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Acrylic Class Project: Summer Fun Week 4
Last time I mentioned that I didn't like my sand and was going to change it, which is where I started this week. To be clear, if you like your sand or anything else you do not need to change it just because I did, all this is showing you is that you can paint right over something you don't like, you aren't stuck with it. While I like this better color-wise, I still need to make it so the truck tracks don't look like mountain ranges but this is better.
The other thing I did was to add some dark color to the bottom of the canvas before I did the darker sand under painting. The dark color was ultramarine blue, a touch of purple and sienna, I was using my #4 flat bristle brush. Many pointed out that the darker sand color (sienna, blue and white) looks like it is spilling over into an abyss, good catch! A lesson I try to explain often but this accidental "lesson" points out perfectly what I mean when I tell you that your brush strokes matter and they should follow the form of the thing you are painting. The sand looks flat because my brush strokes are flatish slightly curved up on the ends flat strokes, the edges I put in look like they are going over a cliff because the strokes curve abruptly, I did this on purpose because of the way I want to finish the bottom. Remember that I am just playing and experimenting, I want to bring some of the sky colors down to the bottom and this is part of my plan - at least for now, it could change.
I started working on the lifeguard tower to get some of the the railings and posts in. I switched to my #4 flat SABLE brush to do this detail. the sable brush gives you more control and finer brush strokes.
I am using a turquoise color and lighten it with white, you can also use pthalo blue or ultramarine or whatever blue you have, to lighten it use white/gesso to darken add a touch of purple.
I will be doing more on my highlights, this is just the beginning.
One thing I do want to point out for my beginning students - because I saw several of you doing this - in acrylics we work from our mid-tones to our lightest lights and to our darkest darks, we don't start at the finished color because all the layers are important, they become the texture and form of the thing you are painting and the mid-tones are more dominant than the darks or the lights. I heard one instructor pass on some words of wisdom he had learned from his teacher when it comes to value range: If you were going to a paint store you would buy a gallon of mid-tone, a quart of dark and a pint of highlights. Start with the mid-tones and you will have more success in the long run.
Overall, I think my painting is coming together, I should finish this maybe next week but more likely the following week.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Acrylic Project: Summer Fun Week 3
This week I finally added the lifeguard tower. I was using my #6 flat sable brush this time because it is a lot easier to do the detail with the sable brushes than with a bristle brush. If you don't have a flat sable a round one will also work.
I mixed a dark blue gray using the ultramarine blue, a touch or purple (you can add alizarin crimson instead), a tiny touch of burnt sienna and white to lighten the value. If you notice in the picture here there are at least 3 values of this blue gray and I have not yet added the railings across the sides yet, that comes later.
The windows in the tower were done with just the blue and white and the mud on my brush. Use the white or gesso to lighten the color and add blue to darken it.
Notice I have not yet put the frames around the windows and I have just painted shapes of color. You are only suggesting that there are things inside the tower, you don't need to spell them out.
I also decided that I wanted to put in the tire tracks using a #4 flat bristle brush and using gesso, sienna and orange for the light color and adding blue for a darker color.
If you study this image you will see that the ruts are made with a series of comma strokes to create the illusion of depth. The comma stroke starts up then flattens out at the bottom, this helps the tracks look flat on the ground whereas just painting a curved line will not.
Unfortunately, I am not happy with my tracks so I may paint them out or do something else with them but remember that we are experimenting with this project so don't be afraid to try things because you can always paint over them.
This is where I left off last class. I still have a lot to do and as I said, I want to change things as well. You will start to see this come together in the next week or so and I am hoping that I can finish this up in the next 2 weeks.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Acrylic Project: Summer Fun Week 2
In our last class I worked on several things: One was pushing the peninsula back a bit and working on the sand.
One of the things I discovered when I went to add the tower to my canvas was I didn't have the sand high enough on the right side so I did raise that as well as repeating some of the sky colors into the corners. Remember, I am just experimenting with this, if I don't like it I can change it, acrylic is very forgiving.
One of the things about acrylics that can be a bit annoying is that they dry darker. What looked to be the right value when you put it on looks much darker when you look at it later. This can cause problems when you are working on the background and you want it to stay in the back, the darker something is the closer it looks so there are times when you need to push your background back. You can do this with a dry brush wash. What that means is you used a very thin (watered down) lighter color - gesso with a tint of color, in this case purple - and after you load your brush, wipe it on a paper towel to get excess moisture out of the brush, then using very light pressure on your bristle brush make small circles over the area you want to lighten. this not only lightens and area but it also obscures any hard lines or shapes because it is it in the background you won't see hard lines or distinct shapes. I only went over this once but sometimes you may need to go over it again to get the desired effect. This can also be used to create fog and dust.
This is where I had to raise the level of my sand but instead of working on dry under paint, I did what is call "wet into wet" to save some time. The effect is similar to wet on dry you just have to be careful not to over blend because you want the light and dark to create texture.
I just started to add some of the sky colors into the corners using flat "U" strokes that over lapped. Will it stay this way? the jury is still out, I will decide as I get further along.
Try to have the drawing on your canvas for class on Monday. I want to get the tower under painted so we can start working on getting in some details.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Acrylic Class Project: Summer Fun Week 1
Every so often all artists should break out of their comfort zone and try something different. We all get stuck in ruts, myself included, then the thing that should be fun - painting - feels more like a chore. Whether it is a challenging painting or using colors in a different way or using textures... Whatever it is you try, you will gain knowledge and skills as well as face your fears.
Yes, fears.
As adults we have been conditioned to conform which isn't necessarily a good thing for an artist. We are afraid of making a mistake no matter how small and we feel that the world is judging us when in reality, we are the only ones judging ourselves. Artists are their own worst critics. So what if what you end up with is horrible, that is why we have gesso. Paint it out and start again but don't give up trying new things, just do them different.
The lifeguard tower can easily be done just as the photo shows or you can throw caution to the wind and try something way out of the box. I needed to do something different for a change so I chose to use bright colors and some splattering to start my painting.
I will do more later and I can change the whole thing if I want to which is one of the beauties of acrylic, you can paint right over something you don't like.
I used my warm colors in the sky (red, yellow and orange) along with a bit of gesso where I wanted it lighter, and I covered my whole canvas. I was using my #12 flat bristle brush but you could also do this with the 2" blending brush, in any case, use the biggest brush you have to cover the canvas quickly.
Next, starting with the PV peninsula, I took my #12 flat bristle, some sienna, a touch of blue and gesso to lighten the color and made quick little curved strokes to put in the dirt part of the cliffs. To that same color, I added my Hooker's Green and more gesso to make a gray green then using the end of the flat brush and pulling down formed the top edge of the peninsula covered in trees. Using the end of the flat brush keep the edge soft, this is in the distance so you do not want a hard edge. After you get the top edge in you can scrub in the rest of the color for the trees.
In acrylics, we can work from back to front doing what is furthest away first then nearer things later because we can paint right over the background. This prevents the "halo" effect when you are trying to not paint into an area where something else needs to be so you don't need to leave a place for the lifeguard tower we will just paint right over what we have.
Also, this layer is just under painting we will do highlights and add color then this layer becomes the shadows and texture, so this is not the final look for our background.
The water was a mix of ultramarine blue, a bit of gesso to lighten and I think I also added some purple, usually by brush mixing on the canvas not in my palette. Still using my #12 flat bristle brush I applied it with long, flat, horizontal strokes. That was the only brush I used to get this started.
The sand color was a mix of yellow, gesso and little touches of purple. and applied ti using a combination of scrubbing and "U" shaped strokes. To get the top edge of the sand I did the same thing as I did for the top of PV, I used the edge of the brush and pulled down to form the edge the rest was as I said above.
This is our basic under painting for this project so try to get your painting to this point if you can for class. I still have some work to do before starting the lifeguard tower. Acrylics dry darker but don't let that worry you we will be adding highlights and even more color as we go, this is just your foundation. Keep painting and I will see you in class.
