Painting with oil takes time. I know many artists who love the look of oil paintings, but don't have the patience to deal with the act of oil painting. It's understandable. Were it not for my own obsession with the luster and depth that only oil paintings can produce, I'd have switched to a different medium long ago. Fortunately, I'm stubborn and over the years I was either taught or discovered various techniques to help make oil painting a little less excruciating than, say, eating glass. Okay, a LOT less excruciating. Enjoyable, actually!

In this ArtByte, I will discuss such things as:

-why it's okay, and sometimes necessary, to work from photographs
-photo editing (because I'm a lazy photographer)
-designing custom color palettes
-tracing is not always synonymous with cheating
-quick drying mediums (if only they didn't stink)
-paint thin, stay sane
-dry heat - or - what living in the desert taught me about oils

I hope what I share can be of good use to you.