Oil Painting Tutorial - Create Soft Focus with “Couching”
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- In oil painting, “couching” refers to applying a thin layer of oil to the surface of your painting before adding fresh paint. Couching makes paint easier to spread and lends itself to creating soft focus.
The way that I’m using this technique could be considered a type of glazing. Personally, I would only use couching as a final layer on a painting because I don’t want to destabilize the paint layers by putting extra medium between them.
The oil I’m using is Gamblin’s Refined Linseed Oil: bit.ly/gamblin...
Brushes:
5/0 round brushes: bit.ly/sw-5-0-...
1/8th inch angular brushes: bit.ly/p-1-8-a...
You can find the paints of my wildlife color palette here: www.dropbox.co...
Feel free to ask any questions!
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My site: www.nikitacoul...
List of essential art supplies: www.nikitacoul...
Preferred paints: www.dropbox.co...
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro: comparing areas of sharp focus and areas of soft focus
0:43 - What is couching?
1:10 - Refined linseed oil is used for the thin layer of oil
1:22 - You don't need much oil
1:40 - Painting start
2:05 - Brushes used
2:25 - Subtle textures, highlights, and shadows
2:59 - Wing details
3:19 - Couching lends itself to shaping forms and shadows
3:49 - Water details
4:33 - Adding final details
4:53 - Before and after comparison
So pretty!
Thank you, Debbie!
You are amazing.. Great ❤
Thank you, Stephen!
Jesus…well wasn’t this just an excellent tutorial. Thank you very much young lady!
Thank you so much, glad it’s helpful!
awesome thank you
You’re welcome, Glen!
Hi Nikita, You are so good at making these instructional videos. I like that they are just the right length and that you convey a lot of information in a short time. All the close-ups, naming the colors and products and all the details you include are so helpful to those of us who are learning. Your explanations are clear and your videos are just really well produced. And of course, the painting is beautiful! The couching is very effective in giving depth to the shadows and it really did work well on the water (I am really impressed with the water overall!).
My question is in regard to your statement that was something along the line that you keep working at it until you achieve what you are after: does that mean that you can keep adding more and more of the oil mixture, as long as you don't add anything lean afterward?
Also, how long do you think it will take this layer to dry completely?
I think I mentioned after your last video that the loon is MN's state bird and I have to tell you, this entire painting with so much of the deep green in the background looks "very Minnesota" (even if that wasn't what you were after, lol ).
Thank you for another really good lesson :)
Thank you so much! Great question - I only add a thin layer of oil initially and then keep working an area with fresh undiluted paint. The painting took about 7-8 days to be "touch dry." I'm glad the painting captures the feeling of Minnesota.
Beautiful painting!! I love the realistic look you create with oils.
I’m fairly new to oil paint and struggle a lot with white as I make a lot of mistakes with introducing it over dark areas and ending up with muddy spots.. I was looking for a tutorial for white long feathers and found your owl video on my suggestions and immediately subscribed lol.
Do you have any recommendations or suggestions on how to avoid these mistakes or how to create a cohesive white feather? Also, I’m very interested to learn about your method of fat over lean as I study in small space and can’t afford too much toxins around, do you use solvents at all? Apologies for all the questions, I find your channel very helpful and love your style! 😅
Hi Nat, thank you! One way to make long white feathers that aren't muddy is to wait until the previous layer is dry. If you'd like for the feathers to be your top layer, you can add a very small amount (like a drop or not even a drop) of refined linseed oil to thin the paint. Having this extra fluidity will help the paint glide, which will make it easier to get a whispy effect. I rarely use solvents, mostly just painting thin layers with paint right out of the tube, and then maybe adding a little oil in the top layers.
@@NikitaCoulombeThank you so much for your helpful response! I will definitely try to remember that, do you work with duplicates when it comes to brushes? I’m considering ordering some so I can start to build a little collection as I’m still new but unsure if I should get one for light and one for dark or if artists just clean it constantly as they go? A painting turning muddy quickly is my biggest problem so far when it comes to oil painting. I’m struggling with introducing white to a painting to a point where I think I should just use yellow instead and avoid white for a while as it just turns everything to a muddy mess the moment I place it lol.
@@natv6294 For sure! I have many (like a dozen or more) of the brushes that I use most, such as the 5/0 round brushes, and usually have several that I'm using at the same time, each for a different color that I'm working. This helps keep each color distinct and saves time because you don't have to wipe the old paint off before using a new one.
Wow! I'm new to oil painting and found this tutorial very helpful. I appreciate how in depth you went.
My question is, by doing this technique, would it cause your colors/shades to get muddy? Every time I blend or try to add some shading, everything ends up looking muddy =(
Hi Neetu, I'm glad the demo was helpful! If you use this technique on top of a dry layer, I don't think it will result in muddiness. I also don't use very much paint or try to blend too many colors together. Don't get too down on yourself -- it takes some practice and playing around with colors to get a feel for blending.