Direct Painting: 10 Simple Guidelines to Colorful and Clean Paintings

After writing about Direct painting methods I thought that a list of simple guidelines for direct painting could be helpful.

Wayne Thiebaud. For a really great blog post about Thiebaud I recommend Alberti's Window. 

Direct painting can be done in wet stages, akin to indirect painting, or in one go; it all depends on the style of the artist. For a beginning artist, it can be frustrating to figure out your own style. Knowing some basic ideas as to how to navigate a painting can really help you create your own style.

1. Beginning with a colored ground can help create a complete color harmony throughout a work.

2. Before starting a painting, decide where you want the most detail, in your lights or your darks. The more detail an area has, the more the viewer's eye will linger. In order to keep your direct painting as fresh as possible, simplify either your darks or lights (depending on the mood and tone of your painting).

• In most paintings the darks are left simple with thin applications of paint; however, there are works where the darks are more important. Note the above and below paintings by Wayne Thiebaud. The difference is slight, but in the majority of his paintings his shadows are the more important, more interesting part of the painting. To see if an artist is emphasizing their lights or darks, squint at the painting (I have to close one eye and squint): the overall details will blend and you will be able to see where the emphasis is. Notice that when you do this to the above and below paintings that all but the donuts emphasize the shadows. 

3. When discovering your own process, practice using different "painting paths" until you find your own groove.

Noah Buchanan 

• Path 1: Painting from Dark to Light 
• You will sometimes see people painting from light to dark (as with watercolors), but dark to light is the more common and easier way to paint with oils. Here a darker ground can be utilized to help establish the deeper tones of your work. This can help keep your darks dark, colorful, and clear of mudding color mixtures.
• Note that in the above image the darks are not finished, merely that they have been established before the whites were painted in order to help create adequate contrast. 

• Path 2: Painting from Midtones to increased Contrast  
• This allows for more complex paintings where lights and darks are of more equal importance. It can also allow more flexibility, especially when your image has neither intense darks or lights.

The below video (I am sorry about the music, again) shows the artist utilizing both paths. In the beginning of the video he quickly, though minimally, establishes his darks and then about half way through starts using his midtones as a base before moving into highlights and shadows. 

4. Remember that thin, transparent layers recede back into the picture plane while thick, opaque layers advance from the picture plane towards the viewer.

5. Remember warm vs cool. If your shadows are warm, your lights should be cool; if your shadows are cool, your lights should be warm. This can be applied very subtly or starkly.

In the above image you can see the cool light with warm shadows in Michelangelo's Delphic Sybil and the warm light with cool shadows in Hikari Shimoda's Children of this Planet 9. Wayne Thiebaud also primary used warm light and cool shadows.

6. Create interest by varying the length and size of your brush strokes.

• If you want more defined strokes with heavier paint application, use filbert or hog bristle brushes

7. Avoid muddy colors by limiting a mixture to 2-3 oil paints and never mix complements.

8. Use one brush for lights and another for darks to keep color clean and bright.

9. Less is more.

• Begin with more general gestures versus tight details. 
• Begin with limited color blending. 
• Paint highlights last. 

10. To help make your shadows simple and convincing, look for the color of your background as well as the compliment to split compliment of your main mass tone. Light application of these colors will help to more easily create a feeling of three dimensionality.

Notice that in the above image you can see the dark purple compliment as well as the darker gray of the background in the shadow.

Learning how to execute a clean, bright direct painting can at times be a frustrating experience. Keeping these guidelines in mind can help while starting out. To read more about other guideline recommendations read here and here.  

For more about painting check out my main Tips and Techniques page.