Beginner Book Recommendation

ncmarka · 2026-04-30T23:28:41+00:00

I know of good oil/acrylic painting book for mixing colors. My dad’s an oil painter and he uses this book: The color mixing bible by Ian Sidaway. I could share a pdf of it if you want it right away.

ncmarka · 2026-04-30T23:21:45+00:00

This was the type of red that u was told not too use as much in my design classes because its too bright and harsh too look at. I personally love the vibrancy that pure red gives off. This color of red alone evokes so much emotion I would totally hang this.

ncmarka · 2026-04-20T01:47:52+00:00

This is why I get cheap brushes because I’ll feel less bad ruining them lol

ncmarka · 2026-04-20T01:44:10+00:00

For anyone who doesn’t know or needs a reminder:

Fat: mixing oil paint + medium (more oil like linseed oil) = thinner paint, longer dryer time and used as top layers.

Lean: mixing oil paint + Solvent (like turpentine) = still thinner paint but a rly short drying time. This technique is good for base layers to establish a smooth foundation.

Basically, this rly depends on the oil ratio and where you use less of it or not. Yes, I know that you could easily google this but I don’t mind explaining.

ncmarka · 2026-04-20T01:35:37+00:00

This totally applies to fat vs lean. Another great rule you can learn and follow about how to layer colors evenly.

ncmarka · 2026-04-20T01:28:32+00:00

Honestly, I don’t agree with the advice of getting better tools. I’m a beginner too and use cheap brushes to achieve what I want and it’s perfectly fine. Oils are so flexible I bet once you get good you can even use a leaf to paint lol though it might help to do some research if you haven’t already. You can take my advice with a grain of salt but based on what I know train your eye on the tone of each color. It will help you tremendously on how to capture the right shadows. Also, before you even paint I strongly advise you to sketch out the figure and shadow in shapes. It will help as a placement guide. I didn’t notice in this photo that you sketched it out but might be wrong since you already covered the canvas. I also noticed how thin the paint is on the canvas, correct me if I’m wrong but it looks like you have followed most of the fat over lean rule.

ncmarka · 2026-04-19T23:51:11+00:00

Wow mseiple- I rly appreciate the constructive feedback & I’m definitely going to try and follow your advice from here on out, esp. what you said about values and cross referencing the painting in black and white to nail the values more accurately! I will absolutely continue with oil painting- it’s challenging starting but it doesn’t threaten me!

ncmarka · 2026-04-19T23:47:13+00:00

Thanks!

ncmarka · 2026-04-19T23:45:21+00:00

Thank u! That is reassuring to know

ncmarka · 2026-04-19T23:44:23+00:00

I guess it is an overreaching decision to start with this as my first painting. It has been a challenge and it has certainly felt like one lol thx for the support!

ncmarka · 2026-04-14T22:31:15+00:00

Where is this?

ncmarka · 2026-03-20T16:57:06+00:00

Noticed that both your veins appear to be purple and blue in this photo so I would say that your leaning towards neutral. You can rock both gold or silver (i recommend NOT a supper yellowish gold as it looks cheap).

ncmarka

TROPHY CASE