4 Qualities of Good Realism & more - Ep.3 Oil Painting Q&A with Mark Carder

If you have a question for me, post it in the comments below. I'll answer as many as I can on next Thursday's episode. Here are links to each question answered in this video:
00:33 - a lesson on the four essential qualities in good realism
08:15 - Could you go into detail about what makes a strong composition?
11:26 - Is it possible to mix Naples Yellow with the Geneva palette?
12:45 - When doing master studies, how can you consciously learn something instead of just mindlessly copying?
15:23 - How do you set prices for artwork? What do you think about galleries getting 50%?
17:11 - Do you have any tips for using Geneva paints outdoors for plein air painting?
17:37 - How does using walnut oil as a medium affect paint?
19:51 - How do you paint with a dirty brush (not fully cleaning your brush while moving around the painting)?
22:01 - Could you explain the technique of mixing a yellow other highly saturated color?
23:56 - When working in three or more layers, should I thin the first layer with solvent?
25:04 - Do you always mix your own black? What is the burnt umber to ultramarine blue ratio in your Geneva Black?
26:58 - How do I proceed when a painted object in my unfinished painting has dried? When can I re-oil areas of the unfinished painting that have become matte?
28:28 - Will you be offering a video or workshop teaching us how to paint horses?
28:59 - Regarding the fat-over-lean rule, do your Geneva oil colors contain more oil, less oil, or about the same amount of oil as standard tube paint?
29:52 - When you talk about having a dark cloth hanging behind you in your studio, do you mean behind your easel, or do you mean a dark backdrop behind your back?

[@livelovenow8862]

I think he is such a good teacher. He explains things so calmly and his articulation is awesome.

[@HansWurst-fy2sw]

Yes, all the others are just talking about their stuff, thinking they teach anything or whatelse.

[@losangulos]

"You yourself have to be the one that loves it" and if you love the end result the love will be transmitted and appreciated by others.

[@johnbyatt6962]

I've been painting for years self taught, I've just happened to come across you. I've learnt in the last week of watching your videos more valuable insights into painting than I thought was possible, really I'm desperate and excited to learn more and to put onto practice what i have learnt from you. Thank you so much for your teaching and clear information, all the stumbling blocks I have are being addressed by your teachings

[@Rachaelshaw7]

Cliffnotes: 1. Are my values right? 2. Am I exarrating things? Am I making things have more pop? Are the lines in the shirt stronger? Is the glow in the cheek brighter? 3. Am I over blending? Am I smoothing all my colours together? Colours should always be a jumble 4. Am I maintaining the abstraction? Don't put in patterns where you don't see them Fat over lean: When adding a few drops of linseed oil to the top layer, if you want your paint to dry faster use refined linseed oil - slower use cold pressed linseed oil Good practice for multiple sessions: always finishing object and paint a little bit of background around it. As that object dries you just have to deal with blending into the background and not coming up against the object itself

[@katesegriff522]

Best oil painting teacher on the internet!

[@davis-kc1xp]

So much respect and gratitude for this man! I’ve learned so much from his generous, brilliant teachings!! Thank you Mark!!!

[@PlateformeHorizon25]

That's what i call "painting". Trully amazing, real talent, awesome execution, sometimes near from Rembrandt technics and Manet technics together... I love so much your choices, you're probably the best way to discover what painting is. Thank you.

[@redbeardboss]

thank you for taking the time to make these for us!

[@emili00b33]

thanks a lot for doing this series mark! learning so much from you!

[@lisengel2498]

I really liked your talk about trusting your own heart

[@eeekenomics]

You are very kind and thank you for helping others so generously. I will purchase your paint.

[@burak5601]

Art is something that you can’t define. Strange enough I say same. This is the perfect definition of art.

[@loislane5001]

I’m so glad to hear this. I’ve taken quite a few foundational classes in art and tried to learn what they taught and then noticed many masters breaking the rules.

[@costispapatheodorou]

Many thank for sharing all these Knowledge.

[@ashleypandita832]

Your KZbin clips are excellent - all of them! They are so informative.How people can say that you are a cheat is totally absurd.You are so talented and genuine in your teachings.You are a blessing to existing artists and people who aspire to be, not just an artist,but good artists.All thanks and praise to JESUS,for the talent that you are.

[@Artist_Crafter]

Thank you for sharing this very good information. I will apply it to my work!

[@sandracarroll6233]

Wonderful information, thanks.

[@AriesArtist8]

glad i found this channel

[@awarcry7082]

Very helpful video! Thanks!

[@jacquelinehall7112]

Brillant knowledge and sharing it

[@samjonez4854]

Very good pro vid. I am totally impressed!

[@MichaelRpdx]

The Ralph Mayer book is fantastic. If you are on a tight budget you can get a used copy from Amazon (4th or 3rd edition) for under $6. A fantastic deal.

[@buddybrown1713]

Your comment,”Art cannot be defined” hit home! Thanks for the great video.

[@junkettarp8942]

Good lesson.

[@citaw517]

I over blend...to the point of madness...this has been so instructive.

[@hibamansouri8155]

thank you for your videos and website also i learned so much from it. i was hoping if you can make a video about glazing technique.

[@DrawMixPaint]

Hiba Mansouri I plan on it. :-)

[@Disirablepossessions]

When you talked about values in portrait painting you said the values throughout must match, such as the hair, the jacket etc, Please explain further. I love your videos even though I paint in acrylics I have learned so much from you, thank-you.

[@andrewlm5677]

That portrait of the First Lady was very unflattering - looked like a 5 o’clock shadow Sargent is great but I’m in love with Vermeer

[@florencewangui4498]

Thank you.

[@iggyreilly2463]

Mark, I recently saw a Sargent in-person for the first time and was blown away. What do you think of his five principles?

[@davefrary2876]

I've watched all the videos and find them very helpful. I've been painting for 50 years and still can't grasp the concept of mixing all the color steps, from dark to light. I've never seen anyone else do this. I mix the color groups when I paint but hesitate to waste paint by mixing all the steps. I mix the colors as I need them from the groups. I guess I'mm cheap but get good results.

[@z1522]

I'm coming to think that the "livelier" sense to portraits with more impressionistic techniques in faces like Eakins may come from a sort of optical ambiguity that never settles or resolves fixed in the viewer's eye. Older minute detail paradoxically turns static, and that fixed state kills the subtle implied movement from less rigid detail. People mistake this lack of detail for arbitrariness, but it is the opposite - a mastery of making marks which never look right up close, but only from several feet away.

[@KaustavMukherjeeFineArt]

Hi, I am not sure if you are into landscape painting. But, is it possible for you do a complete demo of a wet-in-wet realistic landscape painting? A landscape may have several different or unrelated components. It may be very valuable to the landscape artists about how you may approach in this field.

[@sadiqalribaa8313]

You should look at Andrew Tischler's youtube channel

[@chrisburtonsart6333]

Really appreciate your videos, thanks for sharing with us. In reference to how some people are shying away from linseed oil because of fear of toxicity; I was in a conversation about this not long ago and I believe some get this idea from the fact that rags that had linseed oil in them had been reported to spontaneously combust. I personally have never had that happen but I did some research and found it had nothing to do with toxicity or flammable chemicals it was a result of the oxidation process which created enough heat to ignite the rags. I recommended they use a fire proof can but not to fear linseed oil. If you have any other insight to this I would appreciate it. Thanks again.

[@kamlikachandlafineart]

Loved the episode. Thank you for sharing such previous knowledge and experience. Question: could you talk a little bit about preservation of paintings in a house (ideal temperature, direction (lay them flat/lean them over/hang them), humidity etc). This is assuming I don't have to buy any fancy equipment of measurement and control. Would the same rules apply to varnished vs. unvarnished paintings? Thanks

[@DrawMixPaint]

Kamlika Chandla cool and dry is the best, so modern air conditioned homes are a great place for paintings. The main thing is to varnish all your paintings after they have dried for 2-6 months. This will protect the surface from dust as the upper layer of the varnish can be easily removed in the future and re-applied. Other wise long term dust and dirt will get into your oil paint and can not be completely removed.

[@Max-dd7du]

I copied Winslow Homer's The Gulf Stream once, I made the stretcher original size, 46" wide, then got into it. But I had the same problem with how abstracted the brushwork was. It was difficult to copy stroke for stroke, the detail I thought was there was not, and I was not happy with the result. His brushwork is so suggestive and tricks you into seeing more than what is there. It's like those magic picture 3D things. You go in close then draw back and zingo magic! Monet's work was the same.

[@MashaelZidan]

Dear Carder, you've shown such a wonderful spirit! Thanks to you amateurs can know the secrets of art for free. I'm a big fan of you and I really love your Thursday episodes. I was thinking about providing your videos with Arabic subtitle. I'm a self taught still life painter and a professional translator. I've done many translations in the field for free and I'd love to work on this. Best regards. Mashael Zidan

[@DrawMixPaint]

MashaelZidan Thank you Mashael! If you'd like to do translations, email the address listed on the very bottom of any drawmixpaint.com page to contact David, who handles all the technical stuff. I know Google automatically translates the speech in my videos to subtitles, but I don't know if they're usable quality or not. Maybe a good starting point though!

[@MsLama4]

Hi Mark, I had a question that I wanted to ask. Firstly I want to mention that your videos are so helpful and everything is so perfectly explained that it's much better than the actual classes I take here. I've always been intimidated by painting a portrait but I've finally got the courage to now. I wanted to ask for a portrait painted on 16"X12", is it necessary to have the face in the centre? or can it be a right centric or left centric painting as well. Will that affect how it turns out? also should I be leaving more space on top or at the bottom. I want to mention that it is a portrait of a person till the bust.

[@sandyfox2486]

You mentioned setting up a still life using a shadowbox. Would you explain how a shadowbox works?

[@hightech4profits]

my question is.. how much value, color wise do or can you get away with in reflections?...I understand perspective can be a determining factor....thanks for the help!

[@lotdproduction]

Thanks Mark! Do you have any advice for someone who is Painting from Imagination. For someone using their own drawing as a reference. What's a good way to check value?

[@CesarCordova]

Mark, thanks a lot for doing this Q&A show, it's great! I have two questions: will graphite bleed through oil paint or is it just the oil becoming more transparent through time that makes it visible, for example, in a grid? and what are your thoughts about tracing an image?

[@DrawMixPaint]

Cesar Cordova. Art. I am not 100% sure about this, it likely depends on the color and type of paint you use. But in general I personally like to use a yellow pencil so that the graphite does not bleed into the wet paint and gray up my color. On the supplylist on drawmixpaint.com you can see the brand I recomend.

[@CesarCordova]

Thanks a lot for your answer!

[@DrawMixPaint]

Cesar Cordova. Art. Oh, and regarding tracing, there's no problem with it if that's what you want to do, but as far as learning to draw, it won't help you like a proportional divider would. That's why I have my students use a proportional divider rather than using projectors, because it really will make you better at drawing freehand if you use it diligently for a while.

[@CesarCordova]

I understand completely. Thank you very much for sparing your time answering. I look forward to seeing your next videos!

[@pw6titanium]

+Cesar Cordova ...also note that lenses have a flattening effect on imagery, especially telephoto lenses from cameras. Lenses in projectors also have chromatic abberation which changes the colours . I always like to make colour notes from direct observation as a reminder for outside work.

[@juliaduman]

Eu gostaria de ter aulas de pinturas com esse artista! Amo as suas pinturas.

[@naxbk0]

which solvent would you recommend to rework an area that is dry without damaging the canvas?

[@deirdremcculloughgrunwald5428]

Could you explain what sun thickened oil and pale linseed oil are?.... How they differ from or are the same as cold pressed and refined linseed oil. Both seemed to speed up drying time but maybe I imagined this. Thanks so much for imparting extraordinarily valuable to us all.Deirdre

[@ramonlopeznote]

Thanks for you kind answer to my inquiry about the suspicious silence of the peacocks in your videos. lol! What is your insight about the flemish-dutch multilayered way of painting as opposed to modern alla prima way of expressing art with oil paints? I am now trying to learn more about the classic bister-then-verdaccio-then-color glazing method and thereby the division of painting in the volumetric step and then the color step is really helping me quite a lot to improve my painting. Thanks for deciding to move your studio rather than getting rid of the peacocks. Wink!

[@DrawMixPaint]

Ramon Lopez Someone asked about the Flemish method here (my response is in there somewhere too): forum.drawmixpaint.com/discussion/3716/the-flemish-seven-layer-method

[@glenw.roberts8152]

Thanks for all the great ideas and practical advice Mark. I've been asked to do a portrait from a professionally photographed model. Problem is, it's been photoshopped and has maybe an orange-yellow kind of scheme applied. It looks fantastic as a photo print - have you, or would you do a portrait from an 'amped up' reference photo? I'm a bit worried it won't look quite natural as a portrait. Thanks!

[@structuresofficel.l.c.853]

What do you use to varnish the painting to protect it and bring back the vibrant colors?

[@Lynelda]

What is your opinion about standing vs. sitting while painting and the benefits of each one? Do you ever use a mahl stick or cane?

[@appalachianart3044]

Thank you for all of the information that you have shared. Your paintings are beautiful and very realistic. How can an artist develop an eye to break away from a highly realistic rendering into more of an impressionistic or loose style? Is this just how artists such as Richard Schmid see nature, or is this how they have "learned" to see? Do you ever paint in a more impressionistic alla prima style?

[@DrawMixPaint]

AppalachianArt304 I suggest doing a copy or several copies of an artist with a loose brush style - as I explain in Episode 3 (this video) The question was "When doing master studies, how can you consciously learn something instead of just mindlessly copying?"

[@zeljkodelac3742]

Superrrr

[@billjoanitis918]

Mark, How do I get an honest opinion on the guilty of my paintings from knowledgeable professionals such as yourself ? Taking lessens is not an option at this time. Thanks for all you do.

[@katherinebjorn1042]

Mark, where can I buy transparent white paint? Do you have it? Thanks, and thanks for the work you put into educating artists.

[@chavruta2000]

I have a question about realism. I saw your examples. They looked to me that they became progressively more abstract. At what point do they drift into impressionism?

[@Trek4Truth]

I think a messy painting allows the viewer to define the painting in their own mind. abstraction allows the viewer to interact with painting. Our brains will fill in the blanks, and blanks will be filled in according to our own likes.

[@Lynelda]

What are our feelings about painting on an unstretched canvas? I want to do it but worry about damaging the painting when stretching it in the end.

[@13chrismorgan]

Hi Mark, Can you explain how you clean and maintain your paint brushes after each paint session.

[@DrawMixPaint]

Chris Morgan I do not clean brush except for wiping them off on a paper towel. I keep mine dipped in slow dry medium when I am not actively using them. While I work I clean a brush for black with a bit of black paint, then I wipe it out on a paper towel. I have a free video at drawmixpaint.com on why I paint with dirty brushes.

[@carlconnor5173]

Subject matter aside, what do you think of Dali's technique? I'm also a great admirer of Vermeer. Thoughts?

[@cooliohunter86]

Do I "value" my work?

[@Myfactory62]

If you want to see a realist painter with great technical skills look at the work of English painter William Logsdail 1859-1944.Works such as the Ninth of November 1888 or his Venice paintings,it is tighter in execution than say Sargent,but great none the less.His later work was looser.

[@anitasy111]

The Geneva paints look very fluid compared to paints in tubes. If one wants brush strokes to show on the paintings, would the fluidity of Geneva paint allow this to happen? It seems that the brush strokes would be smoothed over by adjacent brush strokes as the edges between the 2 strokes would blend into each other.

[@vrejtamazian524]

Hi MR. CARDER. Cracked the canvas after painting the second time. What can be done to prevent it from cracking?. THANK YOU.

[@antonioacevedo799]

hi, mark, what do you use to wash the brushes?

[@stuartandjennyjanion3711]

I am just about to receive your geneva paints but have not so far used them. how would I approach the problem of painting, say, a vase with an intricate pattern on it. in the past, because my regular oil paints dry reasonably quickly, I can just wait a day or two then paint the pattern over the dry paint. but I gather the geneva paints are very slow drying.

[@Love2pnt]

How many values do you try to get in your quadrants of your paintings?

[@Max-dd7du]

"I don't like any rules about composition" Classic! Mr Carder, what do you think of the online galleries like Saatchi, as opposed to having a gallery exhibition. Is it best to have a multiple painting exhibition than sell them singly online? I am thinking in terms of making a name. I kind of think an exhibition of a range of paintings appealing. Is it best to promote in your own state or country?

[@adityrandeep]

what is the role of background ina good painting, especially in a portrait painting?

[@antoniomelendez3919]

I work with wet on wet techniques how can I continue a painting after it has dried if I stopped in the middle of a painting

[@DeanMarsh1962]

Do you sketch with pencil on canvas at all before starting a painting in oil? I paint in Watercolor and am experimenting with oils, and sketch my subject almost always before painting a watercolor painting. Thank you.

[@kimbowes5487]

Does myrtlewood oil work (instead of linseed oil) as a medium?

[@theresbob8878]

Funny how people worry about toxicity of artist materials when on the whole, lifelong artists seem to live to grand old age,even when we used real lead white.

[@claudinevega5980]

I paint with oils rather than acrylic and prefer oils I do have a problem with edges I may be in a hurry and I blend and smudge my edges I am a very soft painter and want to blend too early what technique do I use to get rid of this edge problem Claudine

[@marcolostsomething4374]

Hi Mark, How can you get right values when working with glazing? I usually overlap many layers, so i want to know how i can get right colours AND right values? Thanks

[@DrawMixPaint]

marcolostsomething I am going to film a tutorial on glazing because it is pretty deep subject. As far as learning to see values well, the method I teach is alla prima, or direct wet in wet, and checking values can be done using simple color matching. So getting your values right is very simple - and is a great way to learn.

[@evelynbrogli830]

Have you ever placed your pallet in the freezer to keep the paint from drying out between painting sessions?

[@ThaRealDJNine]

Mark, will you be making a smaller version of your Geneva studio easel for people with smaller rooms? For example, The apartment I live in has roughly a 7 1/2 ft ceiling and your easel requires 8' minimum. Any plans of versatility?

[@DrawMixPaint]

ThaRealDJNine Yes, I have plans to make a smaller studio easel for people in your situation.

[@redberrie7472]

How do you know if your values are right if you paint something from imagination?

[@henrytrickey]

Looking at Sargent [my favourite] perhaps I am wrong but it looks like his paint is thicker [stiffer] than how you paint. Can you comment on this?

[@elething4me]

thoughts about baroque and tenebrism?

[@queenzouz418]

How can u get that good of photos ? What’s the method ?

[@nomaynemcintosh5462]

Trust your gut feelings! I do. And I can’t paint or sketch anything I’m not passionate about.

[@curtisb5506]

what is your favourite painting you've made?

[@zlatinaivanova5050]

What medium do you use?

[@michaellee8363]

Hey Mark, What do you think about drugs and creativity? I smoke medicinal marijuana and feel like when I go to the museum I can understand the art. Do you think there's a correlation?

[@g123golf]

When are you going to do landscape

[@fiery.mercaba]

The "abstractness" is fine as long as the artist's goal is not hyperrealism.

[@johnclark972]

In your video “How I like to organize my palette,” you use the word value to represent the lightness or darkness of a color. What is your feeling about defining value as “tone” instead? Value to me has been associated with a gray scale representing the steps of a monochromatic hue from its darkest to lightest color. For example, the numerical value of 1 representing black and 10 white. If tone is defined as the quality of a hue which includes its chroma and temperature, I would think that tone would be defined as “color value” since it incorporates saturation (chroma), luminosity (value), and temperature. Therefore, referring to a color strictly in a value sense (how dark or light it is), seems to neglect the other qualities of chroma and temperature. Your thoughts.

[@vanzweedenart]

Why not using Liquin (Winsor and Newton). It dries in a day and keeps the film relative poor of oils. If someone is in a timevritical project at least... This works fine!

[@brucesr8744]

like the shows, planning to order paint after I move to a new location. I will have a few hundred tubes and jars of paints, I stockpiled for retirement, but your paint has been awaited and I feel like I use it already. my question is based on old masters methods that used glazes. how would you suggest going about glazing to build a luminous effect?

[@DrawMixPaint]

ZUSHIDOMIKU SAN I personally do not use glazing - you don't need it to create any special colors or luminous effects, although it's a perfectly valid way to paint and may make some effects easier - but I am going to cover this topic in a future feature as it's a deep subject and would take too long to cover in the Q&A.

[@brucesr8744]

Draw Mix Paint thanks, it's a interesting topic as i recall some of the old masters mentioned at least 30 layers were needed. I've been told of wax, marble dust and thin glazes to get a painting the "glows" from within. I understand the reflective nature of layers of glaze but have not tried it myself, yet.

[@pw6titanium]

+Draw Mix Paint ...you use glazing to extend the range of your darks and for colour intensity that you just can't get from opaque paints because of particle size. Compare a burnt sienna mixed from your palette vs a modern transparent red oxide that can be glazed with __the comparison you can see easily; hence the Schmincke Mussini line of colours. However, for my money I would definitely use your paints for alla prima. For glazing I follow Louis Velasquez and his method that he discovered from reading and translating the manual from Pacheco_teacher of Velazquez who was studied intently by Sargent. If you want abstract brush strokes , you can't go past the big V . Also, looking at Constable, his strokes look like a dog's breakfast_a mess. The only possible improvement to your paints would be to use washed linseed oil as Pacheco did because modern '' refined '' linseed oil is not really cleaned of the the mucilage well enough because modern paints can still go yellow/brown because of the putrescence in the oil ; especially in the whites and blues. That's why some manufacturers use safflower oil in those colours. cheers.

[@stuartandjennyjanion3711]

when painting skies, cerulean blue often seems to be the best blue to use, not ultra marine. And as far as I can see, there is no way to alter the nature of ultramarine to imitate cerulean. How would you cope with this when using your limited pallet? best rgds Stuart

[@DrawMixPaint]

stuart and jenny Janion If I ever need a stronger blue than I can mix with ultramarine and white, I will first attempt to mix the color with ultramarine and white and then "kick it up" with a strong pthalo blue like one of WN's Winsor blues (which is a pthalo). It doesn't take much.

[@ignacioherreraart]

hi Mark, im painting, from the inside of my house, the window and the landscape outside the window (wyeth style), but the sun outside is really strong, so, my withs in the color checker seem to be darker because i dont have the same amoun of energy inside the house, any advice?

[@TheCamillajmarchi]

Thanks mark for these sessions have your video but would love to see some plein air demos soon?

[@DrawMixPaint]

Ignacio Herrera This is just a limitation of the color checker. If you watch my color checker basics video on drawmixpaint.com, I show how you need to make sure you are in the same amount of light as your subject. I would recommend practicing with stuff you can use the color checker for to teach yourself to "see color" accurately, and then you can paint in these situations without using the color checker at all. Also, if you use the color checker, your indoors section of the painting will probably be 100% black (because it is out of range, value-wise) which is probably not what you want. A way around this, besides doing it by feel, is to take and process a photograph (or photographs) and use that for color checking, although there are a lot of things to consider with regards to white balance, the high contrast between indoors and outdoors, etc. I cover both those issues and provide solutions for them and every other potential photography complication in the photography guide on drawmixpaint.com

[@shaniquajones9406]

Can perm green light be mixed with Geneva?

[@DrawMixPaint]

Shaniqua Jones In Episode 5 of the Q&A (June 18th) I am going to have a big segment on color matching. :)

[@Blatta77]

Here is one more artist "panting ugly", Frederic Sackrider Remington

[@robertv.klickovich3733]

In your supply list you you list "Rubbing Alcohol" whhat does the alcohol do that mineral spirits can't do.THANK YOU.

[@DrawMixPaint]

Robert V. Klickovich I just mention rubbing alcohol for cleaning palettes and (previously) wiping paint off of laminated photos, although I have since found that using unscented baby wipes works better for the latter.

[@maxferguson6470]

Think you might enjoy my realistic paintings. Max Ferguson - Painter

[@cynthiamarston2208]

You see something just right in your painting (a square inch ha ha) and there is a hair in it....I read Sargent stepped back relentlessly like 8 feet. So try to find out how they painted with what brushes even type of medium all that

[@citaw517]

I paint with acrylic...a new painter....who bought acrylic...I take it all applies?

[@icwsi]

"HI MARK"

[@shaniquajones9406]

Mark, Why do all realist schools train students in painting nudes? As you say, if you learn to paint then you can paint anything. Is there something special to learn in anatomy and have you ever painted a nude? And who are your favorite living realist?

[@rogermccollough8787]

the russian guy is a spirit ,,wow

[@johntravolta2519]

I invented a new drinking game. Everytime this guy says "Sargent" you have to take a shot =D

[@mikedonovan8811]

What if he just says "sergeant," and you're too drunk to tell the difference?

[@johntravolta2519]

@@mikedonovan8811 Well, buttoms up! 😁