The Biggest PROBLEM Beginners have with their PAINT HANDLING and BRUSHWORK

Brushwork is fundamental in the appearance of the painted surface. Most people think that one only needs to get the right color at the right place but there is an almost infinite number of ways to apply the same color at the same spot and this is where the difference between beginners and masters lies.
Typically, a beginner will use a very limited selection of paint application techniques: the movement of the brush will most likely come from the fingers and the brush is usually held like a pencil, near the ferrule, which limits the amplitude of the stroke. Very often, the angle of the brush related to the canvas is close to 90°and the pressure is usually stronger than needed, similar to writing.
Obviously, we all went through this and it’s perfectly normal to have a more limited range of techniques at first. For a beginner, you see, painting is so new that it feels reassuring to start with a paint handling technique that feels familiar, that’s why the most common thing is to to hold the brush like a pencil. Everybody knows how to write and draw with a pencil so, when you take a paintbrush in your hand, it feels natural to hold it like a pencil.
And let’s say it right away, it’s fine ! This way of holding the brush is perfectly adapted for details and finitions, the only problem is… not everything can be about details and precision. Imagine that you visit a museum and can only look at the paintings through a magnifying glass, that would be a very poor experience because you’d miss the whole context.

Chapters:
00:00 The problem most beginners have
01:45 78,732 ways to apply the same color
at the same spot
06:44 Break
07:11 Control the amount of paint in your brush
07:45 Visualize your brush stroke
08:53 Not happy? Scrape it off!
09:03 Tight vs Loose
10:35 Use all the potential of each brush
11:07 Pick the right brush

Music :

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The material I use most of the time (not necessarily in this video) :

Drawing
Equipement
✓ Kneaded eraser
✓ Plumb line
✓ Small mirror
✓ An old synthetic brush
✓ Masking tape
✓ Cutter
✓ Sandpaper or sanding block
✓ Mahlstick or Hand rest (DIY)
✓ Level ruler
Graphite
✓ Pencils 2H, HB and 2B
Charcoal
✓ If available: Nitram charcoals (H, HB and B)
✓ Square charcoals
✓ Natural charcoal box
Black and white chalk
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
✓ Square Conté noir : HB and 2B
✓ Chalk or pencil holder
✓ Pencil sketch Conté Pierre noire : H and HB
Sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté : Blood and blood Medici
✓ Crayon Polychromos Faber-Castel : sanguine
✓ Sketch pencil Conté white
Oil painting
Palette
(Extra-fine paint, recommended brands depending on availability: Lefranc Bourgeois, Winsor and Newton, Royal Talens Rembrandt)
✓ Titanium white PW6
✓ Yellow ochre PY42
✓ Burnt Sienna PR101 or PBr7
✓ Venetian red or English red PR101
✓ Permanent Alizarin crimson (Attention: do not use the traditional pigment, which is not very light-fast) PV19 or PR177 or Quinacridone Rose PV19
✓ Cobalt teal blue PG50
✓ French ultramarine blue PB29
✓ Raw umber PBr7
✓ Burnt umber PBr7
✓ Ivory Black PBk9
Brushes
✓ About ten filbert hog bristle brushes sizes n° 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12
✓ Some flat brushes
✓ Round sable brush or round Kolinsky sable n° 4, 8, 10, 12 (from the size of the nail (about one inch) or synthetic imitation
Medium
✓ Linseed stand oil
✓ Odourless mineral spirits
✓ Safflower oil
Surface
✓ Linen canvas, fine grain universal coating
✓ For studies : Canson oil-acrylic oil paper Figueras
Others
✓ Palette
✓ Foam and spalter brushes
✓ Palette knife in the shape of a water drop, no souldering
✓ A few small pots, containers, jars...
✓ Paper towels

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#art #painting #inspiration

[droneracer]

This week I have drawn my first picture looking at the values rather than trying to draw what I think it should look like, and it looks far better than anything I've drawn before.

[blygalaar]

I've been painting for several years now and although most of this seems like common sense, it made me realize that I've been overlooking some of the obvious powers my brush has. Sometimes I get caught up in exercising what skills I know I have, that I forget about some others.

[alejandraalvarez]

A marvelous study of a brushwork!!! I’ve done this for years, but I never paid to much attention to the detail, now I’m aware of all this possibilities... 78, 732 thanks!!! I love it...

[ianbrowne]

I think you are the most analytical of all the artists I follow on YT. It is refreshing to find an artist and teacher, who takes a problem topic and pulls it apart and then puts it back together. By going through this process, you can identify the constituent parts and then see how they relate to each other. We can then see the grammar of painting and this armed, we can practise with more confidence. All too often artist start to talk about the emotion which is of little practical help when you need to develop the skills first before you can express emotion.

[jsvenier]

The glass is perfect because the texture doesn’t interfere. Brilliant choice

[kathystrasters]

You are brilliant at explaining. Thank you. And for not wasting... Glass option, wonderful.

[citadelofwinds]

In discovered this channel recently, and it's hands down the best, most informative and useful art channel I've come across. I did some art classes over the years, and not one of the teachers ever taught us anything useful. There was no instruction - unless you asked about something specific - it was mostly just supervision, with the teachers pottering about their own thing while the classes were largely left to fend for themselves. There were even teachers who seemed annoyed by students asking "too many" questions. Even art books rarely touch upon things like what a difference it makes where you hold the brush.

So it's really refreshing to have finally found a source that provides proper instruction and detailed advice on the fundamentals of painting. So thank you for providing these truly helpful, high-quality videos.

[thestarspark]

Thank you for this! It's hard for experienced artists to explain because most of us were not explicitly taught this, we learnt through practice. Super useful for beginners!

[nadineneg]

As soon as I saw your video, I jumped to your course and wanted to thank you for your course! I have been painting for three months and didn't know what to make of it. It seemed as if I had dared to enter a magnificent encoded universe, but I happened to have left the keys behind, so I got entangled at the doorway! Thank you for providing the first key and a vital map so that one would never get lost during the trip. Thank you again! 🙏🏻♥

[williamwinn]

The biggest problem with beginners is they're trying to paint like masters, Just paint and enjoy the process, it will come with time And you will find your own style

[duckingtonedits]

Floren is absolutely amazing both as an artist as well as an educator. A true master of a complex discipline is able to explain it in simple terms that anyone can understand.

[martincrawford]

I didn’t know there were different ways to move your arms when paintings. I use my elbows and wrists. Never thought of painting with shoulders and entire self. Thank you for these videos.

[MickAngelhere]

Sometimes when I’m working on a painting and it feels like it’s not working I go wild with the brush and then somehow the painting comes together

[atraangelis]

I just discovered this video. I am a new oil artist and the information here is absolutely mind blowing.

[tonivergara]

Thank you! You've wonderfully explained so much!
I sketched in my youth and later painted a bit with Acrylic.
Sadly, I took about a 20 year break.
Though I've recently started watercolor, I know there's is a lot of information here that will be very useful!!
A new Subscriber! 🎨

[pantherpaw]

As an engineer, I’m very appreciative of your explanation using statistical analysis 😊
I love it.

[DJarry]

I like to lay the paint in at times. I hold the brush nearly at the end and balance on thumb and forefinger, and use my arm in swoops. When I was in grad school figure painting, one professor was aghast at how I put the paint on, because i didn’t carefully layer and figure everything out in the underpainting, and I scrubbed, layered, laid strokes, scraped and scribbled with the brush. He told me he thought I was going to make a mess, but always pulled it through. I may not have given the impression I knew what I was doing, but I always did. I gesture like crazy

[Chocaluvr]

A mahl stick is very useful to keep your hand steady while painting above the canvas. More-so when painting in oil so that your palm doesn’t rest on the wet paint underneath.

[mohrkatja]

Thank you again....
For your generous sharing.
You give importance yo the detail of so many variations which I underated and now it gives me a kick to put much more importance to my work...
Gratitude🙏🏽🦋🖌

[bumblebee]

A BIG THANK YOU from Pakistan for sharing your knowledge and experience and that too in such soft and kind your videos are the best as whatever I learn from here I don't forget... I think it's cause of the way you explain or maybe your voice... hmmm anyways.. thank you once again. I waited 20 years to pursue oil painting.. instead of choosing fine arts in college I went to become a chartered accountant and now I want to do only those things that are food for my soul and oil painting is one of them. Stay blessed, Anna