Art Secrets

Remembering colours

After years of painting a wide range of subjects and mixing a whole array of colours, I often come across a recurring issue... How to remember what colours I use and mix when a new commission lands on my lap. Especially those that have been requested to be painted in the same style as previous works.

keep it visual

For me, this new process of mine is already saving me time in my studio. I need to have my colour mixes up and somewhere in my line of sight when painting. So whilst I'm in the mid of creating, I can easily be reminded of the colours and the mixtures that I love.

I do love recycling, so I turned old business cards into colour samples. Noting also what colours I used to make them. Slightly annoyed I hadn't started this years ago.

Studio

Continuing this theme of keeping colour swatches visual, I always have one area in my studio where I keep other visual inspiration. Cut outs from magazines, colour swatches from B and Q. Even my own artworks and ideas that I want to revisit. Keep it visual people.

Remember, every artist has there own way of doing things and when I need help I am constantly on artists chat rooms trying to find new ways to solve my latest problem. Please feel free to contact me if you would like any more advice or if you need help directing in the right direction.

In my Studio - Essentials for oil painting

What you need

I often meet people who say they are scared of trying oils. I can tell you from my experience that you have no reason to be. Here's a basic guide to what I use daily and why.

Space

Sounds obvious but you need somewhere you can paint and leave your piece to dry for a few weeks on an easel or fixed to a wall (I normally do both). Oils can take up to 5 days to be touch dry once you're painting is finished. So grab a well-lit space and make it yours (not in direct sunlight though).

Oil paints

I started by buying an affordable starter pack with 6 colours from Georgian Oils by Daler Rowney. Don't get anything cheaper as the consistency won't be anything like traditional oils but more like poster paints. Make sure your pack also includes a white. These days I have a range of more expensive oils but mainly I use oils by Winsor and Newton because they are great and easy to work with.

Palette

I use a tear-off palette by Winsor and Newton (seen above) and store it in an slightly bigger air-tight tub to make it stay wet longer. Some artists use glass but I find cleaning and scraping the paint off time-consuming.

Mahl Stick

This is basically a resting stick. Especially great if you have shaky hands like mine. You can see my very expensive one in the photo above that I got from the timber merchants up the road... lol. Helps me with all those straight lines and to lessen the amount of paint that I would get on my hands. Good for pastel work too. 

Brushes

This is completely up to you and down to your own individual style. I use a range of soft flat-head Winsor & Newton brushes on canvas boards and wooden pannels myself plus a few tiny tiny ones for detail. On canvas I will use more coarse brushes. But I will have to cover this in more detail another day.

Oil mediums

These are what you add to your paint to make it thiner, thicker, smoother or to simply extend it. There are tons of them. Think of it like adding water to watercolour to be able to work the paint. I personally use linseed oil and stand oil to thin and thicken the paint. Also great for blending. Again I will go into these in more detail another time.

Solvents

These are for cleaning your brushes or to thin a 'wash' of paint. They are toxic so always use in a well ventilated room. I use Sansodor which I think is less toxic than turps for thinning coats and occasionally cleaning brushes. Always remember if its 'odorless, it doesn't mean the dangerous fumes are gone. You just can't smell them. 

Cleaning

Due to the toxic issue of using solvents I mostly use 'Murphy's oil soap' (pictured above) for cleaning my brushes in-between colours. 98% natural and smells nice. Makes them soft too.

Remember, every artist has there own way of doing things and when I need help I am constantly on artists chat rooms trying to find new ways to solve my latest problem. Please feel free to contact me if you would like any more advice or if you need help directing in the right direction.

What type of art sells the best?

I'm unsure if this is the same for everyone but I really struggled in the beginning to decide what I should paint.

I call myself a "flibbertigibbet with a brush" for that very reason. Early on I painted everything from apples, bunnies lost in woods, abstract trees, cartoons and children's books. Had no idea and no consistency at all.

Later I started painting still life, and loved it! But I had such strong reactions from people I stopped. These are now what I call the 'Marmite' of art. You either love it or hate it. 

One piece of information that did direct me was this article that I found many moons ago which helped to explain why some things sold better than others. This led me to try landscapes. Or at least to try and paint things that are in the top 5.

According to a Art Business Today survey in 2003 - These were the top 10 best-selling subjects for painting in the UK.

1. Traditional Landscapes
2. Local views
3. Modern or semi-abstract landscapes
4. Abstracts
5. Dogs
6. Figure studies (excluding nudes)
7. Seascapes, harbour and beach scenes
8. Wildlife
9. Impressionistic landscapes
10. Nudes

I was shocked by these findings. I thought nudes would be right up there.

The next problem is to then decide if this should then direct you just because you want to improve your chances of selling. Or to let your own desire for personal artistic development guide you. Choices, choices.

How to become an Artist

The eternal search for the answer to that elusive question.... 'How do I become an artist?'

I have discovered through many years of typing that very question to the internet Gods that there is no one answer. Many hearts will slump at this response. But you should look at this in a more positive way. There are many ways. 

Welcome to my first blog post from my new website. My name is Harriet Hue and I have been a professional artist for a few years now. I am vague here as to the number of years as the description of what an artist is, is also vague. 

Was it from my first sale? That moment I received my Fine Art degree? When I sent that fateful letter to the government drones to say I was registering myself as self employed? Probably.

I think it's more than that. Hate to get spiritual about it but for me it was a mixture of all those things. Its the journey. But more importantly it was that moment when someone asks you what you do? Saying I was an artist felt like a lie. I never believed it so why should anyone else. Why should anyone buy any of your work if you don't think its worth it.

So for me the day I became an artist, was the day I believed I was one.

Oh and selling lots of artwork... that helped too. Lol.

In my blog's I will show you how I do what I do. Helpful tips, websites, links that I have found on my journey so far.

Any questions please don't hesitate to ask.