Monochrome Oil Painting Technique

Today I worked on another oil painting technique. The book "All About Techniques in Oil" stated that "forms and values are suggested by the contrast between different values of the same color." I was pleasantly surprised when they suggested to use my chosen color plus white. I pushed myself to paint today, so I took a photo of my subject - vase - and de-saturated it for ease.
	First things first, I needed a basic layout. I always need a sketch first - for all my paintings. Here I used an HB lead. Although, in an oil painting class I took, the instructor suggested to use charcoal because it was a medium that most behaved like oil painting. I have never understood that. I must not have heard her correctly. 😂 It's listed at number 13 on my techniques to try.
This canvas size measures 4" x 2-7/8". Again, stated in a previous post, it's a sheet from Rolodex mix that I prepared with some stamped or gel press mono-print papers.  The original vase is a muted green, so I thought I would "cheat" and use phthalo green. I think most painters use umber or a neutral. I'm satisfied with how my painting turned out, but I see I could have used a bit darker value under the flower on the left of the vase. Maybe that would have helped round out the shape a bit. It also could use a surface to keep it grounded. Maybe even just a line.
	Over all, it was okay. I did feel like I wanted to add black to the shadow green. And PG7 is such an overwhelming and intense green, I would have liked some red to mute it. I bet the charcoal sketch would have come in handy for that. 😁 That might have to be my next technique! Until then!

First Post - Jumping in to Oil Painting Techniques

Hello and Welcome! This is my first post on a fresh new blog to log my journey in art and illustration.

First things first. Here are some portraits I worked on in 2024. Below, the first two are oil paint and the last is watercolor. I share a larger image of my favorite (that's why he's part of my blog banner 😄). What I like most is the color variation I achieved in his flesh tones. The image of this gentleman was found on Pinterest and I think I searched "100 Faces Challenge".
I took one oil painting class in college. Years later I ordered "All About Techniques in Oil" to learn more. I've flipped through it every now and again, but this year I decided to make a list of techniques I want to try.
I made a list with page numbers (and other things I want to try) on a Rolodex sheet. I also prepped some other Rolodex papers to try the techniques on so I can look back on the lessons. They just ended up different heights so I placed them accordingly.
Below are pages of my first lessons - grading with oil and white and creating value with black and white. I really enjoyed creating the values, but grading with oil was difficult. The book said it was one of the hardest techniques.
I really enjoy the process working with oil paint. It's such a forgiving medium and I feel far more relaxed than I do while working with watercolor. But I won't give up watercolor, of course. It's great for Artist Trading Card size paintings! But now, I'll press on to the next thing I'd like to try from my Rolodex oil painting techniques list.