Acrylic Class - FantaSea Finish

SPRING 2011 – ACRYLIC CLASS – "Fanta-Sea"

This was the last class on our fantasy sailboat. Most of you were finishing up with detail so I didn't do a lot of demo. I did show how to create the ropes or cables using a knife and white. First you take the knife and pull the paint out flat then you cut across that flat section with the edge of the knife to form a small roll of paint on the edge, then with a sort of cutting motion, draw in your ropes.

You can also use your liner/rigger brush, this is actually what they were designed for was adding the rigging (ropes) to the old sailing ships because they hold a lot of paint and can create some fine lines. That said, it does take a steady hand so a knife might work better in this instance for you.

I used the liner to add stripes to my boat remembering that the boat has curves. I also painted the awing over the pilot using black. I know, I very seldom use black as a general rule, but there are some instances where I do use it. I used it here because one, it is a man-made object and humans paint things black out of a can. Two, it repeats the black background color. It's not so much that I don't like black to avoid at all costs, it is more a matter of it has its place and when use properly can add to your picture.

Now you may detail this as much as you want or as little as you want, it is up to you, so this next step is optional as well but I think it add a bit to the final painting. I used a permanent ink marker to outline and add detail to the boat. Some places I did a solid line in other places I did broken lines, it just add a bit of focus to the boat.

Next week we will start the autumn painting so please have your reference photos of the fall scene with you but DO NOT do any sketching yet we will sketch as we go. Also, have a test canvas or two and your soft blending (hake) brush, we are going to practice skies. See you soon.

Spring Acrylic 2011

Spring 2011 – Acrylic Demo – Fanta-Sea

Once you have your splattering and pouring to your own satisfaction you will have to let it dry completely. It may take an hour or more depending on how think your paint is on your canvas, parts of my painting were still wet to the touch when I was packing up to go home so you may have to wait for over night for it to be dry.

When it is dry, you can put your sketch on. I know you will get tired of me harping on this, but you all need to improve your drawing skills because most of you had your proportions were off and this will bother you are finishing up your painting. That said, you just need the basics of the boat and sail at this point, detail will come later.

I like to treat the subject of these paintings with the abstract backgrounds as if the were in a normal setting, I just ignore what it there and paint it like I would at any other time. So first I need to under paint the boat and the sail. Remember we always under paint with a darker version of the main color because this gives us someplace to go with our color. In this case because the boat and the sail are white, I went with a cool medium gray color (blue, white and touches of sienna and purple). I notices that some of you tried to get a head start, which is fine, just remember to follow the steps, under painting is very important it is the foundation of your painting, some tried to skip right to the highlight color and had trouble getting dimension into the boat and sail.

Fill in the entire sail and boat area with this color. It you want when you are painting the shadowed side of the boat, add a touch more blue. Also when you're a filling in these areas, start from the outside and pull in, don't paint it like a wall or you could get some hard lines you won't like later. Use a brush that is comfortable for the size of your painting. I was using a #4 flat sable brush so I had control of my paint. Don't worry about the stripes or the numbers on the sail at this point, get the form of your sail first and do the stripes last. Same on the hull of the boat, get the form first and worry about the detail later.

You might want to sketch with your charcoal where the shadow is on the sail before you start to highlight, it will let you know where you are going with your color. The first layer of highlight is made up of white or gesso, the mud on your brush and a touch of orange. This color should be a couple shades lighter than the gray. On the sail, starting on the outside edge of the sail, pull this color in toward the mast of the boat, fade it out when you get to the shadow area and if you have to smudge it with your finger to create a soft transition. Please look at the actual photo to see the detail of the shadow and the highlights. Use this color to start the highlighting of the boat as well.

The shadows in the sail are that gray you mixed before with more blue and sienna in it so it is a shade darker. Dry brush it on so you get soft lines and transitions. This dark color can be used on the inside of the boat hull.

The next highlight for the sail and the boat is white or gesso, with a tiny touch of orange, just enough to slightly tint the white. White on it's own can look chalky and cold, adding just a touch of warm color – red, orange or yellow – will help make the color warmer, sunnier.

Again, start on the outside edge and pull in but this time don't go quite as far in on the sail and be sure to soften the color into the previous color. If your shadow got too dark like mine did, you can lightly dry brush this color over the area you want to lighten until it is the degree of shadow you want. On the boat, your strokes should follow the shape of the hull which is curved not flat.

Also on the hull, there is a slight curve as it comes to the bow, you can add a tiny touch of green or blue and right near the bow and down around the waterline, dry brush this color on the boat. On the shadowed side, add a touch more of the color – green or blue – and do the same thing, this will suggest a bit of form to the boat.

If you want, at this point you can put on the stripes on the sail. They can be any color you want, it is your painting after all but I will give you my reasoning for why I painted mine the way I did. At the top of the sail I had a lot of bright color in the sky area: Yellows, reds and oranges. I needed a color that would be seen against those colors so I used the compliments to a couple of those colors – blue and green. At the base of the sail, it was next to the water which is blue, green and purple so again I used the compliments to those colors – red and orange - so the bottom stripe would stand out, that was my reasoning you need to look at your own painting to see what will work best for your sail.

I do have a little bit of finishing up to do on my boat before I call it done so that is what I will be doing next time, I will also be doing some demos on skies, these are just going to be some practice demos since we haven't done skies in a while. Just have an old canvas or two that you have gessoed over so you can practice these techniques. I will have a new project the following week.

Spring 2011 Acrylic Class

ACRYLIC CLASS DEMO Week 2 – FantaSea

The start of this painting is something totally different for me but it turned out to be a very fun start to our first project, I hope everyone else had fun as well. It is always good to try new things you may find different ways to paint that are more to your liking.

--- The way we started this painting out is pure abstract. We were basically pouring and throwing paint on our canvases. While there isn't a lot of structure to something like this, I can tell you my thinking behind what I was doing, it may be helpful to you as you splatter and pour.

--- Since I have done this in watercolor on a white background, I thought it might be fun to try this on a black background so I painted my canvas with black gesso but you can paint yours any color you want or none at all.

--- Through experimenting at home I found that against a dark background most colors needed a bit of gesso with them to show up so if you are painting on a dark background you might need to add a bit of gesso so your color will show up. I also found it was easier to mix in a small cup and add enough water so you can pour it on your canvas, you can also splatter and be sure to tilt and spirtz with water occasionally to get more action from your paints. Anything goes so long as you quit before you start mixing mud or it gets too busy.

----- That is the technique but there was method in my madness as I applied the different colors. While I didn't have a drawing on my canvas, I did have a mental image of where my boat was going to be. If it is helpful to you use your chalk or your charcoal and just put a couple lines to suggest the placement of the boat and the horizon that is as much drawing as you will need for now. The reason for this is I wanted the warmer, brighter colors behind the sail area of my boat and the cooler colors in the water area. I did repeat some of the cooler colors up in my sky area and there were some places where the warmer colors got down into my water area, but that is okay, I may add more of those colors as I go along to represent reflections in the water.

---- This type of painting isn't for everyone but it can give you a different way to approach a subject. Don't be afraid to try new things it can give your art the needed break you need to get some freshness into your art and you learn so much along the way. Yes, you might fail but you will fail in a spectacular way and be the better for it.

--- We will be painting the boat next class, please try to get your drawing on your canvases remember to use proportions and I do highly recommend "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards to improve your drawing skills. If the drawing classes are going to close, you are going to have to make the effort on your own, I will help where I can but as I have said before, it you want your paintings to improve your drawing skills need to improve. Good luck, I'll see you in class.