u/ittybittykittycity

I’m taking an oil painting class and I’m realizing that drawing and painting converge but they are also different things.

I’m most comfortable setting the structure up (the line art) and painting within the lines, but I’m learning that you can have a vague start on the canvas and sculpt with color and value as you go.

Pictured is the work in progress study that made me realize this.

It’s neat to pick up more tools and to be able to decide which ones you want to use when.

Hello painters, I was hoping for some advice on changing my method/mindset as someone comfortable with gouache and moving to oil. I’m attaching a work in progress that had a value study and an initial layer of color.

I’m used to creating a detailed drawing, creating a palette, and then painting within the lines in layers.

I realize the same approach isn’t necessarily the bEst with oil paint.

Problems I’m having:
- colors: maybe it’s because I mixed very quickly in class but I feel like the colors mix differently in oil and I’m having trouble (some have more pigment and over power others, this happens in gouache but I feel like it’s even more pronounced in oil)
- colors pt 2: I did a rough drawing and then a rough value study in grey/black/white before painting over the figure with my colors. I’m having a hard time controlling the colors (unexpectedly desaturated highlights as pictured). Aka what I see on my palette isn’t translating to the canvas
- I’m overall struggling with the free/“open world” (to use gamer terms) nature of painting. I’m committed to pushing through and continuing to explore it but it takes me a long time to decide on my brush strokes and I worry about not being able to “find” the subject when I’m not designing it at the beginning.

I hope this wasn’t too rambly. I appreciate all your advice.

Hello, I’m actively trying to learn and improve my art practice; would be very grateful for some critique!

I’ve been working on a tarot inspired project that is portrait heavy (portraits are my favorite subject).

I’ve been taking a live painting class to help with anatomy and color choices (started shortly before the first picture in this gallery).

My goals would be to one day be able to emulate the works of Audrey Kawasaki, Etara, and Kelogoops (realism mixed with surreal and stylized elements).

My medium for these is acrylic (acrylic gouache).

Calling it on this tinted serum by Ciele.

I used this daily for Zoom calls and running errands. I liked the finish of the product, but as most in this category, it lasted 3 hours before fading.

Excited to move on to the Merit foundation stick as my next pan.

Pictured: different stages of a portrait.

I’m taking an oil painting portrait class and had the chance to work with a model. I’m slowly realizing I could be more decisive and fast with my strokes but I know that will come with practice.

For now I’m thrilled with how a portrait can be amended throughout the process. I’ve been working really hard at improving my anatomical sketches in the last year (I’m really slow though 😅), and I’m excited to see what that skill + the malleability of oil can produce.

I’m excited to explore the effects different under painting colors can produce! I will be trying magenta next.

Hi friends! I just discovered oil painting and I’m so excited about the possibilities with this medium! I’ve worked with gouache for years and find oil to be very different.

I finished my first portrait in three sessions and thought it was cool to look back and see the progression.

I love how forgiving oil can be; with gouache, if my initial sketch is less than perfect, the mistakes will be amplified during the rendering process. However, I was able to paint this without a formal initial sketch and correct mistakes as I went.

Critique welcome! I know this portrait is still wonky but aside from the angle of the face and something about the nose, I can’t pinpoint what I missed.

Made with acryla gouache, water soluble glitter and colored pencils.

This is the 5th painting out of my 12 tarot card project depicting some of the major arcana. So far I have completed The Fool, The Star, The Devil, The Moon and now The High Priestess.

The High Priestess represents the divine feminine, intuition, inner knowledge and abundance. This card calls to listen to your instincts and to look for the secrets the universe wants to reveal to you.

The little door she’s opening shows the divinity within, the knowledge that links all of us. The pomegranate represents abundance, as well as echoes Persephone who was linked to the underworld via this fruit. In the other hand, the Priestess holds knowledge.

In the Raider Waite deck, she holds a scroll with the word “TORA”. I should have researched a bit more before painting because the words on my painting are actually found on the Wheel of Fortune, oops!

ROTA - wheel
TARO - tarot
ORAT - to speak
TORA - ancient law
ATOR - Ator, Egyptian Goddess similar to Aphrodite

The phrase reads “the wheel of tarot speaks of the law of love.”

EDIT to add medium for this piece

I wanted to do some illustration inspired by Magnolias, but when I googled to grab a reference, I realized there’s multiple Magnolia trees.

Which one do you think Rosalia visualizes? Personally, I think it would be something like the first photo (I am unsure what variety it is); I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I own 2 serious (ie medium-full coverage) foundations that I wear on special occasions: YSL all Hours Foundation and Dior Forever. I’ve been trying to use up my Dior one more because I like it a little less than the YSL (I feel like the YSL one wears a bit better on my combination skin) but took my YSL with me on a concert out of town.

I wasn’t able to tell I was close to a YSL pan because the foundation sticks to the bottle so I panned the foundation getting ready for the concert!

I’m going to miss this foundation but will likely try something else first before rebuying.

Hi friends! Can you help me decide whether to get short bangs?

I got some fake clip on bangs and butchered them to visualize whether the baby bangs I’ve been obsessing over will be flattering or not.

My hair is slightly wavy and holds heated styles pretty well.

I’ve been maintaining longer curtain bangs for a few years but I know going short will require another level of maintenance.

I’ve had short bangs in the past and I told myself I’d never get them again because I didn’t like how they looked haha 😅 but also they were straight across rather than the more rounded shape I attempted.

I feel like the line between chic and bowl cut is super thin here 😅

Do you have any advice???