Acrylic Class Project: Moonlight Fishing

Week 2

This week we worked on the moon, the sky and the water. The pier will be about the last thing we do so don’t start sketching it in just yet, we have a long way to go before we are at that point.

First the moon: Many of you may think that the moon is white but in reality it is a much cooler color. The moon is reflected light so a lot of the warmer ends of the spectrum of light have been lost and we need to remember that when we go to paint it. You will need to sketch in your moon and you can use something round to trace around, like a lid or jar bottom so it is the size you want, just be sure your sketch is round, then using either white or gesso add just a tiny amount of your thalo blue to it and mix it in, you want just enough to tint the white so it is a very pale blue. I was using my #4 flat bristle brush which was about the size of others #6 flat bristle brush, however, if you are working on a smaller canvas, you might want to use a smaller brush if it feels more comfortable.

 

We added the moon, clouds and the light track this week

Start just inside the line you drew for you moon and using the width of the flat brush pull the color in to the center. The brush stroke inside the moon area isn’t important it can be any direction but the edge needs to stay soft so do not outline the edge of the moon with one or two brush strokes, make a series of overlapping strokes with the flat end of your brush until you have gone all the way around, then fill in the rest of the moon with a scumbling stroke (any direction) so you get the canvas covered. While your moon is still wet and with the same brush, add just a tiny touch more of the thalo blue to you moon color so it is just ever so slightly blue, tap your brush straight down on your palette to spread the bristles, then lightly tap the end of your brush into the moon to suggest the “face” of the moon. The wet paint of the moon will mix with the new paint and soften, this is just a suggestion of detail and the more you tap, the more blended and softer it will be come, stop before you blend it all to the same color.

While the moon is drying you can sketch in your waves and the light track from the moon keeping in mind that the light track needs to be in perspective. What that means is the light track will be about as wide as the moon in the water just below the moon but will become wider (about 2 moon widths) as it comes into the foreground. It is also bouncing over the waves and ripples in the water so be sure that the sides of the light track show a lot of movement yet leave some of the dark under painting to be shadows cast from the waves. Please look at light playing on the water so you will know what I’m talking about or find reference photos. There are some waves on the reference photo page or go into your search engine and look for sunsets on water or waves, you will find more reference than you would ever imagine.

If you moon is still drying you can start adding the light track in the water. Please be aware that this is not a one hit wonder, like everything else you must build up layers to get it to look the way you want it so this first layer isn’t going to be the brightest highlight on the water, it may take 2 or 3 layers to get to the final highlight, more if you want. The reason for this is the water is constantly moving and there are a lot of peaks and troughs at various heights that the light reflects off of to make it shimmer we need those layers.

 

First layer of color for the light track.

Still using the same brush I mixed a bit more thalo blue and a touch of Hooker’s green into some of that mix I had for the moon. You want it about a shade lighter than the water, should be a soft turquoise color. Start just under the moon with short flat close together strokes about the width of the moon. As you come forward, your strokes will be longer, you will leave some of the under painting showing and the width of the light track will expand. Make sure that the edges of your light track are very ragged, if it looks like a straight line on the edge, it will be very distracting. Remember there are waves that influence the light. You can paint around your waves and foam if you want, it doesn’t matter at this point just keep you brush strokes very horizontal to the top and bottom of your canvas so you water doesn’t look like it is running downhill.

If your moon is dry, if you want, you can put in clouds, if you don’t want clouds, don’t put them in, I just do it in class for the people who do want clouds.

The clouds are very dark they will almost blend into the night sky so be sure that you don’t have any white in your brush as you mix your color. The colors you use for the clouds are ultramarine blue and/or thalo blue, purple and burnt sienna, it will be very dark, now add just a tiny touch of white or gesso to slightly change the value of the color, you can test it on the side of your dark sky where you will be putting the clouds it should be just barely visible against the night sky, this is your base color, you will add white and other colors to this as you paint but you will do that on your canvas, it is called brush mixing.

Load you brush with color then wipe off the outside excess because this will be a dry brush technique. I’m still using my #4 flat bristle brush and I will be using the skinny side of the brush, using very little pressure to make small circles with my brush. You should be able to see the under painting if you are using the right pressure, you want to build up the density as you go so your clouds don’t look like a flock of sheep. As you make your clouds you can add tiny touches of other colors such as white or blue, keep these to the outside edges and closer to the moon to look like highlights. We will do more highlighting later but this will be the base we work on.

I know it might seem silly to mention this, but the clouds go IN FRONT of the moon. If your clouds come close to the moon either stop them well before you get to the moon or drag them across the moon, don’t stop when you get to the edge of the moon or it will look like the moon is in front of the clouds and we are all in trouble.

Next class we will add some stars and work on our water, the pier might be another week away. See you soon.