Learning How to Paint Part 9 - Brushwork

Exciting brushwork adds interest and vitality to your painting, and is what makes a painting a "painting" and not a photograph. If you look closely at a painting with good brushwork you see a small abstract painting that is nothing like the painting when you look at it from a distance. This is the wonderful thing about good brushwork - one painting becomes dozens or even hundreds, depending on where you look!
The way you apply the paint to your painting is important. For example, paint your darks using thin paint and your lights using thicker paint. By keeping your dark areas thin you prevent light bouncing off the paint surface and drawing attention to itself when you don't want it to. On the other hand, thick paint in the lights helps give the lights more luminosity and enhances the painting.
Happy painting!
Barry John Raybould
Virtual Art Academy

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Howto & Style

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• how to paint
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