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ChristopherStevens β€” Bot oil painting 1

Published: 2012-07-17 17:05:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 15442; Favourites: 441; Downloads: 491
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Description My first oil painting. My first thought when I started to push the paint around was...goodbye, acrylics. I was immediately smitten. There's an almost magical quality to oils. The whole time I worked on this piece, I must've said "wow" a dozen times as I watched the paint blend and flow in cool and unexpected ways.

My only regret is that I didn't start oil painting sooner. That's ok though. I probably wouldn't have appreciated the medium years before. The time is right I guess. I'm truly enjoying the discovering process with this medium. I'm sure now that this will be a great love/hate relationship for the rest of my life because I can't wait to work on my next piece (which I am right now)

As for the piece itself, it's not really important. I didn't even conceive of anything before starting it. I just started slapping paint down to see how it worked. I ended up with a very similar bot piece to my first acrylic painting ironically. Once I decided on a bot painting I thought it'd be interesting to do a similar color scheme and everything to see the differences between the mediums. There's a TON of differences. Not sure they'll be obvious to people seeing the scan or not, but it's very apparent in person.

I did this on a small gesso board. Really awesome but expensive surface to paint on. It's basically a gesso treated slab of masonite. The subtle texture is readily apparent in the scan.

So yeah, I'll be sticking to oils from now on I think and I look forward to sharing my progress as I go. Everyone has been extremely encouraging and generous with responses to my other painting endeavors. I very much appreciate it. It really does help me go forward.

Oils on gesso board

Bot Β© Chris Stevens
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Comments: 69

mechaniac [2012-10-06 09:38:49 +0000 UTC]

great work!
I love what you do with the markers. always so clean and crisp.
But this piece, while still smooht and consistent in shading and color, has got those little strokes and bumps whichs makes it even more lovely!

so go on with oils! cant wait to see more!

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ChristopherStevens In reply to mechaniac [2012-10-08 07:43:49 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I will definitely keep going

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jbyrd117 [2012-07-30 17:14:57 +0000 UTC]

and yet you still have those awesome shadows and edges that I like!

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JASONEDEN [2012-07-28 04:40:55 +0000 UTC]

i love the mood…

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ChristopherStevens In reply to JASONEDEN [2012-07-29 06:52:15 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, Jason.

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JASONEDEN In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-29 06:56:29 +0000 UTC]

Im just about done with your painting…..but you rock with the brush…

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ChristopherStevens In reply to JASONEDEN [2012-07-30 11:38:45 +0000 UTC]

Wow! That's sweet. I can't wait to see it! Just to ask, do you have a preference for yours? Oils or markers?

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JASONEDEN In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-31 00:53:50 +0000 UTC]

Oils might be cool , if you don't mind, i like the oils you've been doing and the idea of "The Goon" as a oil does sound cool,,,I'm looking forward to seeing what you do…Thx Chris…

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ChristopherStevens In reply to JASONEDEN [2012-08-03 18:54:45 +0000 UTC]

Sweet. I do think that The Goon is a perfect subject for oils, but I'll let my mood decide since you're good with either.

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JASONEDEN In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-08-03 19:52:57 +0000 UTC]

It's your call Chris , i know ether one will be great….i know that for a fact,,,lol

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TCShen [2012-07-25 02:20:29 +0000 UTC]

This bot series is awesome Chris. You work even more wonders with oils than acrylics it seems... keep up the great work and thanks for sharing!

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FindingOx [2012-07-24 09:39:22 +0000 UTC]

so cool, glad you like it! oils are awesome; many painters go there and stay there ...there's only one complaint I've heard of -- if you live in a humid place/city (like I've done a few times) it might take a while to dry (and sometimes it just won't in these environments, haha)

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ChristopherStevens In reply to FindingOx [2012-07-24 22:04:37 +0000 UTC]

Very true. I think I live in a fairly dry place. The paint seems to dry in a few days. Takes about 5 days to be completely dry though.

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ArtByJenX [2012-07-21 13:55:38 +0000 UTC]

I like it a lot! The character reminds me a bit of the boss Electro Specter from the Super Nintendo game Earthbound.

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ArtByJenX In reply to ArtByJenX [2012-07-21 13:57:17 +0000 UTC]

By the way, I really commend you for trying new media; painting is a serious challenge for me.

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objecterror [2012-07-20 22:13:49 +0000 UTC]

I like it.

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VincentBryantArt [2012-07-20 04:34:09 +0000 UTC]

very nice first efford,looking foward to more.

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kaze26 [2012-07-20 01:03:31 +0000 UTC]

wow awesome

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DrawMonkey [2012-07-18 03:19:21 +0000 UTC]

Sweeeeet!

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vonholdt [2012-07-18 02:19:29 +0000 UTC]

beautifully done!

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ChristopherStevens In reply to vonholdt [2012-07-18 17:13:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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aidenke [2012-07-18 01:47:43 +0000 UTC]

Has some REALLY neat texture to it, the brush strokes settling in all the different ways. Very cool indeed, and always good to see this guy around!

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ChristopherStevens In reply to aidenke [2012-07-18 17:11:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. Yeah I agree about the strokes. You can get some nice effects purely by accident wit oils.

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Mister-Jackson [2012-07-18 00:29:13 +0000 UTC]

Masonite is reaaaaaalllly nice. It'd probably be cheaper to buy the masonite and do the gesso bit yourself to be honest. You just gotta sand it down after it's dry to get it nice and flat.

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Mister-Jackson [2012-07-18 17:10:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, yea I've gotta a lot of advice about that and plan to make my own from now on.

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DestroyErase [2012-07-17 23:39:24 +0000 UTC]

So the robot is now a mascot for your artistic endeavors?

You should continue exploring new mediums. Have you tried water colors and gouache?

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ChristopherStevens In reply to DestroyErase [2012-07-17 23:52:07 +0000 UTC]

I guess so, yeah. It's a collection of basic shapes and hard edges. Makes simple experimentation easier. I dabbled with both of those mediums, but that was a long time ago. I use watercolor all the time for my greytone pieces, but I know that's not the same as full on watercolor. I can't say I've ever wanted to go back to it, but gouache is a possibility.

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DestroyErase In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-17 23:58:06 +0000 UTC]

gouache is like a chalkier version of water color which can also be used as a sort of alternative acrylic.

To be honest though, you would be a maniac to be buying gouache and using them as an opaque medium. That shit is pricey beyond any reason lol.

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RandyGreen [2012-07-17 23:00:58 +0000 UTC]

Boterrific! Your crazy mad skillz look great in oils! It's not the paint, it's you man!

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ChristopherStevens In reply to RandyGreen [2012-07-18 17:09:40 +0000 UTC]

So weird. I responded to this comment and saw it and now it's gone. Anyways, I really appreciate the kind words, Randy. You rule.

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Zhaanman [2012-07-17 21:48:05 +0000 UTC]

Man I love the textures of this look and style it's Beautiful for such a simple thing!

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Zhaanman [2012-07-17 23:26:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you much!

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jinnyhinkle [2012-07-17 21:07:00 +0000 UTC]

Wonderful job for your first time using oils! It's so cute.

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ChristopherStevens In reply to jinnyhinkle [2012-07-17 23:26:27 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

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Zach-Starker [2012-07-17 20:11:01 +0000 UTC]

How long did it take to dry so you could scan it?
Its interesting how different acrylics and oils can be...of course, I've never used oils.

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Zach-Starker [2012-07-17 20:36:33 +0000 UTC]

It was fairly dry to the touch the next day, but I waited a full 3 days before scanning it.

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JasonTormos [2012-07-17 19:18:08 +0000 UTC]

nice one!

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BalanComics [2012-07-17 19:07:06 +0000 UTC]

Somethin' about oils, man... Can't beat em.

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ChristopherStevens In reply to BalanComics [2012-07-17 20:35:09 +0000 UTC]

For sure.

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sun827 [2012-07-17 18:32:01 +0000 UTC]

Youi can make the boards youyrself super cheap. Go to Home Depot of Loews and buy a sheet of masonite at the desired thickness. It's usually under 7 dollars for a 4x8 sheet and have them slice it up to your desired canvas side. Then hit the art store and buy a bucket of gesso for under 20, paint a few coats sanding lightly in between or not depending on the tooth you want. And Viola super cheap "canvases" and depending on the dimensions you have them cut you can paint a whole series.

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ChristopherStevens In reply to sun827 [2012-07-17 20:34:53 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, yeah I'm so new to painting, that hadn't even crossed my mind. I will most definitely be doing that.

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WestlyLaFleur [2012-07-17 18:28:34 +0000 UTC]

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Kaedegirl [2012-07-17 18:01:54 +0000 UTC]

your little bot is... *hugs it and steals it*

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Kaedegirl [2012-07-17 20:33:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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Kaedegirl In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-17 20:42:13 +0000 UTC]

you're very welcome I'm really happy to see you use other medium you're doing very well ! and I hope that you'll be less upset with watercolors, (aquarelle) because you were doing a fine job as well

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Kaedegirl [2012-07-17 23:19:11 +0000 UTC]

I appreciate it. It's my nature to give myself a hard time. Having more than one medium to go to may help with that....or not

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Kaedegirl In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-17 23:36:21 +0000 UTC]

I suspect you to have some masochist tendencies (I'm joking, I'm joking) But you're one of the few artists who are actually very hard with themselves and always seek progress which is very very important to me! you're very humble Chris, this is why I also follow your work here

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ChristopherStevens In reply to Kaedegirl [2012-07-18 17:17:11 +0000 UTC]

I appreciate the support. Stay tuned for more painful discovery.

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Kaedegirl In reply to ChristopherStevens [2012-07-18 17:40:37 +0000 UTC]

I'll be there when you'll need some support count on me! you can go experiment and I'll patch the wound with great pleasure (lol no it didn't sound creepy xD)

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TonyDennison [2012-07-17 17:59:54 +0000 UTC]

Dude, I'm giving a major fist-pump here! It's so comforting to see you go for these traditional mediums. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't touched paint in...months?.. years? Too long.

It's always an exciting time when an artist chooses a new path. As it relates to the "sticking to oils from now on" comment. Does that mean no more markers?

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