ACRYLIC DEMO – Grids, Skies, Clouds and Feathers
I didn't want to start the project with the 4th of July holiday the next week because we would have to go back to square one when we did come back to class, however this was a great opportunity to practice what we will be doing on the project in the hopes of working out the bugs before we get to our project.
The first thing I covered is how to get an image on your canvas. There are several ways to get an image on your canvas that do not require a lot of drawing skills, which would be your first option but in a practical sense I know that most of you do not have good drawing skills, I will keep encouraging you but in the meantime you need some alternatives. You can buy a program that will enlarge a photo or a drawing in your computer, I have the link to Poster 7 in the side bar or you can use an opaque projector or even take what you need to Kinkos and get it enlarged but one simple way to enlarge a picture or drawing is using the grid system.
The grid system has been around for hundreds of years. Before photographs artists would create these huge elaborate grids with rope and wood and set their subjects in front of them to get a precise rendering of the scene. Today you can buy sheets of clear plastic with a grid already printed on it or you can buy paper with a grid pattern or you can buy a kit that will make you an "instant artist" using the grid system or make your own grid with pencil and ruler the process is the same.
What I do when I use a grid – yes, I have use the grid system when I need to – I will print a copy of my subject on a full sheet of paper, the image is usually around 8" x 10" and I mark off 1" squares, it keeps things simple. On another sheet of paper like drawing paper or tracing paper that is at lest the size of the canvas I am going to use, say 16" x 20" I will make my grid with 2" squares because my canvas is twice the size of my photo so the ratio is 2 to 1. I can make this as big – or as small – as I need so long as I create a grid with squares I could enlarge something to wall size if I needed to just be sure that you have the same amount of squares on your canvas as you have on your picture.
It can be a bit tedious drawing the grids but once you have them drawn, the real work begins. If you are working from a photo what you will be looking for is the edges of objects and important detail such as eyes or door or as much detail as you think you will need. You could do a line drawing from your photo either by using a light box or taping it to a bright window and going over the important lines, then putting your grid on the line drawing.
Pick a spot to start on your photo or line drawing, you can put numbers and letters along the edges so you can just go to the 3C square or just count over and up, then what ever shape you see in that square you want to recreate it on your paper or canvas grid. Note where the line(s) intersect the lines of the grid and where they stop and start. You can just put dots to indicate starting and stopping points or high and low points then when you draw you line it will be like the "connect the dots" you did as a kid, you do need to be aware of the line you are drawing as you connect the dots so if it is a curved line or a straight line you need to do the best you can to recreate the shape of that line. Remember: That is all it is, a line. A line that creates a shape and if you got all your lines and shapes close you will have your subject enlarged and transferred. Don't think about the thing think about shapes only. Practice this and you will be amazed at how well it works.
The next thing we practiced was skies. Awwww, the simple blue sky: So pretty yet so deceptive in its simplicity. As you probably figured out when you were trying this in class, getting a even, graded blue sky isn't as simple as you would think, it does take practice and patience but if you stick to it, you can create beautiful, flawless skies.
You will be using your very soft blending brush or haki brush for this entire process, a stiff bristle brush WILL NOT WORK the bristles need to be very soft. First, spray or brush your canvas with water, this will help the gesso go on. Next, use generous amounts of gesso to coat the entire sky area. Don't try to be conservative with your gesso, it is going to help you so you need a good coat on your canvas. Also, keep your spray bottle handy, the second you feel your brush start to drag, hold your sprayer back about 18" and mist the entire canvas and work the water in so it doesn't spot. You can keep your paint "open" (workable) for quite a while using this method.
If you want to have a different color at the bottom of your sky - and often times a sky can be pinkish or orange-ish near the horizon – streak the color across the top, then with BIG X strokes and little pressure on the brush, work the color down the canvas, it should gradually get lighter as you go down but if it gets too light, you may have to add more color but start at the top and work it down the same way, you want a graded look. When you are happy with that color, flip your canvas over and do the same thing with your blue. I usually add a touch of purple and a little sienna to slightly gray the color, but you don't need to. Work the color down to where it almost touches the other color, then rinse your brush, dry it completely start in the warmer color and blend up and down – still using those "X's" - and wipe your brush frequently so you don't get too much dark color on your brush or you could get some strange colors depending what you use for your horizon. You should get a nice even blend, it does take practice not to have a striped sky, if you can see stripes, you need to blend more. If you have to spray while you are painting your sky, first wipe your brush out, then mist (not too much water) the entire canvas and quickly go over the entire canvas with your brush to work it in.
Next we practiced clouds. Use a flat bristle brush for this. Dry brush means that the brush has very little water and very little paint on it so if you rinse your brush out, dry it completely. After you mix your paint, wipe off the excess. If you have loaded your brush correctly, even if you press hard – as most of you do – you should still be able to see the color that is under the paint you are putting down.
Clouds bubble and boil as they grow and dissipate, keep this in mind as you paint your clouds. I often start on the narrow side of my brush and work back and forth from the wide flat side to the narrow side, making circles with my brush to form my clouds. There are no hard edges on a cloud and the bottoms need to have very soft edges. The color depends on the situation but like any white subject you need to start with a blue/gray color, so mix our standard gray – blue, sienna and a touch of purple with white or gesso – to create the base color for your clouds. Let each layer dry before doing the next, then add more white and even a touch of red or orange to the color. You need to have at least one or two lighter form colors before you put on your whitest white to give your clouds dimension.
Last we practiced dry brush feathers. This technique is good not only for feathers but also hair, fur and grass, whenever you need some texture. The loading of the brush is the same as above, same brush as well, the stroke is just a quick flick. If your paint is too think or too wet, you will get a solid line, if you loaded your brush correctly you will see streaks, that is your goal.
Practice these things between now and when we meet again and if you need to you can do a drawing on another sheet of paper but DO NOT DO A DRAWING ON YOUR CANVAS! Not yet, we have a lot of work to do before we even get that point so having that stencil ready is as much as you need to do. See you all soon, have a happy 4th.
