Oil Painting Day 1

Day 1: Today I started my new project which is an oil painting of a purple nebula. Oil paint is different then acrylic paint because oil paint is thicker and isn't as forgiving as acrylic paint. This means when you make a mistake with oil paint it is harder to fix. You also must apply paint thinner to this out oil paint because the oil will not mix with water. I am also using a solution which allows the paint to dry faster and makes the paint more opaque. Without this solution it could take the paint days to dry. This solution is also good for this painting because nebulas are more cloudy and the solution helps show that. The picture posted below is the background and I will slowly apply layers to it and work more towards the for ground.

Day 7: Final Day Of Sumi Ink

Day 7: Final Piece

Day 7: Today I finished up my Sumi Ink painting. I got some recommendations to darken the right side of the face to make the shadow pop more. I also Went to all the spots where no ink was applied to add value. I added some shadows to the pocket on the right breast. I added the shadows to background as well. It took awhile to get the transitions of the shadows on the wall and took a lot of wiping away ink with a sponge. I believe the shirt came out very well. The shadows in the fabric turned out better than I had expected. My next project will be an oil painting of a nebula. Once again I have never worked with this median, only acrylic paint, so it will be a new experience for me.

Original Picture

Previous Day (Day 6)

Day 6: Background

Day 6: Today I worked on the background and the shirt. The background is a transitioning shadow from dark on the left side to light in the middle then dark in the right corner by the shoulder. I also put more work into the pocket on the right breast. I also worked on the area around the pocket by adding small wrinkles and shadows. I also darkened the untouched areas of the shirt just to add some shade to it. I also worked on the knuckles. The hand has been one of the more difficult parts of this piece because there are lots of subtle shadows that are hard to express. For now I am just working on small details as this project comes to a close. There are no more big things to do in my opinion so the rest of this project will only be small changes and touch ups.

Day 6

Previous Day (Day 5)

Day 5: Finishing The Hair

Day 5: The first thing I worked on was finishing up the hair. I did this with a very small brush and a series of repeated brush strokes. I could not paint the whole head black thought because there are reflections in my hair from the light. I also darkened and added shadows to the shirt and hand. Im having trouble getting the hand right. I don't know what it is but something just seems off about it. I added more shadows to the shirt as well as well as the neck. I also added shadows to the nose and lips to bring more life to the painting. I also added a small handprint in the background by just applying dots in certain places because I thought it looked cool.

Day 5

Previous Day (Day 4)