Spring Acrylic Class Week 7

Acrylic Class – Week 7: Borax Wagon

This week we start on some of the detail of our wagon, first we need to make sure that the wagon is bright enough especially in the sun-bleached areas of the wood planks, it should be very bright, if it isn't do some more dry brush with white and the tiniest amount of yellow, it will be mostly white (titanium or gesso). Remember to dry brush with the grain of the wood (horizontal).

Next, we put in the dark shadows under the wagon. Please do not worry about the streaks of light right now just the shadow, those streaks will come later. When you are doing large areas, remember to use a larger brush. I was using at least a #10 or 12 to get the area covered quickly and it will look less labored. If you need to, you can draw the back edge of the shadow so you know how far up to paint, Look at the photo and note that it comes up just below that structure under the wagon and that it is not straight. This shadow is going over uneven ground so it will follow the depressions and rises on the ground. Don't get out your rulers!

The shadow color is the one we have been using and is my standard shadow color: blue, purple and burnt sienna, keeping it to the cool (blue/purple) side but it should be a dark color and watch how much water you mix in, if you have too much water the paint won't cover well and you will have to go over the area again at least once, maybe more to get the look you need so keep the water to a minimum. Remember that there is water in your brush especially if you just rinsed it out.

With this dark color cover the whole area that is in shadow. Don't paint around where the wheel will be. Don't paint around the spokes or light streaks, just paint the whole area for now and you can use a scumbling stroke (every which way) to scrub this color in remembering to keep the back edge soft, smudge it with your finger if you have to, no hard lines.

While your shadow is drying, you can draw in where that iron bar that attaches to that wood beam that comes out from under the wagon (see photo). It isn't necessary to have an exact drawing just a curved line that attaches to the beam and please note that it is curved, not straight. Some people have trouble seeing it isn't straight, that would be the left brain kicking in. Also, if you want, while you are placing things in with the charcoal, you can draw in some of the other detail under the wagon.

This is one of the few times I will suggest a smaller brush and it can be either bristle or sable at least a ¼" wide, this is for the metal bar. With just burnt sienna on your brush, paint in the shape of the bar. Kinda dab the paint on rather than draw a smooth line. This is an old, rusted, hand-made iron bar that has seen much better days, the rougher the better. After you have the bar in, pick up some blue (ultra marine) on the end of your brush and just touch and dab it to the shadowed side of the bar. Rinse your brush and dry it well, then pick up some orange and do the same thing on the sunny side of the bar, these are quick simple strokes don't take a lot of time worrying this poor bar to death, just do it and it's done!

At this time you can also block in some of the things that are in shadow with your dark color. There are bolts and bars and blocks and…All in shadow, they are just shapes but they will make that area under the wagon more interesting.

We are finally getting to the wheel, so now is the time to use your charcoal or chalk and draw in where you think the wheel needs to be. You can start with the hub or the outside rim, just keep your reference handy so you can refer to it as you draw. Keep in mind that I didn't draw all the spokes in the drawing I provided, however, if you want it to look more like the real thing, you can put them in, it is up to you.

Even though it is hard to see, the wheel is slightly canted in so it isn't completely round. That is part of the reason you can see a lot of the inside rim on the right side but not on the left. This is called "foreshortening" and it is something you need to be aware of when you are drawing and painting. That said, after class I noticed that my wheel is really not the shape it should be, unfortunately because the next time will be our last, I will correct my painting but will explain what I did on the blog at a later time so we can get as much done before the end of class.

The outside wooden rim of the wheel is under painted much the same as we did for the wagon. Using that blue, purple, sienna mix, I added gesso (or white) to get a dark warm grey color. If your color is too cool (blue) you can add some sienna to warm it up. Again, if you have a brush that is about a ¼" wide, you can use that brush to paint in the parts of the wheel, it might make you feel more in control. There are also some part on the hub that can be under painted with this color so while you have it on your brush, you might as well get it in, just refer to your photo.

The spokes of the wagon are painted with what mud you may have on your brush and sienna with touches of red and orange. The inside area of the wheel rim starts out with this sienna/red color then becomes more orange. It doesn't need to be the final bright orange, this just gets the process started.

When you get to the hub, you will be using sienna, orange and red but it will work out better if you "brush mix". What this means is pick up one or two of the colors and mix them on the canvas. The center of the hub is made with wedges so start from the outside and pull your colors into the center. Once again I am not concerned with the lug nut in the center, that will come later, right now I just want to get a mottled sienna/orange/ red thing going in the center.

The bands around the hub are done much like the bar you did earlier, use sienna to base it in then pick up some blue and tap it in an uneven way. Your wheel should be based in and if everyone can get there on time on the 7^th we may be able to get this finished.

I also want to remind you to bring something in for critique on our last day. It can be something you have done at class or at home or any other medium you may be working with and you want some feed back. It can be your best work or a "problem child", critique is a good way to get a second opinion on your work.

Also, registration starts on Tuesday, so if you are a Torrance resident you can register for classes this week if you aren't a resident registrations starts the following Tuesday, June 1^st. See you soon and enjoy your holiday.

Spring 2010 Week 6

Acrylic Class – Borax Wagon Week 2

You often hear me telling you and other students to get up and look at your painting from a distance – at least 6 feet. You cannot evaluate your painting when your nose if literally inches away from the canvas so it is a very good habit to get into to step away from your painting to assess your progress. I say this because more often than not, when I put my paintings up so I can write these blogs, I see things that I feel need correction. Such was the case when I looked at my wagon when I started last weeks blog but rather than fixing it at home, I saved my corrections for class. I think it is important for you to understand that things can be fixed without major upset.

First off, I thought that my sand hills just behind the wagon were a bit to big and therefore visually too close. All I did was mix a color similar to my desert floor color and with flat "u" shaped strokes extended the desert floor about half way up what I had for the sand hills. The color doesn't have to be exact to what was there, just similar. This helps push the mountains and hills back by creating more distance.

Another thing I did to create distance was to dry brush on a thin layer of "dust". This was a mix of my gesso and the mud on my brush and water to thin in, then after wiping my brush and making sure that I had all excess water removed from my brush, I very lightly dry brushed this color on using a small circular motion. Aside from using very little paint, the key to this is a light touch, the harder you press on your brush the more paint will come off so just barely touch the canvas. I used this mostly in the distant mountains but did over lap the sand hills down to the desert floor.

My next fix was the wagon. I felt that it wasn't quite long enough or deep enough so using my soft vine charcoal I sketched in where I thought I needed to make corrections. This was more for the visual confirmation so I could make other corrections without being committed by using paint.

When I had the additions to the wagon the way I liked them, I mixed paint similar in value to what was there. The color doesn't really concern me as much as the value does, any dark color will do. Keeping in mind that I was painting long boards, I filled in the areas where I was extending the wagon but I didn't stop where the new met the old, I dry brushed into the existing color that was there, not only does it blend the two areas together seamlessly, it also prevents any hard lines from being created. When it is done, it will look like it had always been there and no one will see your correction.

While the wagon was drying, I based in the shadows under the wagon and some of the structure I see under the wagon. Remember, I don't care about what all that stuff is because all it is to me as an artist are shapes. Using my blue, purple and touches of sienna, I made a very dark color. If you need to, sketch in these shapes before painting, just avoid detail for now. In some places I used a bit more sienna where I see some of the beams come out into the light, but any highlighting will be done later, this is under painting. Don't take too much time filling this in, a lot of it will be covered when we put in the wheel.

If your wagon is dry and it really needs to be dry for this next step, you will start making them look like old wood planks by using the dry brush technique and a bristle brush at least a #10 flat bristle. Look at the reference photo before you start. Notice that there are some darker areas that have yellows and oranges and well as sienna and some blues. The lighter areas are shades of gray to an almost white where the wood has been sun bleached. You don't have to exactly match the photo, just use it as a guide and work between your dark areas and your lighter ones. Keep your brush dry, your touch light and your strokes horizontal, the rougher this step looks the better the outcome. Use the side of your brush and/or the end of your brush just keep your strokes light and horizontal, let some of the under painting show through and each layer of color you add, this is what creates texture.

When you are satisfied with you wagon, you can sketch in where the planks actually are so you can paint them in next. I showed 3 ways of creating these separation lines, first I used my knife. I mixed a dark color of blue, purple and sienna and pulled some of it flat with my knife, then in that flat area, I cut across with the edge of my knife to create a little ridge of paint on the under side. On my canvas I cut across the line where I want the separation and moved the knife back and forth to create my line. It doesn't need to be perfectly straight or even so don't even try.

The next method I demonstrated was using the end of my brush. I loaded my brush with the same dark color making sure I ran both sides through the paint to bring the end to a cleaner edge. I used a flat bristle brush but you can use a flat sable if you want. Along the charcoal line I had drawn, I just touched the edge of the brush along the whole line moving down not quite a full brush length with each touch.

The third method I got out my liner brush and added enough water to that dark color to give it an ink like consistency then painted the next line with the liner brush. Experiment with your equipment because there are many ways to do similar things and you may find that you either like one over the other or you have more control, the choice is yours.

Next I sketched the support boards that run vertically on the wagon and the beam that comes out from under the wagon and part of it is in the light. I under painted these with sienna, blue and purple and when they were dry, I added the texture much like I did for the side of the wagon only using vertical dry brush strokes. They are much more bleached out than the wagon so they can be lighter just don't paint them solid.

That beam that sticks out is slightly rounded on the end so when you dry brush the end, use little "u" shapes and on it's side there is some reflected light just before it goes under the wagon. Use sienna and maybe a touch of red on the front part, thenif it isn't dark enough already, used a dark mix of sienna, blue and purple to finish.

Last I started putting in the shadows next to the upright boards on the wagon using a mix of blue, purple and a touch of sienna and a little water so it will flow and painted the shadows behind each.

Next week we will continue adding more detail and maybe get close to finishing though I do think we will be working on this on our last day. See you soon.

Spring 2010 Acrylic Class

Acrylic Class – Borax Wagon Week 1

This week we started a project that will take until the end of the semester to finish so I don't want you to rush per say, I also don't want you to linger in one area and over work you painting, so if you get caught up in class you might want to work on something else until we pick it back up in class.

The only thing you need to draw at this point is the corner of the wagon, the distant mountain range and the sand hills in front of the mountains. DO NOT draw a detailed drawing at this point. No matter how often I say this, I don't think you believe me. We have a lot of painting to do before we ever get into detail, you are just going to be going over those areas and wiping out all that hard work so wait until you are to that point before doing more drawing than I suggest.

The reason is one I keep repeating: We need to get in what is behind first so the things in front don't look like they were cut out and stuck on. Please trust me on this, it will work out.

In the upper right corner is the only sky in the picture but we will treat it like a full sky. First I covered the area with gesso so that I had a nice base to work in to, I applied the gesso down into the distant mountain area so I knew that I had enough coverage. I then picked up blue and a touch of sienna and applied it to the top of the sky area, wiped my brush and worked it down about half way down the gessoed area using big "x's". I cleaned my brush and picked up a touch of sienna and a touch of red on my brush then starting just below the top of the mountain range, I applied these colors, wiped out my brush and again with big "x's" blended this pinkish color up almost to the blue. I wiped my brush out again to get all excess paint from it again using an "x" stroke (this is using a very light touch btw), blended the pink with the blue. Doesn't need to be perfect, variation in color will work for you.

Next I mixed a stronger pink color similar to the sky color – sienna and red – with just a touch of white added, it should be just slightly darker than the sky and using the edge of my brush and puling down created a soft edge for the distant mountains and then scumbled the color to fill in the rest of the mountains. Avoid making hard lines in the background, it is a distant mountain with lots of dust between it and you so it won't be sharp so don't outline and then fill in. Using the edge of the brush and pulling down creates a nice soft edge.

When painting both the mountains and the hills, be sure that you continue their shapes well into the area that will be wagon, you can paint over it, this makes sure that you have enough canvas covered with background stuff when you put your wagon in.

The sand hills are created using that same mountain color on your brush but adding white and maybe a tiny touch of yellow to make a pink color about the same color as the sky. Again, using the edge of your bristle brush, pull down to create the top edge of the hills, then scumble the color to fill in the bottom part of the hills. This area needs to dry.

The desert floor is a jumble of colors from browns, blues, yellows, oranges… you really can't go wrong with any or all the colors on your palette, another good reason to have all your paints out when you start, putting out what your think you will be using is going to limit you and if you think that you will put it out when you are painting, think again. It is very human to try and cut corners. If it isn't out on your palette when you start, you won't put it out even if you think you need it, you will try to work around not having the other colors and your painting will suffer.

Using my #12 flat bristle brush, I picked up color and occasionally gesso and applied it to my canvas using over lapping shallow "u" shaped strokes. While I used mostly sienna and blue along with the gesso – I used the gesso to keep it lighter – I did pick up all the colors on my palette and worked them into my ground area by "brush mixing" the paint on the canvas and covered the entire ground area. This is the under painting. I did not do any shadows yet, those will come later.

If the distant mountains are dry, you can add some faint shadows into the hills. I just found a grayish color on my palette and added a touch of white. These mountains are way off in the distance all the colors are going to be soft the gray should be just slightly darker in value than what is there and just add it where you want to suggest the terrain using a dry brush on the mountains.

Wipe your brush out so most of the paint is out of it and pick up some gesso or white and with the mud on your brush, add highlights to the hills below the mountains. These are quick simple strokes that and should be very dry brush suggest the tops and form of the hills. Don't belabor this, it is just a suggestion.

When you have highlighted the hills, wipe your brush and pick up some sap green and a touch of orange and with the lithe mud on your brush create a soft green color and just tap it on the very tops of the hills, not on all of it, just along the tops of some of the hills.

If you need to, re-sketch in the area that will be the wagon – NOT THE DETAIL – just the box of the wagon.

You will be brush mixing again, picking up sienna, blue purple and touches of white, but you can also throw in any other color your want the key here is to keep your strokes horizontal to follow the grain of the wood of the wagon. You should have a medium dark color with streaks of color showing, don't over mix. Also keep the edges of the wagon rough. This is an old beat up, weather worn, OLD wagon, there are no sharp, crisp lines on it, the rougher your edges the better it will look in the long run.

We will continue on this next week. Please download the photo from the picture page so you have something to look at.

Spring Acrylic Classes 2010

Week 4 – Acrylic: Demo Creating Form

When I walk around my classes to observe what my students are working on, there are things that stand out and tell me we need to work of some basics still. Most students want to paint things that look reasonably real as opposed to impressionistic or abstract, yet there is a lack of understanding about how to create a 3D look on a 2D surface, e.g. canvas or paper. That was the basis for the lesson but it was more than just creating the shapes it was also how to see them in everything around you.

As an artist, your first job is to become very observant. You will hear me say this time and again but it is very important to understand what you are painting before you can actually start painting. Whether you are working from a photograph or plein aire being able to see the detail will bring a sense of life to your paintings and a sense of light.

Highlights, form shadows, reflected highlights and cast shadows work in concert to bring form and substance to your subject matter and your painting in general, you need to learn to see them in real life so you can use them in your paintings. We start with the light source.

We live on a planet with only one sun, keep this in mind when you are working from a photo or if you set up a still life at home. A photo, even ones you take yourself, can have what is called "fill light". It comes from the flash on your camera. Professional photographers may use several fill lights to create an image, while not wrong, too much light can take out the drama of the light and out of your painting. With a still life, most people will over light their subject because they want to be able to see every detail, which is fine so long as you take a photo with only one light source as your primary reference, use the others only if you need some clarification. If you are working directly from the set-up, resist adding more than one light source, it will work to your advantage.

Another thing to keep in mind is where the light is coming from. As a photographer I know that the time to get the best photos is early morning before 10 or 11 a.m. or after 2 p.m. and try to get the light to come from the sides of the subject. This will create form and cast shadows as well as highlights for a much more interesting photo. This principal also works in paintings.

Look at how the light falls on your subject, in this instance a roll of paper towels. The top of the roll and the top of the side closest to the light will be your brightest areas, everything else will be shades of gray. Now look at the corner on the table opposite the brightest corner for the roll (you may have to set up a roll next to a window or other single light source to see this). You should notice a couple of things one is the cast shadow and the other is that the form shadow on the towels is just slightly lighter than the cast shadow.

First the form shadow: Notice how as it goes around the roll it changes from a dark blue gray to lighter grays and finally to white in the upper corner, this is how you need to paint the roll or any subject for that matter. Start with a darker blue/gray (blue, purple and sienna) on your brush put it on the darkest part of the towels then add white or gesso lightening the color as you get to the lightest areas. Another thing to keep in mind is your strokes should reflect the surface you are painting. The towels are round so you should use curved strokes to help create the illusion of roundness.

Now the cast shadow: Notice how the shadow moves away from the roll, it is very dark near the roll and right under the roll and as it moves away from the roll it becomes softer and the edges more diffused the further it is from the towels. Keep this in mind as you paint, you can start near the towels with some thicker paint and as you move away from the towels do more dry brush to lighten and soften the color.

On the inside of the towel roll the highlights and shadows are reversed since the towels are blocking the light from the light source. This will be true on anything that is hollow such as bowl, buckets or rotted tree trunks. See it first before you paint.

The last thing is the reflected highlight. This is probably the most challenging thing for you to see though once you finally do see them, it will be easier to see in all things. Reflected highlights occur when light bounces off of one thing and back into the form shadows of another. It is usually a cooler color such as a blue purple but it can also be a reflected color of something around the thing you are painting, it won't be as bright as its origin and it will be just slightly lighter than the form shadow. Adding these soft purple or cooler colors to your shadows will give them life and bring a sense of reality to your paintings.

You can create form whether you are working wet into wet or wet on to dry, either one is going to take practice and knowledge. You need to look for these things I've been talking about, they are all around you. Once you see them you will understand how important they are to your paintings so please don't just take my word for it start looking for these things.

It is also good to practice your techniques on a scrape canvas or paper (use watercolor paper it's tougher). The more familiar you are with how your paints and brushes work the better off you will be when you are working on your masterpiece.

I'm still working on finding something for class but I hope to have it up by Sunday.

Here are a couple of Google links to Rembrant and Van Gogh so you can see how the masters used light and shadow. You may have to find the "saner" paintings of Van Gogh but his use of light was beautiful.

Rembrant

Van Gogh

Acrylic Class Spring 2010

Week 3 – Cactus

It is always good to have a good reference photo or a detailed drawing when or both when you sit down to paint. As you all know I encourage my students to draw every chance they get , it give you more knowledge about your subject and the more information you have the better your painting will be, this will hold true even if you are painting more impressionistic almost to the point of abstract, it is your road map.

One of the things that doing a drawing helped me with was determining where my light was coming from and where it was going to. When I looked at it when I got it done, I realized that I put the lightest background in the wrong place remember we need dark to show light and conversely, we need light to show dark and we use this to our best advantage. In my painting, I planned it so I had light behind my darkest area and dark behind my lightest area.

I rough sketched where my cactus was going to be – not a lot of detail - then started out using gesso and a touch of yellow to create a soft area of light in the upper right hand third of my canvas painting over the sketch so I could get all of the background covered. Remember the Rule of Thirds, where the third lines intersect are your interest points so it is a good idea to get your viewers to the area you want them to look.

At the edges of the light area I used orange, sienna and gesso and roughly blended outward getting darker into the corners. To get darker, I used sienna, blue and purple – no white – this makes a very dark warm brown. I let this step dry.

When my background was dry I sketched in my cactus with a bit more detail so I knew where things were placed but not so detailed as to include petals or thorns, just major elements, I will do the detail with my brush.

I under painted the cactus with a mix of sap green with a touch of blue and purple to give me a medium dark color all of the pad and the stems of the blossoms with be painted with this color. The under painting for the blossoms I used the mud in my brush with white and yellow to make a light muddy yellow color. I used this color on the flowers as well as the tops of the buds. I let it dry before proceeding.

These next steps can be done in any order and it is okay to switch back and forth between them if you feel comfortable enough, as your painting skill improve, that kind of approach may serve you better keeping you from becoming so focused on one aspect that you neglect the other. Just keep it in mind.

We need to start highlighting and shadows. When I say highlights at this point, I'm not talking about the bright final highlights I'm talking about a color that is a shade or two lighter than what is already on the painting. There can be several layers of highlights, each just a bit lighter than the previous one. This helps to create depth and texture in the elements of your painting it's not something you can speed through and expect good results.

The overall color of the pad of the cactus while it may look green, it has a very yellowish tint to it so for the next layers of highlights I will be using my sap green and mixing in bits of yellow and touches of orange. The orange will slightly gray the green because it has red in it and red and green are compliments. Each time I will add more yellow and less green to build up my layers and I will use the dry brush technique to scumble the color on (scumble means to go in all directions). The highlights along the sunlit sides of the pad and buds will be mostly yellow with a touch of green and white. Remember to feather (lightly dry brush blend) the lighter color into the darker side to create a rounded edge.

The shadows are created using the sap green, blue and purple, the will make a very dark color. If you need it to be darker, add more blue and touches of purple. Start in the darkest areas and again using the dry brush technique, blend out from the dark area with your shadow color. It is important when using the dry brush technique to not only have a brush with little water and paint on it but to also very the pressure you use to apply the paint, to get those fine blended areas requires a very light touch.

To start the highlights on the flowers, it is going to take quick strokes and maybe a flat sable brush if you like. Use a mix of yellow with a touch of white and starting at the outside edge of the petals pull your brush towards the center and lift at the same time. If done right, you will have a bright edge and automatic shadows near the center. The bright highlights are just touches of white along the edges of some of the petals.

For the reddish leaves around and under the buds and flowers I used my napthol red with sienna, where they are in shadow, I added a touch of purple. Remember these leaves are going around a rounded object so your strokes need to reflect that roundness.

Finishing the cactus: Across the face of the pad there are lines – not straight lines BTW – where the thorns attach, there are slight ridges if you are wanting to do some detail. Mix a highlight color that is slightly lighter then the color you have for the flat part of the pad and with a very dry brush and a very light touch, scrub in this color in an uneven diagonal line across the face of the pad. Do this for each row, rinse your brush and mix a color just darker than the color of the pad and with the same light touch and dry brush, add a shadow next to the color you just put down. This will be the line where you will put your thorns, the important thing is they are not straight even lines and it is a very soft blend.

In some of the shadow areas you can brush in a mix of blue, purple and a touch of white to create a reflected highlight and dry brush it in to give some light into the dark areas. The rest is up to you. Do as much or as little as you want to finish looking for areas where you can add light or dark, don't forget shadows from the flowers, buds and thorns.

Next week we will do some basic shapes so no reference picts this time. I am noticing people struggling with getting shadows, highlights and mid tones to work for them so this will be a bit of a review and practice some blending techniques.