Beginner oil painting problems: When to paint around something not over it

One of the most common mistakes that I see made is when a painter chooses to paint over something instead of painting around it. It's okay to leave empty canvas for a different object in your painting. Today I demonstrate this with clouds which is a popular subject to make this mistake with. Enjoy!

Materials
Titanium White
Cadmium Red Hue
Cadmium Lemon
French Ultramarine
Yellow Ochre
Cerulean blue

Lighting

Hi, I am the son of two artists and began painting in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia before I could walk. I was a rare combination of artist and athlete so I moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to play football for USC. I left the team my sophomore year to focus on painting and filmmaking, applying the same focus and discipline from my football career to my art. I primarily work in oils, and spend most free days painting "en plein air" in my new home of Sarasota Florida.

Where to find me:

[Mrfurball]

Painting over things is the mistake that I have been making. This is the video I need to see 🎨

[karenbeaney]

I’m new to oils and you have already answered many of the questions I have and the problems I have run into. Thank you x

[Nadotornadocat]

You are a truly lovely teacher, I feel like I’ve learned more watching your videos today than I have my whole semester in class. I’ve been feeling extremely frustrated with painting but your videos are so calming and helpful I feel way more motivated now. Thank you so much!😸💕

[Wayneawebb]

Two words: Bob Ross. Had the Happiest little clouds painted over his sky,

[mtlewis]

chris: paints a beautiful cloud, better than anything i could ever do

chris: you see how bad this looks?

[lindaburton]

I love watching how you hold the brush, and how you make your brush strokes. Very helpful! Thank you. 😊

[jamieelder]

Great demo! I hope this keeps me from painting muddy skies.The ending was hilarious also!

[ralphcall]

I am newly subscribed, and have watched only a few episodes. What impresses me the most about your tutorials is your emphasis on techniques. The way you teach is very useful, and reminds me of another artist I watched on TV in the 90's named Helen Van Wyk.

[daveweir]

It was nice at the end there to see you just enjoy painting, improving the clouds and not instructing as much. Just watching you made it a bit more relatable for me.

[watercolourgoddess]

wow you have an amazing stage presence for an artist. I am a watercolorist and I am going to start a channel as well! its really great that you are a bit cheeky. I work in a nursing home and doing everything I can to get out by autumn 2021. Wish me luck!

[RobertF-]

Really good video. You make a great point. You can also scrape off the blue paint with a palette knife or wipe it off with a paper towel, and then put in the white paint. It's oil paint so it stays wet and you can just wipe it right off.

It's actually easier in some sense than pencil drawing where sometimes you make a mark that's too dark and you can't remove it, so it's stuck there and the drawing is ruined. That definitely can happen with pen and ink easily. That never happens with oil paint. You can always either scrape it off or just paint right over it.

In a lot of ways painting is easier than drawing. It's amazing if you think about it, so counterintuitive. Painting is actually a pretty simple thing, that's the big "secret" of art.

[DH.Maker.Artist]

This is definitely a showcase of oils biggest advantage, its blending ability. However like you showed if you don't plan ahead or wait for a layer to dry it can all get pretty muddy. Probably another solution to the problem is just to be patient and wait for the layer to dry. Since it will already be close to where you want it it wont take much to fix it from there. But also great suggestion for using that technique for clouds in the distance. Thanks for the tips!

[roxannekeomaka]

Love when you demonstrate. That was so clear to understand. You always have the best advice

[nikolamihaylov]

Very interesting, but you can paint nice clouds over the background if you do wet on wet painting. Otherwise for good detail in normal oil painting going around is the key. Nice content keep it up.

[kimlanoue]

I often wondered why this was done this way but questioning it no more. I’m not going to struggle anymore more and my clouds will forever be grateful. Thank you. Kim

[Barakon]

painting on wet paint is like painting on the same layer, waiting for that paint to dry is like waiting for a new layer to load.

wet paint clouds are misty, whispy, and distant.

you can start with the farthest clouds and then wait for the paint to dry or have lineart for the clouds before painting the sky so that you can both distinct and distant clouds on the same layer.

[lostisles]

When you put the white highlighting over the clouds it really brought the painting out. Thats awesome

[jaymccaffrey]

So great to watch you paint Coach! We think we need a certain brush stroke or look. But you show us that it is application, moving, and layering the paint that makes the difference. Muchas gracias.

[maimanon]

Thanks for the tip. Your channel deserves more views and subs. Love your contents, very useful.

[dorrisgonnawreckyou]

Mate your videos are so usefull, i swear i have found about 3 now that cover subjects i have seen covered so many times before but you cover them so much better.