WINTER 2013 – ACRYLIC CLASS

Project: Pots and Chilies

Small acrylic "test" painting.

We are finally started on our project, this week we finished up our preliminary sketches to determine whether our painting would be vertical or horizontal, the design and composition and what kind of background we were going to put in now we do our first layers of under painting.

For my new students and for some of my returning students who are still struggling with this whole concept of under painting in acrylics I want to emphasize what I did this first step: the only drawing I did was to determine where the wall behind my subjects met with the ground they were sitting on, nothing more. I did not do an elaborate sketch or drawing of the pots because I am not ready for that step yet. While it is not set in stone, when painting in acrylic I recommend you start with what is furthest away or behind you subject so when you do get to your subject what is behind will look like it would still be there if the subject was removed without there being an unpainted hole.

What I see happening quite often is my students want to start at the end so they do this detailed drawing then carefully paint around each individual thing trying very hard not to go over their drawing, then they paint the spaces they left blank and at the end they are not satisfied because it looks like the subject has been cut and pasted onto the canvas. Usually there are “halos” around the subject either small gaps that didn’t get painted or there are brush marks that outline the subject and these hard marks can be the most difficult to correct because they leave ridges of paint that won’t come off without drastic measures.

Acrylic paint has its own unique properties as do all mediums, the one thing that is great about acrylics (the traditional kind not the new open paint) is that they dry within a few minutes, at least enough that you can paint right over what is there. This can be good news/bad news: good news in that you can paint right over an area within minutes, bad news is blending can be a challenge, unlike oils that will stay workable for weeks if needed. Once you learn how to blend with acrylics it isn’t a problem, it does take practice on your part. So start in the back and work forward.

I just wanted a simple background for my painting so I wasn’t spending weeks on the background, however, this is an option for everyone in class, if you want to do something different such as put an Indian blanket or a serape in the background, you will need to do research on your own to find what you want to do, I suggest this for my more advanced students, beginners should follow what I’m doing for the time being – gotta crawl before you can run.

I used my #12 flat bristle brush and a variety of colors (dioxizine purple, ultramarine blue, Hooker’s green, burnt sienna and optional color pthalo blue) but I ALWAYS put out all my colors because if it isn’t out, I won’t stop to put it out, it is just human nature.

For the most part, I want my background to be dark as if it is in shade or shadow, I am always thinking of how I can work light against dark or dark against light, even from the very first stages of a painting. This will give depth and drama to my painting and a sense of where the light is coming from so I will exploit the entire range of values my paint can give me.

I pick up 2 or three colors at a time on my brush, then scrub the color on to my canvas, this is called brush mixing and it give a more random mix of color then blending to a homogeneous color on my palette and that is a good thing. The variety of color makes it look more interesting and more natural, contrary to what you might think. When I have to reload, I may pick up the same colors or I may pick up another color or two instead as long as they are dark, and I loosely blend it in with what is already on my canvas.

Background and ground for the pots.

The stroke I use is a scrubbing or scumbling motion. I am using all sides of my brush – I usually twisting the brush in my hand holding it more like a knife not a pencil – and I am going in all directions with it. Even if you are painting a wall in your painting, it is much more interesting if your brush strokes are more random, it is a lot different than repainting the wall in your home because you have different goals. I am also not dabbing the paint on, this is a place that you can work out your frustrations and really work the paint into your canvas.

The area on my painting that will be the wall behind my pots I kept mostly to the blues and greens though I did throw in a bit or orange and red and worked it into the colors that were there. When you are working wet paint into wet paint it is call wet into wet ironically, and while the paint is wet you can make some nice gentle blends of color. In the area that will be the ground – and I want mine to look like dirt – I used burnt sienna with touches of purple, orange and red but again, I want a rather dark color especially in the corners and because I was working quickly enough, the blue of the wall was still wet and I blended the two areas together so there were no hard lines. If you are having trouble with this, you are probably applying too much pressure to your brush so lighten the pressure when you are trying to make a soft blend or transition. The stroke is very similar to what I used on the wall but this time it was more like long shallow, over lapping “u” shapes so the brush strokes help the dirt look flat.

This was my under painting and at this point I had to let it dry before doing my drawing. Once my painting was dry, because it was so dark, I used white chalk to sketch on my basic design. You don’t deed a detailed drawing because you will be painting over a lot of these lines, you just need their basic shapes. For instance: The string of chilies in the back, I just suggested the rough outline of the edge of the string, I DID NOT draw individual chilies, just the outside edge because that is all I need. Don’t make any more work for yourself than necessary, your efforts should go into your painting.

White chalk was used to sketch in the design.

I used a #8 flat bristle brush for this next part to fill in the elements of my painting. For the chilies I used alizarin crimson and a touch of blue and/or purple (if you don’t have alizarin you can use the napthol red with your blue and purple) this color will be very dark. The stroke was still a bit random within the string of chilies but when I got to the edge I made it very random. There should be a lot of ins and outs since these are to ends of the individual chilies. They will go in different directions, some up some out some down. Some will be longer, some shorter, some missing… please don’t make it look like the edge of a comb which is the tendency or to paint it solid, these things are sticking out all over so keep that in mind when you are painting the chilies.

On the pots I started in the lightest side with a mix of burnt sienna a touch or orange and/or red and a little touch of blue lightly mixed on my palette and putting the end of the bristles near the sketch line, I pulled in towards the center of the pots forming the edges of the pots with a series of brush strokes rather than an outline of the entire edge. Using this kind of stroke – pulling in to form an edge – keep your edges soft and it also prevents leaving a ridge of paint that once it is dry it is almost impossible to get rid of at least not easily or without damage to what is around it. This is in the “ounce of prevention…” category, so use this technique when you are filling in elements of your painting.

Also note that the tall vase is a bit different color from the smaller jug, it is slightly more orange the other slightly more red, take this into account when you are mixing your color.

As I moved from the light side to the shadowed side, I added more blue or purple to my color. Doing this while the paint is still wet allows you to get some nice transitions between your colors and starts showing where light and shadow fall on your subjects. Don’t be afraid to paint over the edges of one of the other pots if the pot you are painting is behind it, you can always fix it later and you won’t leave an unsightly gap between one pot and the other that will be much harder to fix.

I just got the vase and the jug under painted and will do the bowl next time. Please note that I DID NOT put in any of the lose chilies on the ground yet. That will be one of the last things I do because there are things I need to do to the ground before I worry about the chilies.

Please have at least your sketch on your canvas for next time and if possible get some of it under painted, we will continue with this next class. It should take 3 or 4 classes to finish. See you all soon.