Tips on Oil Painting - The Drawing Phase

The first phase of the oil painting process consists of drawing the scene on your canvas. Here are a few beginners oil painting tips.

Drawing - It is absolutely necessary that you have some drawing skills. In fact, personally, I almost always start a painting with a drawing, be it in charcoal, graphite pencil, or thin paint. I find it reassuring that, by the time I start the real painting, the whole scene is already in place.

The Four Basic Shapes - I base my drawings on four basic geometric shapes: the sphere, the cylinder, the cone, and the cube. Just about every object can be built from these four forms.

Composition - Composition refers to the manner in which objects are positioned relative to each other on the page. More formally, it is the arrangement of forms and spaces within the format of the page.

The main characteristic of a good composition in drawing is that it creates a feeling of balance in position. The forms and spaces should be balanced relative to the vertical and the horizontal that go through the center of the canvas.

There should also be a balance in terms of value. Darks and lights should balance each other out in an overall sense. In other words, having too much black on one side or a complete lack of it is generally not good.

The same is true for intensity. The intense parts as well as the dull parts in a drawing should show an overall balance.

Of course, sometimes an unexpected deviation from the perfect balance gives excitement and interest to a drawing. This is a matter of artistic sensibility.

Always choose a focal point in your drawing and compose the scene in such a way that all roads lead to the focal point. The focal point should also be the area where you add the most detail.

Make sure not to place objects such that they divide the canvas exactly in half. Also, space similar objects unevenly. For example, when there are four trees in the picture, don’t space them equally unless that’s the intent.

Don’t let objects kiss each other or the edges of the canvas. Make them overlap or crop them. Also, don’t staircase a series of similar objects and don’t let lines go out in the corners of the canvas.

Perspective - Here are few rules of simple perspective that may come in handy:

- Vertical Lines. Vertical lines in a scene are also vertical on your drawing paper.

- Parallel Lines. All horizontal parallel lines converge to the same vanishing point on the horizon. Of course, each direction has its own vanishing point. Also, the closer of two equal parallel line segments will always be seen as the longer of the two.

- Ellipses. The tops and bottoms of bottles and plates are circular. However, in perspective they become ellipses. The closer they are to eye level the flatter these ellipses become. The further away from eye level the rounder they become.

Of course, there is much more to say about drawing but these few tips will get you started particularly in relation to painting.

Read more about how to draw with pencil here.

Also, for the tattoo lovers, grab some tips on the upper back tattoos.

If you are considering paying a visit to a health club but you are not sure what to expect, here is a little information to help you make up your mind.

A health club is where you should go if you want to feel and healthy and where you can relax and soak up the atmosphere. There is sure to be one close by to your home, so why not give it a try?

health clubs offer many advantages such as all manner of rubdowns, which equally produce different results. All rubdowns involve the handling of parts of your body, in a way which relaxes your muscles, relieves tension and improves your circulation. If you need attention paying to your stress levels, then the best place to start is with omnipresent Swedish rubdown where long and slow movements are made to encourage renewed blood flow. The opposite of this can be said of shiatsu rubdown where the contact is much firmer. Thai rubdown which is often referred to as assisted yoga is another type you may opt for, but rest assured whichever kind of rubdown you choose, you are sure to enjoy both the rubdown and the associated health benefits. Follow up with a steam shower to freshen up.

If you would really like your whole body to be wonderfully indulged then a body wrap may be just what you are looking for. This is when your body is treated with a formula of ingredients such as algae, clay, cream, mud and seaweed and then you are wrapped up for around twenty minutes and kept warm. Following this period the concoction will be rinsed off your body. The result of this is that your skin takes on a healthy and fresh appearance. In places where you are lucky enough to have access to a Vichy shower, you will just be able to lie there whilst a number of different shower heads cascade warm water over you and after this rinse you will feel dry and well moisturized.

To conclude your health club treatment you could follow up with a sauna session. This is where you can take the opportunity to simply sit and relax and have a little “me” time. The humidity encourages you to perspire and you will find that the moisture carries away the daily grime and dirt from your pores will leave you skin silky smooth. A quick shower and then you will be ready to get on your way and face the world again.

Take a little time to see what’s on offer at your local health club and then try out everything you fancy from rubdowns, to steam room, to body wraps. You will be so glad you did!