This painting hack is my secret weapon for painting dark details in oil!
When oil painting have you ever found it difficult to paint the dark details? Personally, I find it tough to keep the colors clean. The darker oil pigments tend to bleed and mix into the lighter colors which can cause a muddy mess! Of course, waiting until the painting dries before adding the darker details helps. However, this can be time consuming.
Recently, I discovered a simple and quick way for painting in those dark details. My secret weapon – I use black acrylic gesso! (Some painters use black acrylic paint, but I’ve learned that is not a sound, archival practice.)
That’s right! As usual, I prime my canvas with white or gray acrylic gesso. After it dries, I then block-in the dark details with black gesso. Oh, I prefer Cobra’s water-mixable oils!
