Red’s Original Oil Paintings for Sale
Scroll to the bottom to learn all about Red’s process and techniques she uses to create her abstract oil paintings.
Oil Paintings
Oil paintings have a long tradition in art history. Many of the world’s greatest creatives have used this material to produce their masterpieces, and its legacy lives on as one of the most popular media today.
Acrylic and oil are two of the most well-known types of paints used by contemporary artists. These are the two mediums I use. But what is the difference between acrylic vs oil paints? The construction of oils makes the difference. Oil paints feature pigments that are suspended in oil (typically linseed) while acrylics have their colors bound using acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylics can be thinned with water, but oil paints require turpentine, linseed oil or mineral spirits. See this link to learn more – https://mymodernmet.com/oil-painting-techniques/
How I Began Using Oils
My creation of abstracts began with using acrylic paints. It was not until; I frequented a gallery in Naples where the gallery owner asked me why I didn’t create my beautiful abstracts with oils. Of course, I gave the usual response about the quick drying benefit of acrylics. But she strongly recommended that I give oils a try.
Well, I returned home, researched what are the best oil paints and discovered Gamblin oil paints. I purchased a few Gamblin oil paints and gave it a try. I must say, I am thoroughly pleased with the experience of creating my abstracts using oils.
Oil paint pigments are rich in tone and have a lustrous finish to them. Additionally, oil paints are slow to dry which gives me time to change my artwork after I have laid down an initial brushstroke. This is just the opposite of acrylics; but I like the change in methods and techniques. Gamblin oil paint come in many vibrant colors and are easy to work with. I am quite satisfied with the results.
Now, I create my modern abstract art using oils, acrylics, and at times I’ll even combined them into a mixed media abstract. I find both oil and acrylic mediums to be rewarding.
Why Gamblin for My Oil Paintings
Gamblin oil paints have luxurious colors and contemporary mediums that are safer and more permanent. I find they have exceptional quality and the price is affordable for professional artists oil paints. One of their outstanding features is all Gamblin Artist’s Oil Paints are completely non-toxic. For my contemporary abstraction, I find my ideal colors within the Gamblin line.
How Gamblin Makes Non-Toxic Oils – Perfect for your Oil Paintings
Click on this link to read more about Gamblin Oil Paints – https://gamblincolors.com/about-gamblin/about-gamblin-artists-colors/
Made with the finest grades of pigment available (yes, there are differences), Gamblin Artist’s Oils have luscious working properties, and each color possesses unique characteristics in terms of texture, undertone, and tinting strength. The range of colors includes both historically accurate paints and modern, synthetically derived hues.
All Gamblin Artist’s Oil Paints are completely non-toxic since most of them are made with alkali-refined linseed oil as a binder, which creates a strong, flexible paint film and yellows significantly less than cold press linseed oil, the traditional binder in oil paints. Select colors use safflower oil as a binder. Not only are these vegetable oils completely non-toxic, they are commonly used in health and beauty products, so you can trust in their safety.
Gamblin offers a range of contemporary painting mediums around fast-drying, soy-based alkyd resin, which are formulated with the mildest solvent available: Gamsol. As a thinner and brush cleaner, Gamsol has set the standard for studio safety and allows painters to work in traditional and contemporary painting techniques.
Oil Painting Techniques
I use some of my acrylic painting techniques for my oil paintings; however, my application of oils requires adjustment since oil paint consistency and composition are quite different than acrylic paints. In addition to palette knives, dry brush application and surprisingly some splattering, I incorporate other oil painting techniques into my abstracts. Below are a few additional oil painting techniques for creating my artwork.
Load up Paint on Brush or Palette Knife
I load up either a brush or palette knife with a lot of paint, making sure not to over-mix the color. I do this by directly dipping into the oil container or from the paint on the palette. This technique of under mixing the paint but loading up on my brush / knife provides a great streak affect. This streaking technique is equivalent of what watercolor painters achieve when they load their brushes with several pure colors and put down a single stroke with a lot of water, letting the colors flow in swirling patterns on the paper.
Scraping and Reapplying
Scraping off some paint and then reapplying it with the palette knife is a technique I sometimes use. I scrape a section from the canvas and reapply it with a single palette knife stroke to keep some of those colors I applied with the brush showing through in streaks. I scrape a large amount of paint off my palette and lay it down with a light touch to create a more broken, impasto layer of paint.
Using Layers
A thick layer of broken impasto can transform an otherwise boring area. Oil painting allows me to completely paint over and completely cover other paint layers as long as they are dry. When I use multiple layers, I start out with thinner layers of paint often in lighter colors. I slowly work toward thicker layers and darker colors.
Informal Brush Strokes
I often use informal brush strokes that do not follow a pattern but run in different directions. These strokes cover the canvas in fluid bunches of color. I use this technique with both thick and diluted paint. Believe it or not using a simple brush stroke can provide volume and shape to my painting. I apply different colors of paint with different brush strokes to achieve various affects.
Using Gamblin Mediums
All painting mediums affect oil colors from the tube in the following ways: they modify the working properties of the paint, influence drying rates, increase transparency and alter the surface quality (gloss to matte). The difference from one painting medium to the next is how they do these things. I use many different Gamblin mediums to create my oil abstract paintings to provide each one a unique expression of me.
For a quick tour through Gamblin’s mediums, click on this link: Oil Painting Mediums Guide
So, my portfolio of fine art abstract paintings will continue to include oil paintings using a variety of techniques. Who knows, I may even come up with new application methods for my oil paints.
Dare to Feel,
Red
See all of Red’s Creations in her gallery.
View Red’s page www.facebook.com/StrokesbyRed or www.instagram.com/strokesbyredartist
