# Need some advice



## TonTon (Mar 4, 2016)

I have been drawing all my life and a few years ago started painting. I started off with acrylics and recently tried oil paints. This is the first painting I did with oil paints . It's a still life of dead flowers. How can I improve my still life paintings ? any tips or advice ? I do not get defensive so please say whatever is on your mind. Thank you .


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## Bushcraftonfire (Apr 22, 2015)

First.. Welcome to the forum! Let me assure you that your painting isn't bad.. It's quite lovely, in fact~

Having said that I would work some on perspective.. and I would work on getting more contrast into the painting. Try to add different shades and hues of green for example in the leaves. This would show shadows and highlights better.

Very good job.. and welcome aboard


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## TonTon (Mar 4, 2016)

Thank you Bush for the welcome and the feedback  Lighting has shown to be my problem area and i will work on that . I am new to painting and have been researching and learning every area possible so any advice is great. Thanks again for taking time out to reply


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## Susan Mulno (Apr 13, 2015)

Hello! :vs_wave: Good to see you!


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

Welcome to the forum TonTon and to the world of oil painting. I started off with acrylics then changed to oils a year ago and I love working with oils now. 

This is a good painting but I agree with David (Bushcraftonfire) that more contrast and a distinct light coming from one direction could improve it. A shadow from the vase would ground the vase and going from light to dark around the vase would give it a more 3 dimensional look. I have the same problem with most of my paintings and I try so hard to get the subject looking right that I forget about the lighting contrast. I too am working on it.


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## bbbaldie (Feb 12, 2016)

LOL, I'm in the same boat as you, I've been drawing with ink since the 70's, and just took up watercolors a couple of months ago. It's bizarre for me to think in terms of color when shadowing. Shadow = black. NOT!

I'm hoping to end up doing oils at some point, but will probably need to come up with a place to work them besides my carpeted home office. I'm thinking I can be an oil painter in the garage when the weather allows for it.

In my case, not only am I struggling with the concept of color, but also with the feline nature of watercolor itself. Damned stuff does what it wants, and you'd best just follow along!


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## TonTon (Mar 4, 2016)

Thank you  Yeah see I want to add shadow and then I think somehow it will take away from the realistic look . I try too hard to exact the image . I need to let go of the fear of messing up to learn lol. Exactly BB I am great at black n white shade but color shading is a different world to learn . Yeah water colors are harder than any I have used yet . I tried water color once and said 'nope , not for me ' Lol. Oil paints are good for me I like the texture and how it blends. You should try some time to use oils ,I'm glad I did.


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## pastelartprints (Sep 5, 2018)

Hey TonTon,
It is very exciting for every artist to start a new painting. That first stroke of the painting is full of enthusiasm and joy, but it can all go wrong in the very next step. Painting with oil pastels is a skill learned with patience and the urge to hone those skills and eventually, learn from your mistakes. Never forget it is possible to transform a mistake into a masterpiece with a few clever strokes on the canvas. It just a matter of how we approach it.
To avoiding the colours merging and looking messy, you can use a fixative spray. Make sure to choose a spray that suits the type of pastel colours you use. You can always try first on a smaller area before application to the whole painting. Pastel colours have a very small pigment to binder ratio, so when you apply fixative don’t be concerned if the painting becomes darker. For example, if you are applying a fixative to wall art of animals, you may see the animals and background changing to a darker shade.


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