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.
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