Spring 2019 Acrylic Class

Acrylic Project: Pink Umbrella Week 1

I am painting on an 24" x 18" canvas that I toned (under painted) with a blue gray color. This is a personal preference to under paint with a wash or color but you can work directly on a white canvas if you want.

First I did a simple sketch of the different planes (distant hills, middle hills and closer hill) and the crevasse between the parts of the distant hill, it has a "V" shape I needed to put in.

The under painting for the poppies in the distance was orange with a touch of sienna, ultramarine blue and gesso (white) to get a slightly grayed burnt orange color. This is the under painting and it becomes the shadows and texture for the next layer I will put on so don't try to go to the bright orange first or your painting will look flat.

The green was a mix of Hooker's green, sienna and a touch of white.

I was using a #10 flat bristle brush but if you are working on a smaller canvas you could use a #6 or #8. This is under painting and you just need to get it on the canvas. I also had the reference photo right in front of me so I could check frequently the areas I was painting.

Remember to scrub this color on by following the shape and direction of the thing you are painting. If if is rounded, your strokes should be rounded. If it is at an angle, your strokes should be at an angle. These are poppy fields not a wall.

On the middle hill, I used the exact same colors except I didn't use as much white so they would be a bit more colorful. I used the same brush and technique to  create the middle hill.

On the foreground it is mostly scrub brush and dirt. The dirt is just blue and burnt sienna and a bit of white, the bushes are Hooker's green a little sienna and blue to make a dark army green. No white this time except to make a bush a little lighter.

To create the bushes, I used my #8 flat bristle and used the corner to create the shapes of the bushes. to some of the bushes I added either touches of withe or yellow as I was shaping a bush. This takes practice and you need to be sure that you don't make them all the same size or height, you need variation.

This is the under painting and I will start adding more and brighter colors the next class so keep painting.