a minimum.

Only add very small areas of darker tones to give the painting “snap”.

Paintings in monochrome will create a calm, peaceful atmosphere. They help the artist to develop sensitivity to the role of light and dark in a painting, and in modeling form and creating mood. The idea of conveying light, space and atmosphere without the aid of color is challenging though.

Apart from the colors you choose for your painting there are also other ways
to convey mood in a painting. Horizontal lines and forms render a more calm feeling while many vertical forms or lines have the opposite effect.

The way you apply the paint will also influence the mood of your painting.
Next month we will talk about color application and brushstrokes.

October 2009 Tips for Beginners

WARM AND COOL COLOURS
On a colors wheel we can divide the warm and cool colors by drawing a line through the centre separating the warm from the cool. The Cadmium Yellow will be on the warm side and the Lemon Yellow on the cool side.

On the other side of the color wheel, the line will separate the violet down the middle, making it either warm or cool. It is easy to see why the oranges and reds are called warm, as they are the colors we see in fire and heat, while the blues and greens are the colors of snow and ice. Even the separate colors have a warm or cool hue when compared to one another.

The Cadmium Red appears warmer than the Alizarin Crimson. The orange that is more of a red-orange, appears warmer than the yellow-orange. In the cool half of the color wheel, the French Ultramarine appears warmer than the Cerulean blue. The more violet the blue, the warmer it is and the more green the blue the cooler it is.

The warm colors are suitable for creating sunlit areas and also for paintings that need a cozy feel like an indoor atmosphere with the warm glow of a bedside lamp. The cooler colors are good for shadowed areas or winter scenes. To get a harmonious feel to a painting it is important to use either all warm versions or all cool versions of the colors you choose to paint.

August 2009 Tips for Beginners

We are still busy with the colour of shadows. In the “Tips for Beginners – June 09 “, we talked about the body shadow, the cast shadow, the highlight and reflection of an object.

When painting the CAST SHADOW of an object, add the complementary colour to the colour of the surface the object is lying on. The cast shadow should also reflect some of the colour of the object. If a red tomato is placed onto a light blue plate, add orange to the dark blue cast shadow area, and add some red (reflecting from the red tomato.) If you have a yellow fruit on a white plate, the shadow colour will include purple and yellow.

For the HIGHLIGHT on an object, add white (if the object is red, orange or green, add also a wee bit of yellow.) The REFLECTION on an object will depend on the surface colour. If a ball is lying on a yellow tablecloth, the yellow will reflect at the bottom of the ball. The colours in the close surrounds will also reflect onto an object. If there is a red plum close to a yellow pear, some of the red will show on that side of the pear.

Just a little secret: on shiny objects, add a minute touch of the complementary colour into the white shine of that object. For instance, on a shiny green bottle, add a tiny bit of red into the white reflections. In the white shine on a yellow lemon, add a very small amount of violet into the white. It should be very subtle and not even visible unless you know about it, but it does make a difference.

July 2009 Tips for Beginners

How do we mix and paint the colors for SHADOWS so that they look real? (If you add black or brown into the dark areas, the shadows look very unnatural.) Here’s the secret: FOR THE BODY COLOUR OF AN OBJECT TO LOOK REAL AND NATURAL, YOU NEED TO ADD THE COMPLEMENTARY COLOUR INTO THE SHADOW AREAS OF THAT OBJECT.

That means, if an apple is green, add red into the body shadow area. Mix until the red dissappears, the green must still shine through. Do not add so much that you can still see the red when mixed in. If you paint a red ball you would add a very small amount of green to the shadow. A yellow lemon will have some violet in its shadow, and so forth. The precise complement will give you the precise shadow colour. The colour directly opposite a colour on the colour wheel is its complementary colour.

If your colour wheel is correct, you will find that exactly opposite any colour there will be two colours. Directly opposite lemon yellow are two violets. The two violets mixed into that yellow will give you the perfect shadow colour for the lemon yellow. (If the shadow is still too light you can add a bit of black, but do not use only black.) When mixing the complementary colour into the shadow area, make sure you blend it in thoroughly until the complementary colour will not be identifiable any more, only the shadow colour. Next month I will tell you more about the colour of the CAST SHADOW, the HIGHLIGHT and the REFLECTION of an object.

June 2009 Tips for Beginners

SHADOWS

Without shadows the grey ball below, (Fig.1) appears flat. (Click on the images below)

Fig 1

Fig 2

However, the grey ball (Fig.2) looks three-dimensional- only because of the added shadows.

One source of light makes 5 tone values appear on the ball below (Fig.2)

1) BODY TONE
2) BODY SHADOW
3) CAST SHADOW
4) REFLECTION
5) HIGHLIGHT

You can see how the shadows make the ball look like it is jumping off the flat surface. By simply adding lighter and darker tones to the body tone of an object we can make it look three-dimensional.

GENERAL PAINTING SEQUENCE:
I found the easiest way to paint most objects is in the following sequence:
We start with painting the body tone of an object and while the paint is still wet, add the body shadow. Thereafter proceed with the cast shadow and reflection. Sometimes it is easier to finish off with the highlight when the painting has dried a little.

If the object is grey it is quite easy to paint in the dark and light tones, but how do we paint the shadows of the different objects in our paintings convincingly? In other words what colours do we paint shadows? This I will try to explain to you next month.

May 2009 Tips for Beginners

MORE ABOUT PAINTING BACKGROUNDS.

When you paint the negative areas, take note of the following:

1. Where the background meets the edges, calm down any activity of tone, colour or brushwork. No strong contrasts close to the edges, it draws the eye away from the subject.

2. Limit the space between the subject and the edges of the canvas if you struggle to join this area interestingly with the edge of the canvas.
If the subject is too small for the canvas, rather cut the canvas down in size.
(The type of your background really depends on your own personal taste, and also the feeling you want to convey.)

3. Where the negative space meets the subject, overlap the paint into the subject’s edges instead of just to its outline. It will greatly soften the allover look and make the subject more real.

Try to continue the spirit of the subject in the background: dramatic subjects, dramatic backgrounds, calm subjects, calm backgrounds, earthy subjects, earthy backgrounds and elegant subjects, elegant backgrounds.

Smooth backgrounds for smoothly rendered subject matter, and roughly painted subjects should have roughly painted backgrounds.
Subject and background should form a harmonious unity.

I wish I could see how your paintings have improved. Surely you can be mighty proud of them already. Next month we will look at the colours of shadows.

April 2009 Tips for Beginners

BACKGROUNDS:
After painting our subjects, we often feel unsure what colours to paint the areas left over on the canvas.

We will call these areas the background, or the negative space.
The background will record the mood, atmosphere and space of your painting. That is why it is so important to choose the most suitable colour.
The best background colour is the same as the subject color, but it is very important that the TONE and INTENSITY of that background colour is in the right relation to the subject:

If the subject is light, the background colour should be darker.
Dark subjects look best silhouetted against light backgrounds.
Medium coloured subjects will be lost in medium coloured backgrounds.
If the subject is bright and vibrant, dull the colour for the negative areas by mixing in some of the complementary (and maybe white as well).
A very neutral or monotone subject will be dominated by a background that is brightly coloured.

Next month more about painting backgrounds. Happy painting!

March 2009 Tips for Beginners

The first impression you get of oil paint is that it is thick and opaque, yet some oil paints are wonderfully transparent. This transparent quality of a number of oil paints makes them useful for glazing.

What is glazing and how can it assist you in your colour mixing skills? Glazing means thinning down a transparent oil paint with any type of medium (linseed oil, prepared medium, varnish or turpentine) and applying it over a pre-painted and thoroughly dried area.

One colour glazed over a monochrome colour (or any colour for that matter), is clear and luminous looking. A transparent glaze can add more colour and enrich the coloured area.

To see the difference glazing can make, try the following two ways of application:

1) Apply a thin layer of Cadmium Yellow over an area on your canvas and leave it to thoroughly dry. Then apply a thin layer of cadmium red, (thinned down with varnish, turpentine or linseed oil.)
2) Apply a mixture of Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red over another area on your canvas.

The first way of applying the two colours, yellow and red is called GLAZING.
Both areas are orange in colour, but the first orange area looks clear, luminous and enriched compared to the second one.

The addition of white paint makes all oil paints, even the most transparent ones, opaque and not useful for glazing.

February 2009 Tips for Beginners

We are still discussing the different characteristics of some of the most used colours. YELLOW OCHRE is, with the exception of white, the colour I use most.

It is opaque, that means it covers well. It is a colour you see all around you in nature, in Autumn scenes, grass, beach sand, bark, rocks, just take a look outside. Yellow ochre mixed with white and any of the reds is an excellent choice for (white) flesh colours.

Yellow Ochre mixed into white, pleasantly warms the white in cups and saucers or vases. Mixed with a variety of different colours, I find it most suitable for backgrounds.

Add a Thalo Green and tones of black and white, or Alizarin Crimson with black and white. (do not use Lamp Black for mixing, it is too strong). RAW SIENNA is very similar to Yellow Ochre, it is also gold and earthy. Being of medium intensity it is useful for admixture with other warm colours
to record the many different autumn colours.

Mixed with Thalo green it gives you a dull yellow green you see everywhere in nature. Mixed with Alizarin Crimson, Thalo Blue, black and white, gives you many versions of earth colours.

January 2009 Tips for Beginners

LIGHT RED is not the same as Cadmium Red Light. Light Red is a brownish red, but it turns surprisingly pink when mixed with white. When painting white skin, I use Light Red, adding white and yellow. Light Red is opaque and very strong, a little goes a long way. An even stronger oxide red and similar to the Light red, is the VENITIAN RED.

Venitian Red is not a colour I use often, but I still find it indispensable because it is so strong, and like the Light Red, it turns pink when mixed with white. Mix Light Red with Alizarin Crimson and see how it reddens the Alizarin and makes it more opaque.

Use CADMIUM ORANGE for high lights on red objects. When only white is used for the high lights on red, the high lights tend to look dull and chalky. I find Cadmium Orange an excellent colour in admixture with other colours, for example, it turns Thalo Green into a lovely natural looking green for landscapes. Cadmium Orange is also useful to brighten and warm the flesh colour of white skin. A tiny bit of Cadmium Orange warms white clouds. When painting a blue sky, start off by painting the whole sky with a mixture of white with a little Cadmium Orange. Only then add a tinge of blue into the first layer. You will be surprised with the delightful effect.

Tones of orange are not suitable as background for portraits of white people, it does not complement the skin colour.

December 2008 Tips for Beginners

More about some of the different red colours available on the market:

All colours’ true identity are exposed by mixing them with white.
ALIZARIN CRIMSON mixed with white, turns violet.
It is a versatile colour to mix with, it is dark in tone and brilliant in intensity.
Alizarin Crimson mixed with French Ultramarine gives you a lovely violet. Add white for the lighter violet colours.
Alizarin Crimson mixed with Veridian Green gives you a very dark, almost black colour for shadow tones in greenery, in floral paintings and landscapes.
Alizarin is very suitable to mix with other reds.
Alizarin Crimson is also transparent and thus suitable for glazing.

ROSE MADDER is much like Alizarin Crimson but not as strong.

CADMIUM RED MEDIUM and CADMIUM RED DEEP mixed with white, loose their brightness and appear dull.
CADMIUM RED LIGHT can successfully be mixed with white.
All Cadmium colours are strong, you only need small quantities.
Cadmium colours are opaque but can be used for glazing when thinned down with turpentine. Cadmium colours dry slowly and remain workable on the palette for a long time.

For flesh colours (white skin), add Cadmium Red to yellow ochre and white, then darken and redden with Alizarin Crimson.
Mix Cadmium Red Light and Alizarin Crimson to get a colour that is bright and medium tone, not too orange or too violet when mixed with white.

November 2008 Tips for Beginners

Red is possibly the most difficult of the warm colours to paint well. Red adds exitement, I love to use red in my paintings. Red is a strong colour and when applying it into your painting, do so at the very end.

For example; when painting lips, structure the shape of the mouth first, then at the end apply the redness. When painting an orange-and-red apple, apply the weaker colour, (orange) first, then apply the red thereafter, blending the red into the orange.

When you have to lighten a red colour with white you expect the mixture to get lighter and brighter only to find that it gets lighter, - but not brighter.
The solution to this problem is to add bright orange and white instead of only white.

Most red oil colours take a long time to dry and will remain workable on your palette for days.

October 2008 Tips for Beginners

We use white paint to lighten colours because lighter tones of the colours are seen where the light shines on them. As mentioned in last month’s tips, you can use ZINK WHITE to lighten colours.

White is also necessary to record highlights on objects. For highlights I prefer to use TITANIUM WHITE it reflects more light. Even highlights on objects are not pure white. They are white with a tiny bit of the object’s complementary colour. Highlights on a red apple: white and a little green; highlights on a blue vase: white and a touch of orange.

Do not paint objects so light that the highlights won’t show up.

In a composition no part exists exclusive of other parts of the picture. Each object is influenced by the things surrounding it - the same object will look differently according to its environment. Objects next to each other will reflect; ie. the green of an apple next to a yellow pear will reflect in the pear and vise versa.

September 2008 Tips for Beginners

When colour on your canvas is not balanced, your painting will look wrong and unnatural. In nature colour is balanced. When the light is cool, the shadows will be warm. In a warm light atmosphere the shadows are cool. Used in concert with each other, the warm and cool colours will complement each other. White paint is not a colour. ZINK WHITE paint is suitable for mixing with other colours. TITANIUM WHITE paint is much more illuminating and should be used when painting on its own. Whites in nature are really coloured.

The seemingly white objects we paint are always being influenced by a highlighting condition that imposes a colour upon them. Whites can be yellow, blue, pink, even green or purple. When painting a white flower for instance, only about one-third of the flower will be pure white. The shadowy parts will be light-grey.

Grey should be a mixture of the following: White with a tiny bit of FRENCH ULTRAMARINE, YELLOW OCHRE (or CADMIUM YELLOW) and ALIZARIN CRIMSON.

Look carefully at the object you are painting, the shadows will appear greenish in some areas, pinkish or bluish in another. Add more of the appropriate colour into the grey. (Never use a mix of white and black. for shadows.)

August 2008 Tips for Beginners

a) The COLOUR WHEEL is all pure colour.
b) Colours vary in three ways: TONE, INTENSITY and HUE.

You’ll have to ask yourself four questions when faced with painting any subject:

1) What COLOUR do I see?
It will be versions of one of the following 6 colours: yellow, orange, red, violet, blue or green.

2) What TONE is the colour?
Is it light, medium or dark in contrast to its surroundings.

3) What INTENSITY is the colour?
Is it bright, medium or dull.

4) What HUE is the colour?

Is it a warm version of the colour or is it a cooll version of the colour.

You can establish the success of the tone in your painting by looking at a black and white photograph of you painting.

The tone of a colour is the most important consideration in colour mixing.

Neutralize or grey-down the pure colour with the use of its complement

Keep your warm and cool colours separate on your palette.

Don’t economize on paint.

handled.

July 2008 Tips for Beginners - Colour:

Colour is almost as important as the composition of a painting. Beautiful colour can please you regardless of subject matter and even if the painting is clumsily handled.

Many abstract paintings are pleasing to the eye because of beauty of colour, even if it has no obvious significance.

A Colour Wheel is most helpful for beginners
I prefer to use a Double Primaries Palette
This simply means there are two of each of the primary colours:
See Colour Wheel below:

(My choice of primaries:)
1) LEMON YELLOW and 2) CADMIUM YELLOW
3) CADMIUM RED and 4) ALIZARIN CRIMSON
5) PTHALO BLUE and 6) FRENCH UNTRAMARINE

With these 6 colours, plus TITANIUM WHITE and BLACK, we can mix almost all the colours we need in any painting.

To mix a clear GREEN: Mix PTHALO BLUE (5) and LEMON YELLOW (2)
For a clear ORANGE: Mix CADMIUM YELLOW (1) and CADMIUM RED (3)
If you desire a clear PURPLE: Mix ALIZARIN CR. (4) and F. ULTAMARINE (6)
(If the PUPLE is too dark add some WHITE.)

BROWN: Mix CADMIUM YELLOW (1) ,CADMIUM RED (3) and F.ULTAMARINE (6) GREY: Mix CADMIUM YELLOW (1), ALIZARIN CR. (4) and F.ULTAMARINE (6) and a lot of WHITE. ( Your GREY will be alive and not a dead “BLACK and WHITE” –GREY.

Later you can slowly add other colours as you have more confidence mixing these colours. (Next month more about colours.)

June 2008 Art Tip:

The elements which make up a painting are in order of importance:

Design or Composition
Colour
Drawing

Composition is, in my opinion, the most important element in a painting – a pleasing design attracts you to a painting before you are close enough to see what it is all about.

Do not start to paint before spending plenty of time in selecting your subject matter and thinking about the composition thereof. Try to select objects you like to include in your painting, then eliminate about half the objects.

Choose your important object or group of objects, then focus the interest on this once part of the painting – the eye is naturally selective and you physically cannot focus on two things at once.

The area of interest will be painted in more detail and will have more contrast of value and brighter colour than the rest of the painting. The rest of the objects must be placed to complement and be subordinate to the main interest. (If you are enthusiastic and excited about what you are doing, this attitude will convey itself to the viewer.)

May 2008 Art Tip:

Oil paint is expensive and you do not need all those colours when you start painting. I usually advice beginners to start with the Double Primaries Palette as well as black and white:

DOUBLE PRIMARIES PALETTE:

YELLOW: Cadmium Yellow and Lemon Yellow
RED: Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson
BLUE: French Ultramarine and Pthalo Blue

BLACK: Black Oxide
WHITE: Titanium White

With these basic colours you can mix all the different hues and intensities you will need in your painting:

BROWN: Mix Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and F.Ultramarine. (the colour brown you get depends on the quantities you add to your colour mix.)
GREY: Mix white with a tiny bit of the following 3 colours: F.Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow. (A mixture of black and white gives you a dead, dull grey.)

When your colour blue is too bright or intense, neutralize with orange, (a mixture of Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow) When your colour green is too bright, neutralize with a tiny bit of red. Neutralize a too bright red with green.

Experiment with these colours, you will soon get the idea and its really fun.
As you get more confident mixing your colours you could slowly add others, like Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Rose Magenta, depending on your colour preference.

April 2008 Art Tip:

The branches of the tree are too thick and look clumsy.
Solution:Use a very fine rigger brush and dilute the paint with oil and turpentine to paint the thinner branches.
The sky is too bright. Solution: Add not only white but also a little orange to the blue when painting the sky.
The highlights on bright red objects, ie. flowers look dull and unrealistic. Solution: Paint the highlights orange and see the difference.
The green is too bright when painting leaves or grass.
Solution: Add a tiny bit of red to the green.
Placing the horizon in the centre of the painting, cutting it in half.
Solution: Place your horizon higher or lower than the centre of the painting.
Having two objects of the same size, colour and shape, fighting for attention. Solution: Rather have an odd number of objects or change some of the shapes.
Paint has been applied like watercolour, too thin and looking dull.
Solution: Apply thin layers only when starting the painting, adding more as you progress, finishing off with thick undiluted paint.

March 2008 Art Tip:

Paint dark paints thin and light paints thick.
If objects (ie. fruit, flowers, trees) are similar in shape, size and colour, have an uneven number of objects.
Have objects like jugs, point into the picture and not out.
One-third of the picture should be empty, one-third busy (but not congested) and the other third quiet.
Let one object in your painting dominate and let the rest be subordinate.
Place the main interest towards the centre of your painting but never exactly in the middle of your canvas.
Instead of black, which is a dead and dull colour, try a mixture of Prussian Blue and Cadmium Red.

February 2008 Art Tip:

Warm colors seem to advance and cool colours seem to recede.Paint the background cooler and the foreground warmer colours.
Tonal value: your painting if seen in black and white should be pleasing too.
You should have the whole range of tonal values from black to white in your painting.
For the artist who seeks to simulate form through light and shade, tonal value is the most important.
A low hue value picture will be a dark picture while a high value picture will be a light picture.
Colours of low chroma tend to recede when contrasted with colours of higher intensity.This gives the artist the ability to simulate depth through variations in intensity. For instance a bright red rose will advance while a dull less bright one, will recede.
You can neutralize the intensity of a colour by adding the complementary colour, ie. if the green is to intense, add a little red and a tiny bit of white to it.
When your painting lacks depth, the reason could be that an advancing colour has been applied on an area that belongs to the background.

January 2008 Art Tip:

Contrast textures in your painting, ie. smooth fruit in a textured basket or textured fruit, like pineapples, in a smooth dish.
Never cut your painting into equal halves by placing your horizon in the center of it.
Whenever possible, dispense of lines in a painting, tone and colour smudges make the painting, lines make a drawing.
How about painting three panels to form a triptych with various forms continuing into the other panels to form a larger whole.
The three dimensions of colour: Hue: Simply the colour; green, red, blue. Tonal value: Relative lightness or darkness of the picture. Chroma: The intensity of the colour.
The colours an artist applies in his work has an phsychological impact on the viewer. Colours influence our feelings; ie. they can make us depressed, relaxed or stimulate us. An artist can make use of these influences in order to convey a message to the viewer, by selecting an appropriate range of hues to emphasize a certain mood.
Warm colours seem warmer and cools cooler when contrasted with their complementary colours.

December 2007 Art Tip:

The eye needs a quiet space to rest, if not, the painting appears too busy.
Negative areas should have interesting shapes too. If spaces seem too much alike, too chopped up or perhaps too ungainly and large, then consolidate some of the smaller areas into a large one and alter the boundaries of the large shapes into more interesting ones.
Sacrifice detail for the impression of the whole.
When having several objects in your painting, they must be made to link together. One way is by composition, making the objects overlap.
The success of your painting depends on the composition of all the elements or objects into a unity within the limited space of your canvas.
When having only round objects in your painting, (ie. fruit or flowers ) make sure to add at least an indication of a straight line for contrast.
It is easier to see your painting in perspective by looking at it through a mirror.

November 2007 Art Tip:

If you are inclined to paint small paintings, take courage and paint a really big one. They are not only easier to paint, but you will also be so proud of your large painting.
Start with thin paint (paint diluted with turpentine) then build up the texture.
Composition, colour combination and drawing are the main elements that make up a painting.
A good guide for the composition of a painting is to have one-third busy, one-third quiet and one-third empty.
The simpler the composition the more pleasing it will be to the eye.
A composition based on an off-centre cross is always pleasing and safe.
Small exciting spaces against large calm ones are pleasant to see in a painting.

October 2007 Art Tip:

Only start painting when you really like what you paint. Take time choosing your subject.
Do not work for too long at time the first time you paint. You might loose concentration at the end and make a mess of your painting.
When looking at your painting the following day, you will look with fresh eyes and be able to complete the painting with minor adjustments.
After painting, wash your brushes with turpentine, wipe them dry with a cloth, then thoroughly wash them with very hot water and detergent.
After washing soft brushes, I gently wipe them over a wet soap cake then shape the soft hair neatly into a point. They last much longer.
Have you started your very first painting? Congratiolations, you have just overcome the most difficult hurdle! After this one practice it will become more and more easy.
I have found that those who simply enjoy painting instead of laboriously practice, learn much faster.

September 2007 Art Tip:

Work from photos to start with,later on you can copy from real life when you are more confident.
Procrastination is one of our main enemies, do not let it beat you.
If your painting does not look like an artist’s, be not discouraged, remember he has been at it for years.
To start with, copy the work of artists, you can relax about composition, colour combination and can concentrate on colour mixing and brushstrokes.
You will learn so much by copying the work of well-known artists. Choose the artist whose work you admire most.
Use wide brushes for large areas and small brushes only for small areas.
Beginners tend to use too thin brushes. The big brushes finish the work much faster and the effect is much fresher.

August 2007 Art Tip:

You only learn to paint by trying and doing.
Join a group of others who also want to learn to paint. New friends, new interest in life is a good cure for many ailments.
Drawing is important and can be learned, practice as much as you can.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes, if you don’t produce a disaster now and again, you are being too careful.
Do not compare your talent with anybody else, you are unique and so is your art.
Are you afraid to start painting? Do you know everyone is, me too sometimes.
When you started walking you needed a hand, when you have never painted before, it helps to have someone to get you started.

July 2007 Art Tip:

Paint dark paints thin and lights thick.
If objects (i.e. fruit, flowers or trees) are similar in shape, size and colour, have an odd number of objects.
Have objects, like jugs, point into the picture, not out.
One- third of the picture can be empty, one-third busy, (not congested) the other third quiet.
Let one thing in your painting dominates-the rest subordinate.
Have the main interest toward the centre of the picture, but never have the main object exactly in the middle of your canvas.
Instead of black, which is dead and dull, use a mixture of Prussian blue and Cadmium red?