Oil Painting Lessons » Art Tips

Painting The North Shore of Grand Haven

gary odmark — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 01:38:09 +0000

Here is a commission painting for a cottage owner on The North Shore looking south to the Grand Haven Pier.
It was a dismil day, but the surf was up. I knew it would be a lot of fun painting the action in these waves. The sky was painted with cobalt blue towards the top blending into cerelean blue towards t he horizon. The shadows on the clouds were a mixture of burnt sienna and cobalt blue. The sand was raw sienna with raw umber and cobalt blue added.
I know…..what about the water. The water had several glazes of viridian green and cobalt blue. Closer to the shore some raw sienna was added here and there. I also place a light mixture of cerrelean blue in the troughs of the waves. For the crashing surf, I use titanium white with a little cobalt blue on the shadow side. I add a little cadmium yellow to the white of the waves or a little cadmium orange. The ripples in the waves are a mixture of cobalt blue, burnt sienna, and viridian. Sometimes I like to introduce a light mauve or purple into the shallows in the water. Hope this blog has helped you. I plan on writing blogs to teach along with the videos that take so much longer to create. The next video will be on painting a cloudy day.

Pleasant Painting,

Gary W. Odmark

Bringing an Old Photo to Life

gary odmark — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:52:50 +0000

Found myself a fun project. I was fortunate to have a super Grandfather. I found a photograph of him in black and white and decided to venture out and change it into a full color oil portrait.     What great memories were running through my mind.
     I first sketched the portrait out on canvas with burnt sienna and then proceeded to block in the shadow areas. In painting a portrait it is very important to get your measurements right. Once I felt that everything seemed to look right I went ahead and placed a medium skin tone throughout the face and neck.     The forehead is usually a lighter tone and the nose , ears, and mouth area are nearly always painted with more red.   This is because the skin is thinner and therefore the blood is closer to the surface of the skin. I use green the complimentry of red to tone down my shadows.
     It is quite interesting to see the change that appears when you change over a black and white photo into a full color oil portrait. The person seems to come alive. In painting this portrait I found simularities in myself and two brothers. Each of us have carried on some of my grandfathers features..     I will be posting some more instruction videos soon and I also plan to include in my blogs paintings that have just been completed with some valuable tips for artists and art admirers.      I hope you enjoy these.      Gary W. Odmark

landscape oil painting of an old barn

gary odmark — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:35:24 +0000

Cheers, My first free video is complete. I do have another that is available to buy. I am in the process of developing several free teaching videos. This first video touches on perspective and a few tips on painting this old barn. If you are interested in receiving these videos as they become available send me your e-mail requesting to be on my list of people interested in art. My e-mail is garyodmark@yahoo.com. I hope you enjoy these new learning experiences. Gary Click landscape oil painting of an old barn to see the first free video.

landscape oil painting of an old barn