Artist

A starving artist is a painter, poet, actor, musician, or other artist who lives in poverty. Life may be a financial struggle for the undiscovered artist who often cannot earn enough to make a living from art. A starving artist as the romantic, sometimes tragic figure portrayed in literature and theater is based on the bohemian counterculture that began in nineteenth century Paris. The French starving artists, or bohemians as they were known, were poorly housed and fed, yet were passionate about their artistic life as their raison d'etre, or reason for being.
The use of the term "bohemian" to describe a starving artist was inspired by Bohemian people from the part of the Czech Republic known as Bohemia, but it did not refer to all aspects of the actual Bohemian lifestyle. The French and other nationalities tended to view the actual Bohemians and Gypsies as con-artists and circus folk rather than actual artists. The French used the expression "bohemian" to describe a starving artist related only to the poverty-ridden yet free-spirited outlook of Bohemians and Gypsies.
The first bohemians were Parisian bourgeois; young people beginning to live on their own. They lived the impoverished life of a starving artist, yet most did have homes to return to whenever they chose. Soon, working class people who were actually poor also began living the starving artist life of the bohemian.

What Does a Portrait Artist Do

In some cases, a portrait artist may choose his medium based solely on economic considerations. Painting and sculpting materials can be extremely expensive, and completion of portraits done in these media can require a large amount of time. On the other hand, sketches and photographs can be created at low costs and in relatively short time periods. Thus, an artist might decide upon a format by weighing labor and material costs against the compensation he will receive for the finished product.
The exact nature of a portrait artist’s day-to-day work is dictated by his customer. In some cases, artists are hired to create portraits of high-ranking figures like university deans, large company owners, and even presidents. This type of commission is usually high-paying and as such requires a carefully executed product. Subjects may pose for the artist for long periods of time, sometimes in the artist’s studio or at the subject’s office or home. The intended tone of the portrait may be left to the artist or may be dictated by the subject.
Often a portrait artist works in a much more casual setting. He may, for instance, set up an easel in a heavily touristed area and spend the day sketching passers-by who agree to sit for quick portraits. Sometimes his renderings are realistic and other times they can be comical. This type of portraiture, common at fairs and carnivals and also in public areas of European cities like Paris and Barcelona, tends to be executed very rapidly and is usually not well paid.

Portrait Artist

A portrait artist creates artistic depictions of people in which the subject’s face usually serves as the work’s focal point. Though the range of formats in which portraits can be done is essentially limited only by the artist’s imagination, the most traditional media for this type of artwork include painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography. Depending on the vision and intentions of the artist and the subject, portraits may be realistic or highly impressionistic. Often a portrait artist secures work through commissions, which can vary from painting heads of state to sketching tourists in a town square.
With each new piece, the first task of a portrait artist is to decide which format he will use. This decision can be influenced by the intended character of the portrait. For instance, sculpted and painted portraits can sometimes be executed so that they “erase” their subject’s physical flaws, exaggerate his stature, and endow him with an appearance of power or wisdom. Conversely, due to its precise nature, photography can be used to create a highly realistic and unforgiving portrait. These distinctions are not concrete, however, and a skilled portrait artist can manipulate his chosen medium to create a number of moods and effects.

What to Paint

So, now you can start. But what do you paint? If you are really just starting out then you may want to get a book that gives you a step-by-step guide as to how to paint a particular scene or painting, then you can learn the methods used to bring the painting to life. Otherwise you may have a favourite photo or a picture from the internet or even an old master that you want to recreate. I really think that trying to copy something that someone has already done is a good way to learn about techniques as it pushes you to try and think about how to do something and in doing so you learn these new techniques that you might not have learnt otherwise.
Layers
Whatever you are trying to paint, you should use a number of layers to build up the painting and not try to complete it all in one go! When I say this I mean the following: For the first layer, use the paint 'watered' down with thinners. This is starting the painting using the 'fat over lean' method. In basic terms when you apply paint, the most oily layer (fat) should be on top of the layer with least oil (lean i.e. containing thinners) underneath. If you don't use this method then your painting might subsequent have cracks in it where the different layers of paint dry at different speeds.
There are many different schools of thought as to how to actually paint and what colours to use and this article is not going to be encompassing enough to go through those. Basically on the first layer apply it with thinners in a loose manner (i.e. the painting does not have to be precise at this stage). The main aim is to cover all of the canvas with some paint to provide a foundation. As you apply more and more layers - the number of layers is up to you - the paint should have more oil in it as you go on. So for example in the next layer you could use half linseed oil and half thinners as a medium and then the layer after linseed oil with no thinners.

Painting Mediums

In addition to the paint you will need to get some thinners and also a bottle of painting medium. There are so many options with regard to painting medium but to start off with you can just chose to use linseed oil and as you go on and experiment more try different types of medium and how they affect the paint and help or hinder with your style of painting.
Brushes
So, then you will need some brushes. These also come in so many different types and sizes. It may well depend on what style of painting you are planning to do as to what brushes you need. For example if you are going to paint realistically in fine detail you may want smaller round brushes but if you are going to paint big abstract blended paintings then go for big softer flat brushes. I may be contentious in advising this but when you are just starting out, especially if you are just going to be testing out various techniques I would advise getting some cheap brushes to see what kind of shape and size you prefer to use. The main problems with cheaper brushes in my opinion are that firstly, some of the hairs may come out whilst you are painting and secondly, the brushes may not retain their shape as well. Advantages are that you don't buy expensive brushes that you subsequently decide are not the right type for you. Once you have decided your painting style and which brushes are suitable for that you can then buy the more expensive ones. For me, as an abstract artist, I also prefer the much softer (and for some reason cheaper) big brushes that blend the paint really nicely and don't leave so many brush strokes. I will use the brush firstly on a test painting and that will generally get rid of any of the lose hairs so hardly any will come off on my actual painting.

Oil Painting Mediums

What about mediums? Do you need to mix the oil paint with anything or can you use it straight out of the tube? This is another common question amongst beginners. The answer? You do not need mediums to paint with. They are not a requirement, but I find them to be quite helpful.
Most oil paints that I have worked with are simply too stiff right out of the tube for my particular style of painting. Mediums will help dilute the oil paint and make the paint flow better, which means you will be using less paint. Using less paint, means you will save money.
There are many different kinds of mediums that are used for different reasons, like speeding up the drying time of paint, improving gloss, etc. Do not be overly concerned with mediums right now.
I like to start my painting using thinned down acrylic paint. I first tone my entire canvas with a neutral color. I then draw in my composition using different values of the same color. I let this initial drawing dry over night. I then apply the oil paint using the fat over lean oil painting method.
Lighting
This is a very important part of oil painting. Without proper lighting, you will not be able to accurately see your colors. The best kind of lighting is natural sunlight, so if you have the opportunity to paint in a well lit room or outdoors, that would be ideal. Of course not everyone is blessed with this type of situation, so the next best thing is to use lighting that mimics natural sunlight.
This type of lighting is referred to as "full spectrum lighting". There are number of different full spectrum lighting products available. Just do a search on Google for "full spectrum lighting" and you will find a number of websites on the topic.

Oil Painting Brushes

Having good quality brushes is important. While a good quality brush will not make you a better painter, a cheap brush will only wind up frustrating you. When you use cheap brushes you will see why. Cheap brushes have a tendency to shed hairs that get stuck in the oil paint, which is extremely annoying. Good quality brushes should have stiff hairs and snap back into place when you run your fingers through them. They should be well crafted and sturdy.
You do not need that many brushes for oil painting. I personally only use two types of oil painting brushes: flats and filberts of various sizes. I do have a few rounds and a fan brush on hand, but I almost never use them. I would also recommend that you use hogs hair brushes as opposed to the softer synthetic hair brushes. The synthetic brushes are just too flimsy to handle the oil painting medium in my opinion.
Cleaning your brushes is important, so don't be careless in this area, especially if you are working with high quality brushes. Many artists recommend turpentine for cleaning brushes, but I simply cannot bring myself to use this stuff. I use a much safer brush cleaning product called "The Masters" Brush Cleaner and Preserver.
I clean my brushes right after a painting session with this product and it works wonderfully. It may take some time to really get your brushes clean, but it is worth the effort. If the brush cleaner does not remove all of the paint, then I use a bit of odorless mineral spirits. I find this a much better alternative to turpentine.