"Ask John" - Glowing Under-painting

Artist Carol Kairis writes...

Hello John

Great to find your new Blog site. Appreciating  the glow you achieve with your under-painting, I’m hopeful you may help me with a oil painting I’m working on. It is a painting of the amber glow across the Tyrrhenian Sea (Ansedonia , Italy) at Sunset. The glow holds hues of gold, (little orange and red undertones). I really want to play up the amber glow with just a hint of the orange and red.  What color for the under painting should I use? Then which glaze would compliment that to obtain the best results?

Thank You. Carol

Hi Carol;  

I am attaching three paintings of sunsets I have done in oils, as examples of how I approach the task.

 

The under-painting in this lake scene sketch was a yellow ochre. It was done very quickly as the sun was changing as I watched. 

The same conditions applied when I painted the rose coloured sunset in the Canadian Arctic. I had only a few minutes to apply the rose under-painting and add the dark mountains and yellows in the sky, as the ship I was on was moving at the time. 

This winter scene above was done in the studio with a yellow under-painting. The violets provided a nice complimentary colour to the golds.  Basically, I like to choose a under-painting colour that provides an overall harmony. The use of complimentaries adds some drama to the painting.

I hope that this is of help. Please keep in touch and thank you for your question. 
Best Regards. John.

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"Ask John" - Water Soluble Oils

Artist Andy Basacchi of Toronto writes...

Hi John:

I have been using artist quality oil paints for some time and understand that there are water soluble oils. Can you provide me with your opinion on using water soluble versus oil?

Thanks.  Andy Basacchi

Hi Andy;

My experience with W/S oils is that they do have some advantages, particularly if you have a negative reaction to some of the oil solvents, (even the so called odorless solvents). When I went to the Arctic in 2006 I decided to take my W/S oils as we had no guarantee that we could find solvents when we arrived, and we could not carry them on the plane. I found them quite similar to regular oils with some slight differences. They felt slightly less 'movable,' (with the exception of the Holbein "Duo" product), and they were much dryer coming out of the tube. and needed some lubrication to make them more fluid. For me, the use of the medium was not as successful as I'd like, and I had to be careful not to add too much water.  The cleaning process was obviously simpler with just water. I am adding a couple of images with me painting on board the Academik Ioffe with my W/S oils.

In my video "Delphiniums", I do a small demonstration on using water soluble oil paints.

I hope that this answers your question about W/S oils.
Best Regards. John.

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If you have a comment you'd like to add, please join the conversation in the Comments section below.

If you have a question you'd like me to answer, just click the logo.

New Feature - "Ask John!"

 

Hello Fellow Artists!

Over the years, I've received countless requests for painting advice and to critique student's paintings.

Now, I'm launching our new "Ask John" blog feature, and  I'll be responding to those many letters, and you can also submit your art questions or samples for tips and pointers directly to me. As well, you can join in the discussion with the artist community in the comments section, with your own responses and comments.

You can submit anything you like: queries for tips on how to make your painting work the way you want, personal stories and ideas, and samples of your paintings for feedback.

Each week I will be posting my responses to your letters on my web site and here on my  blog.

So feel free to e-mail them in, and I look forward to hearing from you. John. Click the logo to send your questions to John!