Tutorials & Demonstrations

Portrait Painting Class Demo

One hour demonstration of portrait painting from photo reference during an online class at Pacific Art League

Painting hacks

How to deal with turp jars

The turp jar is used during an oil painting session to quickly dissolve and clean brushes before using with another color.  Most of the time, I use a single brush with many related colors without cleaning.  However if I need that particular brush for painting something with a totally different tone or hue, I will swish and swirl in turps and wipe down with a towel before mixing the new color.   We also use the turp jar at the end of the paint session to rinse most of the paint out of all the brushes before doing a thorough cleaning with soap and water. Depending on how much paint your are using, how often you clean your brushes, and how big your turp jar is, you may be able to re-use one jar of turps several times before it becomes too murky to clean brushes properly. At this time, it is best to recycle the turps in the following way:

You will need three jars:

1. Your working jar that you use during painting and afterwards to clean brushes. This can be a nice official metal jar with rinsing screen inside, or a glass jar with cleaning coil inside, or even just a plain glass jar with secure sealable lid.

2. A clean turps jar. Never put murky turps in this, only use this in following steps:

3. You need a large “Recycle” jar to pour dirty turps.  You let this sit for around a week, and all the dissolved murky paint will filter to the bottom, leaving a layer of clean turp floating on top in the jar.  Once the murky turps in the Recycle jar has separated and there is a clear layer, carefully pour the clear turps into the clean turps jar.  The recycle jar now has just a thick layer of paint sludge on the bottom.

4. Swish or stir around the dirty turps in your working jar and pour slowly into the Recycle jar on top of the old sludge, trying not to work this up too much. Pour a little clear turps from your clean turps jar into your empty (but still kind of dirty) working turps jar, swish around, and pour into recycle jar.  Now fill a couple inches of clear turps into your working jar for next painting session.

5. Put on lid and store Recycle jar for week or so for new murky turps to separate.  If any clear turps is left in the clean turps jar, seal and save for future use.

How to Clean Oil Painting Brushes

My brushes are the most important and expensive tools in my painting supply list, yet are often ruined through neglect or procrastination.  Here is the best way to take care of them.

1. At the end of the day or whenever you are going to stop painting for an hour or longer, rinse most of the paint out of the bristles with Turpenoid (or Gamsol or other solvent) and wipe down with a towel.

2. If you have a plastic bag, put brushes in, push out air, and seal as best you can.

3. When you are done for the day, rinse brushes once more in turps and scrub bristles in cloth to get most of paint and turps out.  Repeat if necessary until most visible paint gone.  Go firmly with hogs hair bristles, more gently with soft bristles (sable or synthetic equivalent).  The turps may be in a simple glass jar, or can be a metal or glass jar with scrubbing screen or coil inside.

4. Now put a couple teaspoons of dish soap or Murphy’s soap oil in a large glass jar and swish all your brushes against the bottom until it is foamy and small remaining paint seems to be worked out.  Rinse by filling jar with water and swishing brushes vigorously.  Repeat once or twice more until lathered soap is white instead of discolored by paint.  If paint is difficult to remove, scrub soapy bristles into a cloth towel after lathering and before rinsing.

5. Wipe down brush handles and gently dry bristles with clean dry dish towel, and place horizontally on a flat surface with bristles hanging over.  Let dry for full day or more, or at least until bristles are fully dry.  I usually have at least two sets of brushes and will use different brushes on alternate days so brushes are fully dry.

If for some reason you neglect to clean your brushes the same day, some or all of the paint will dry into the bristles and may ruin the brushes be very difficult to clean.  I have had some success by soaking bristles just up to the metal feral (not above, or glue inside be eaten away or paint on handles come off).  The next day, scrub with towel, then soak in Murphy’s Oil after lathering for another day.  The third day you may be lucky and brush is just slightly damaged.

DRAWING A HEAD WITH PROPER PROPORTIONS

In drawing or painting the head, some facial proportions are universal, while others vary slightly from individual to individual.

• The height of the head measured from top of crown to bottom of chin when mouth is closed averages around 9”, sometimes smaller for women and larger for taller men.

• The eyes are the vertical midpoint of a level-facing head when measured from top of crown to bottom of chin when mouth is closed.

• Width of each eye is approximately 1/7th of height of head, ~ 1.25”

• Space between eyes (tear duct to tear duct) is approximately one eye. 

• Width of Iris is 4/10ths of width of eye, ~0.5”

• Width of nose at base usually slightly wider than an eye (sometimes same or smaller)

• Width of mouth varies +/- 1.5 eyes in width

• Rule of thirds: the height of face from chin to hairline can be broken up into three equal heights:

  • Hairline to brow, brow to base of nose, base of nose to bottom of chin