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Brushstrokes. When I was first began to paint, one of the things I was curious about was brushstrokes and the layering of paint. How does one do it properly? I figured the best way to see how it is done is to go see how those that know how to paint do it. And where better to study brushstrokes than look at original paintings in art museum? So throughout the years I have visited many art museums in New York, Budapest, Paris, London, Amsterdam or where ever I was visiting at the time (and it had an art museum) and studied the brush strokes that artists made on their paintings. I get very, very close to the paintings by Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh and others to observe how they layered, mixed the paint and brushed on the color to create their works of art. This studying of the paintstrokes and putting the paint on the canvas was one of my most valuable lessons in learning to paint. Some of my brushstrokes. While the internet is a great place to view art, one cannot see the brush strokes in a small, low-resolution photo of a painting. To give an idea of the brush strokes and layering of paint in my art, below is a sampling of my paintings showing the entire painting and then a small section (1.1 x 1.1 inch area) of the painting. To create a painting I brush on many layers of paint to get the effect I want.

Views of brushstrokes in my Paintings.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (part of the woman's red hair) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 60 x 90 cm / 23.6 x 35.4 inches.

Each section of the hair is painted with at least 5 different colors and many, many brush strokes.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (bottom part of wine glass) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 60 x 90 cm / 23.6 x 35.4 inches.

The brushstrokes allow the color under the paint to show through.

The purple arrow (above) points to the section (mid point of chest) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 60 x 90 cm / 23.6 x 35.4 inches.

Here is an example showing how unprecise I paint. I have the boundary with dark line; but the paint overlaps and sometimes does not fill the area.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (part woman's nose and left eye) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 50 x 100 cm / 19.8 x 39.6 inches.

To create the color of the skin, I use 4-5 different colors and put on over 3 different layers.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (top 3 pearls on right side) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 50 x 100 cm / 19.8 x 39.6 inches.

Each pearl is created with 4 different layers of paint.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (part of the wine glass) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 50 x 100 cm / 19.8 x 39.6 inches

Note how the brushstrokes allow the color underneath to show through. The brushstrokes also diredt the view of the eye.

The yellow arrow (above) points to the section (part of the bread) shown actual size at the right. The original painting is 50 x 100 cm / 19.8 x 39.6 inches.

What looks like a solid color in a photo of the painting is actually several layers of different colors of paint that are blended on to the canvas with the paintbrush. I apply different pressure on the paintbrush to apply the paint such that it gives the effect I want.

"Five Hundred and Forty Women" Art Book by Charles Kaufman. 246 pages. Art book available in the USA and Europe at Amazon.

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