Oil Painting Demystified: Getting Started With Oils

Oil Painting Demystified: Getting Started with Oils

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Oil Painting Demystified: Getting Started with Oils

Oil Painting Demystified: Getting Started With Oils

In this blog, we’re demystifying oil painting for beginners! If you’ve ever seen the textures and vibrant colors in an oil painting, and wondered how to create your own masterpiece, you’re in the right place.

Oil painting is a timeless art form. Today, we’ll unravel the mysteries of oil painting and provide you with essential tips and techniques to start your oil painting journey with confidence.

1. Master the Basics of Oil Painting

Begin with a simple subject and a limited color palette. This will help you develop foundational techniques that you can expand on as you become more skilled.

2. Use High-Quality Materials

Invest in good quality oil paints, brushes, and canvas. Better materials can make a significant difference in the outcome of your paintings. Visit an art store and talk to employees to get recommendations, or research online.

3. Prepare Your Canvas Properly

Before you start, apply a thin layer of gesso to prepare your canvas. This layer creates a smooth surface and keeps oil from seeping into the canvas.

4. Understand Color Mixing

Start with primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) and experiment with mixing them to create secondary and tertiary colors. It’s also helpful to learn color theory and how to mix colors.

5. Limit Your Color Palette

Limit your color palette to a few main colors when starting out. This will make it easier to control your mixes and learn about color relationships. It can also be less overwhelming and help you focus your painting.

6. Begin With Thin Layers

Start with a small amount of paint mixed with linseed oil or turpentine to create thin layers. This technique will help you to control your painting and allows the paint to dry faster.

7. Try Out Different Brushes

Play around with various brush sizes, shapes, and bristle types. Each brush has unique qualities and produces different textures and strokes. This will allow you to create more detailed and interesting paintings.

8. Work From Dark to Light

Start with filling in the dark areas of your painting and slowly work your way up to using lighter tones. This creates depth and dimension in your artwork.

9. Allow Time for Drying

Oil paints take a longer time to dry compared to other painting mediums. Be patient and let each layer dry fully before applying another layer or making adjustments.

10. Practice and Experiment

The key to improving your oil painting skills is practice. It’s important to experiment and learn from any mistakes you make. Part of the fun of oil painting is enjoying the process!

 

Practice Oil Painting With an Expert Educator

With time, patience, and dedication, you will develop your unique style and technique. Hodis Learning & Music also has expert art educators who can help you on your oil painting journey. Learn more or schedule your first session by calling or emailing us today.

Drawing Tips for Beginners

Drawing Tips for Beginners

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Drawing Tips for Beginners

Drawing Tips for Beginners

This blog post filled with drawing tips for beginners will help you learn the basics and improve your skills. Jumpstart your artistic journey today!

Practice Simple Shapes

Simple shapes like circles, squares, ovals, and triangles are the basis for all drawings. It’s important to practice these foundational skills so you can eventually draw more complex shapes and images.

Start with Pencil

Pencil is a versatile tool that allows you to erase mistakes easily, which is helpful as a beginner. You can also adjust pencil markings depending on the angle you use, the marks you make, and the heaviness of your hand. Play around with how you hold your pencil to see how that changes your marks.

Practice Making Different Marks

Some foundational marks you’ll want to practice as a new artist are hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling. These marks will help you convey depth and texture in your drawings. Hatching is when you create parallel lines or strokes in the same direction, with varying spacing and density of the lines. Cross-hatching involves layers of hatching lines applied in different directions, creating a mesh-like pattern. Stippling is a method of creating texture or shading by using small dots or stippled marks.

Study Your Surroundings

Observe your environment to find shapes that you’ll use in your drawings. Notice shadows, light, and lines. As you develop your technique and become a better artist, your observations of the world around you will also help you create art from your unique perspective.

Start with Light Lines, Then Add Detail

Light lines allow you to establish your drawing and make changes easily. Because light lines can be erased, you can edit your image to ensure proper arrangement and proportion. Gradually, you can add more and more complexity to your drawing after you’re satisfied with what your light version looks like.

Practice Frequently

Like anything you want to improve in, drawing takes lots of practice. Even if you don’t think you have the skills or you’re unsatisfied with your progress, drawing regularly will help you get better. Don’t let mistakes or imperfections keep you from continuing to learn and work on your art. After all, they are a natural part of any learning process.


Take Your Drawing to the Next Level

If you’re ready to take your drawing skills to the next level, contact Hodis Learning & Music to start art lessons with an expert art educator. Learn more or schedule your first session by calling or emailing us today.

Educator Spotlight: Muan M.

Educator Spotlight: Muan M.

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Educator Spotlight: Muan M.

 

Educator Spotlight: Muan M.

 

What subjects do you teach?

  • Academic Tutoring: AP Physics (Mechanics and Electromagnetism+Waves), Lower and Upper Division Physics (Solid State Mechanics, Thermodynamics, etc), Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus.

 
What’s the most rewarding part of being an educator?

For me, by far the most rewarding aspect of being an educator is the relationship that is fostered with not just each student, but their families as a whole. You learn about the struggles each family goes through and get to experience a wide variety of cultures and ways of life. That is what makes it so meaningful: the process of gradually understanding their difficulties and being able to help them from the inside out, watching the students grow, and sharing in the relief and pride of each wonderful family. It’s something really special.


What are the most common areas you see your students struggling in? How do you help them in those areas?

I feel like a component of academic success that is oftentimes overlooked is the student’s confidence in their abilities. Obviously their aptitude is a major factor, but the goal should be to learn as much as possible. From that will come the ability to solve problems and get better grades. The thing to start with is getting students to really enjoy the process of learning and school in general, and that comes with confidence in their ability to figure things out. 

That is where I feel many of the students I have worked with have had their motivation stalled. They may have had a bad string of tests or had someone in their academic life disapprove of their efforts. Regardless of the reason for it, that lack of self-assurance is a very common issue, and one that everyone faces at some point. It just takes time, and sometimes someone (like an HLM tutor) to help you along the way sometimes.


How do you help them improve in those areas?

The first steps toward achieving confidence and the sort of upward spiral of enjoyment and ability are not complicated. It is a combination of a lot of things, but fundamentally, hard work will do wonders to start students on that path. It is important that hard work is met with results though, to start that positive feedback loop. When first starting out with a student, it’s of paramount importance that they feel as though they have control of what they’re doing. I think that’s really what the value of tutors and teachers in general are: to provide guidance and tailor material so that the proper difficulty balance is struck to keep the student motivated as well as learning.


What do you enjoy doing outside of teaching students?

I graduated with my BS in physics last year and now spend a lot of my days pouring over math problems with students, so I’ve discovered some more artistic hobbies. I’ve recently gotten into making music (I have a synthesizer and everything, which is fun) and film production/editing. I love to read, mostly fantasy books at the moment, like The Kingkiller Chronicles. I also spend a lot of time either in the gym or playing pick-up basketball. It’s a nice balance.


What do you think makes Hodis Learning & Music a great service and company to work for?

I can honestly say that, over the course of my admittedly limited work experience, Hodis Learning & Music is the best company I’ve worked for thus far. Because it was founded and is based in the South Pasadena/Pasadena area, HLM is a very close-knit community of students, families, tutors, and school districts. It makes everything a bit more comfortable and easy. With this also comes an immense amount of experience with the California education curriculum. 

I also have to give props to the president of the company, Drew Hodis, and the rest of management. They run a really tight ship and make every effort to make it an easy process for us tutors and for the students and families. I’m really happy to be working for HLM!

 

Learn more about Muan.

The Impact of Exercise on Academic Performance

The Impact of Exercise on Academic Performance

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The Impact of Exercise on Academic Performance

The Impact of Exercise on Academic Performance

Today, we’re discussing the incredible impact of exercise on academic performance. When children and adolescents stay active, they experience higher levels of fitness, lower body fat, and stronger muscles and bones compared to those who are more sedentary.

Additionally, physical activity enhances cognitive abilities, which means improved academic performance, sharper memory, and better overall thinking skills. On top of that, it can even help alleviate symptoms of depression. So, encouraging your students to get moving is a fantastic way to support their physical and mental well-being! 


The Scientific Impact of Exercise on Academic Performance

The FITKids study by Hillman et al. (2018) explored the effects of physical activity on conflict monitoring in young individuals. Conflict monitoring is the cognitive process of detecting and managing conflicting information. The findings revealed that regular physical activity has a positive impact on conflict monitoring abilities.

Improved conflict monitoring abilities can improve decision-making skills, problem-solving skills, and cognitive flexibility, which are all crucial for academic success.

In another study, Chomitz et al. (2009) investigated the association between physical fitness and academic achievement in third- and fifth-grade students. The researchers collected data on cardiovascular endurance, body mass index, and muscular strength and endurance. Academic achievement was assessed using standardized tests in reading and math.

The study revealed that students who demonstrated higher levels of physical fitness also performed better academically, particularly in the areas of reading and math. The findings also suggested that higher levels of physical fitness were associated with improved cognitive behaviors, such as attention, memory, and problem-solving skills.


Recommended Exercise Guidelines

According to the CDC, children and adolescents aged 6-17 years old should get 60 minutes or more of moderate to intense physical activity daily. Most of those 60 minutes should be spent doing a moderate to vigorous aerobic activity. Think running, bike riding, or a sport like soccer or basketball. This hour of moderate to vigorous activity should be done at least 3 days a week.

A portion of the daily 60-minute activity should also include a muscle-strengthening activity. Muscle-strengthening activities should also be done at least 3 days per week. Climbing trees or playing on a play structure with ladders, ropes, and slides are considered muscle-strengthening activities. Adolescents might consider using weight machines, resistance bands, or hand-held weights to strengthen muscles.

Part of the daily 60-minute activity should include bone-strengthening physical activities as well. Hopping, skipping, or jumping are examples of bone-strengthening activities.

Many children and adolescents likely already meet the recommended exercise guidelines by playing daily at recess, visiting parks, or participating in a sport with weekly practices.


Conclusion

It’s important for children and adolescents to build healthy habits and have an active lifestyle. Exercise has a proven positive impact on academic performance and cognitive development. Parents and guardians should encourage their students to be active every day.

If your active student needs help preparing for exams, completing homework, or just generally needs academic support, contact Hodis Learning & Music. Call us or request a call back to learn more and book your first session today!


Citations

Hillman, C. H., Pontifex, M. B., Raine, L. B., Castelli, D. M., Hall, E. E., & Kramer, A. F. (2018). Effects of the FITKids physical activity randomized controlled trial on conflict monitoring in youth.

Chomitz, V. R., Slining, M. M., McGowan, R. J., Mitchell, S. E., Dawson, G. F., & Hacker, K. A. (2009). Is there a relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement? Positive results from public school children in the northeastern United States.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents. www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/guidelines

University of Nebraska-Lincoln. (n.d.). Physical Activity: Kids and Teens. food.unl.edu/article/physical-activity-kids-and-teens