Oil Painting Tutorial - Night Lights

Create Stunning Night Scene with Oils

What you'll learn

To understand composition, focus and values.

To create solid underpainting as a base for future picture.

To handle the paint and understand the "fat over lean" principle.

To understand and use the technique of glazing.

Requirements

Materials/Resources: Oil paints: Cobalt Blue French Ultramarine (optional) Prussian Blue Light Blue Cerulean Blue (optional) Yellow Green (optional) Cadmium Orange Deep Red Cadmium Red Brilliant Rose Pale Rose (optional) Cadmium Yellow Titanium White Brushes (a variety of sizes) filbert brush (No. 12) angular flat brush (¼”) any sort of cheap big flat brush from homeware store Palette or anything what can serve as one 1 x big canvas for an actual painting 1 x small canvas / canvas board / wood / paper / anything what can be used to practice mixing colors at Linseed oil or other mediums Any odorless mineral spirit (optional) - for example Gamsol Paper towels or toilet paper roll Two pieces of paper and drawing pencil A reference photo of a nighttime scene (Provided))

Description

In this course, you’ll gradually develop the core skills needed to create your own oil painting of a nocturnal scene. Through three focused exercises, you'll learn how to organize your painting process, control values, and handle colours effectively. These exercises will lead up to the final painting, where you’ll bring it all together to create your unique nightscape.Steps to Complete the Project:Exercise 1 – Understand Focus:Start by choosing a simple object or element to paint. Focus on learning how to structure your painting, deciding where to concentrate attention in your scene, and understanding the key aspects that make the subject stand out.Exercise 2 – Understand Values:Create a small grayscale painting (or use a limited colour palette) to practice how light and dark areas interact. This will help you control values and create depth in your painting, which is crucial for capturing the mood of a night scene.Exercise 3 – Handling Colours:In this step, you’ll move on to handling colours. Practice mixing and applying colours to create the desired contrasts and mood in your painting. Focus on layering and how different colours affect the light and atmosphere of the scene.Final Project – Your Nightscape:Using everything you’ve learned, create your own full oil painting of a nocturnal scene. This can be a landscape, cityscape, or any image that inspires you. Apply the techniques of focus, values, and colour handling to bring your nightscape to life.Final Deliverable:Upload your final nocturnal painting to the Project Gallery. You can also share your exercises along the way to get feedback. For your final project, be sure to include:A photo of your completed nightscape paintingOptional: Any of your three practice exercisesNotes about your creative process, inspirations, or challenges you overcameThis project is designed to help you build a strong foundation while also encouraging creative freedom. Enjoy the process and make the painting your own!

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Section 2: Focus

Lecture 2 Focus

Section 3: Values

Lecture 3 Values

Section 4: Colours

Lecture 4 Colours

Section 5: The Underpainting

Lecture 5 The Underpainting

Section 6: The Process

Lecture 6 The Process 1

Lecture 7 The Process 2

Lecture 8 The Process 3

Lecture 9 The Process 4

Section 7: Conclusion

Lecture 10 Conclusion

Anyone who enjoys the process of painting.