Paint Basket Art Forum
Other => Hints and Tips => Topic started by: nolan on July 11, 2010, 12:28:26 AM
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A previous article on how much detail your painting needs told us to loosen up and stop adding detail that the viewer isn't going to see anyway. For some artists this is way more difficult than it sounds. You get so used to painting with your 0, 00 and oh boy that faithful old 000 brush, that holding a brush any bigger feels like you are holding a telephone pole in your hand.
Not to worry, help is at hand. Follow these simple techniques and you will be painting as free as a bird in no time.
1) Increase your brush size.
Instead of using the brush you normally would, choose the next size up. By doing this you won't be able to add as much unnecessary detail even if you try.
2) Use less medium
When painting with small fine brushes you need to thin your paint down quiet a lot otherwise you can't get the detail you want. We can now turn this on it's head to force us to loosen up. If you add less medium to your colour mixes you will get less detail with the same brush as you need to press harder to get the paint on the canvas.
3) Hold the brush on the other end.
When painting detail we hold the brush on or close to the ferrule like a pen. Move your hand back until you are holding the brush on the tip furthest from the bristles. You will find that you now have a little less control over your brush and can't overdo the detail. This method also has the added advantage of forcing you to stand further away from the canvas.
4) Hide your brushes
There is probably no better way to loosen up than to hide your brushes. Take out your painting knives and let the fun begin.
Always bear in mind that you DO want detail in your focal point, but it isn't necessary in the rest of the painting. These exercises are there to force you to paint extra loose so that you can find that happy medium between too much detail and too little. Who knows, you may even find that you prefer to paint loose.
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Another tip, regarding brushes, is that instead of holding one like a pen, hold it like a flashlight, or if you were fencing. This forces the entire arm to move when applying paint.
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O0 no way you getting huge detail painting like that
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It would be like trying to paint with a fencing foil. En garde canvas! :2funny:
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OK...got the point! :knight: :D
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:twothumbs:
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My! But the people on this forum are sharp :whistle:
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so the point is - use a larger point O0
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When discussing alternate ways of holding a brush, I've always used a flashlight as an example, although I believe it is called a torch in other parts of the world. The only other analogy that I could immediately think of was fencing. Have to admit, the notion of attack a canvas is funny.
Another approach would be to take a really cheap brush, or an old one you no longer care about, and use a pair of scissors to cut the bristles at a new/different angle. The idea is to perhaps discover a new type of brush mark.
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That is quite useful information Bottleman. Thank you.