Water-mixable oils
Learning objectives
■ How to paint from photographs
■ Top tips and techniques for painting realistic-looking clouds
■ Practise your brushstrokes
MURRAY'S TOP TIPS
• Watercolourists coming to water-mixable oils instinctively want to make the paint very wet. This medium is much easier to work without lots of thinning, but takes a little getting used to.
• I generally only use water to wash brushes especially whilst painting skies in water-mixable oils and dry the brush thoroughly on a piece of rag before recommencing.
• Experiment with the techniques. You will be surprised at the subtlety achievable with oils.
• Much of the skill in painting with oils is about brush handling, lightness of touch, the amount and positioning of paint on the brush. This all comes with experience.
The techniques for applying both water-mixable oils and traditional oils can be the same, and whilst thinning the paint can be done from the beginning, my preferred method is not to thin, especially when painting skies. What a lot of newcomers to oils, especially
