Fall 2018 Acrylic Class

Acrylic Project: Dancing Boots Weeks 3 & 4

As promised I will have 2 weeks worth of blogs here this time, now that things have settled down.

Week 3

 We did a lot during week three as we get closer to finishing up our project.We got the soles of the boots in, added more texture to the dirt as well as adding shadows for the boots and cactus on the ground. We also fleshed out our cactus so now it has ribs and places for the thorns to stick out.

I started with the cactus though you could do the dirt first, it really doesn't matter. 

The first thing you need to do is to get out the actual reference photo, not my step-by-step photos I post in my blogs because they do not have all the information you need, the photo does.

LOOK at the shadows and the highlights on the cactus and LOOK at how those lights and darks define the ribs of the cactus. Also look at how the tops of the ribs - where the thorns come out - shift from being almost in the middle of the rib looking straight on to being on the sides of the ribs as they go around the cactus, also notice how they get closer together visually as they go around the cactus. Last but not least, LOOK at how each of the ribs are scalloped, they are NOT a smooth straight line. Getting this correct will make your cactus look round and have dimension. The more you see BEFORE  you start the more sense it will make as you are painting.

I was using my #4 flat bristle brush because I will be scrubbing in the lights and darks.

The light color is sap green, with a little orange to dull it and yellow to lighten it. I scrubbed this color on with the little side of my brush so I would have more control and it was a very dry brush, meaning I had little paint or water. It should be brighter at the tops of the ribs than at the bottom so as you paint, follow the shape of what you are painting (the top of each rib is rounded so use an upside down "U" type stroke, it isn't a wall) and as you go down the side of the rib, lighten the pressure on your brush so the color fades out. 

Depending on how dark your under painting is and how well you do your dry brush, you may not need to add more shadows. However, If you need to add shadows like I did, it will be the same procedure except the colors will be Hooker's green, ultramarine blue and a touch of purple to make a dark green color, and a regular "U" type stroke starting at the very bottom between the ribs where it is darkest, using less pressure as you come up the sides of the rib. this is also the color for the boot's shadow on the cactus.

This is one of the rare occasions that I will tell you it is okay to use black and that is for the soles of the boots. They are a man made products and they use carbon black in the rubber (my dad worked for Goodyear as a rubber chemist and would come home covered in the stuff), also if you are doing fabric same rule applies for the same reason. 

That said, if you do not have black, to make a very dark color use ultramarine blue, burnt umber and purple. If it looks too warm, use more blue to cool it down. This is what I did for my boots adding tiny touches of white for the grayer  parts.

The dirt is a mix of many colors and is why I strongly suggest that you have ALL your colors out when you are painting because you will not want to stop to put them out when you need them, trust me on this because I do it myself.

I was using my #6 bristle brush this time and the stroke was more like a banana shape - a bit flat with curved up ends. This will give you the texture of dirt and I mixed my colors ON THE CANVAS, I didn't premix. By mixing on the canvas you get a more natural blend of the colors. Again, look at the dirt in the photo: It has warm yellow areas, cold gray areas, there are oranges, reds, blues and even a little green. Dirt isn't just brown.

Look to see where the light areas are and where the shadows are and adjust your colors accordingly. the only way you can go wrong is to paint it one color with flat strokes. 

Those strokes will come in handy next week. These are what I have in the background behind my cactus and I'm seeing potential rocks :-)

You should let the dirt dry a bit before scrubbing in the shadows of the cactus and the boots, so while it is drying, look at the shape of the shadows particularly the boots. Those shadows sit your boots down into the dirt if you do them right and yes, this is very important. I saw some shadows that were thrown on without first looking at the shape and the boots looked like they were floating because the person didn't notice that where the boots contact the ground is smaller than were the toe of the boot curves up. See it before you paint it!

Again you will be scrubbing the in with a dry brush using blue, burnt sienna and a little purple. It is darker directly under the boot or cactus and gets a bit lighter as it gets further away from what is blocking the light. Scrub in the shape and be sure you don't have any hard lines, the shadows should kinda fade out. Look at the boots above for reference.

Week 4

Week 4 was all about the boots, getting in more light colors and  adding the shadow of the boot on the second boot and just getting them to the point where they are almost finished.

Really look at the photo to see what you need or want to do. From this point on you need to decide what you want your finished painting to look like.

Here is a good look at the shadows under the boots, notice the shapes and the soft edges.

I was using my #4 flat bristle doing a lot of dry brush scrubbing, following the shape of what I was painting using variations of the thalo blue and white for the light areas and adding a little alizarin crimson for shadows.

I started adding touches of detail lie a highlight along the to edges of the boots. It is not white, I added a little bit of mud from my palette to my gesso so it wasn't stark white but looked like the soft leather from the inside. The dark color was the thalo and crimson. You can use a smaller sable brush, I used a #4 flat sable, or you can use a liner brush.

I have more detail I want to put on I will do that as I finish up my painting.

I did use my tooth brush to splatter color to make pebbles and rocks but when I was looking at it at home I realized I didn't get some lighter areas around the boots, so I will have to do the splattering again. Don't worry about it if you didn't get to it yet.

Finally, I added some lighter colors to those brush strokes I pointed out from week 3 to suggest bigger rocks laying behind the cactus. These aren't highlights just a color that is a little lighter than what is there. I also took my liner brush with some yellow and white to base in the flowers and some crimson and sienna for the centers.

This is where I left off in our last class and this should get you caught up for the past couple of weeks. Maybe, no promises, we will finish up this week.

Keep painting and I will see you in class.