More Exercises in Oil

Curled Up - Half-hour Study
2 February 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
59cm x 31cm (23.25" x 12.25")

The first exercises in oil were a challenge (see Exercises in Black and White Oil Color), but now I am beginning to understand the attraction of oil paints.

I started to enjoy the exercises once I embraced the medium and stopped trying to use the brush like a pencil. This is the same lesson I had to learn for gesture drawing with the Conté crayons (see More Gestures in Black and White).

Standing Hamstring Stretch - Gesture Drawing
2 February 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
14cm x 36cm (5.5" x 14")

The studies from the original post were drawn with the quarter inch brush. Now, I am making more use of the three quarter inch brush, particularly in the shorter studies. Instead of trying to scribble (which is difficult with the limited amount of paint in the bristle brushes), I am using the three quarter inch brush to make gestural marks.


Sustained Study - Section 22 - Modelled Drawing
7 February 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
27.5cm x 51cm (10.75" x 20")

The modelled drawing is both difficult and enjoyable. The instructions are to model in the same way as with the Conté crayons - apply less pressure with the black crayon when a surface in the dark turns towards the light and less pressure with the white crayon when a surface in the light turns away from the light. This works well with the crayons. With paint, there is a tendency for it to build up during the exercise and for some of the subtlety in the initial modelling to be lost. I am not too concerned about this because Kimon Nicolaides' advice is not to worry about overworking the modelling exercises. The purpose of the exercises is to experience the sensation of modelling as though you have touched every part of the form - not to create pretty oil paintings.