Summer 2010

Acrylic – Fabric

The mini demo for last class was about painting fabric but it could also be applied to any irregular surface like a crumpled piece of paper or a plowed field with rows the best instruction I can give you – which is what I always give you – is to be observant. It also helps to have some reference photos, even a paper towel can be a visual aid while you are learning to paint fabric.

When you are looking at your reference, be it photo, paper towel or the real thing, pay close attention to the lights and shadows these are a lot more subtle on undulating surfaces than they are on flat surfaces. Yes you will have light, dark and middle areas but you can also have in between values as well. The more you can see these changes in value and apply them to your painting the more realistic your fabric or field will become.

As always, when you are painting in acrylic it is best to start with a middle value, this gives you some place to go with your values and it is almost better to start out too dark than too light because most of you get scared when you have to go darker when you start out too light so it is usually easier for you to go lighter, it doesn't seem to have the same fear factor as going darker.

I do need to point out that the middle values for light colors are different than the middle values for darker colors. For instance: The middle values for white may be almost as light as the highlights for navy blue so the color of your subject will influence how you start painting it.

I started by painting a burgundy color for my red curtains with red and a touch of blue. For the shirt, I used ultra marine blue and a touch of purple for my under painting. Both were fairly dark but not my darkest dark.

The next step can be done a couple ways: you can put in the darkest shadows or you can mix a slightly lighter value than you just used and find your folds. Sometimes you can just use the color straight like using the red or the blue (my examples) by itself to find the folds just remember to not cover everything you just did because that becomes another value that you need. Look for the darkest folds and paint those in. Your darkest color will have blue and purple because they are your natural shadow colors plus what ever color your fabric is such as red or green. When you are painting lighter colors like yellow or orange, add sienna to the shadow color as well and remember that the dark shadows won't be as dark. If it is white, the blue/purple will only be slightly darker than what you started with. Very seldom will you see really dark shadows in a light/white object.

Always, ALWAYS soften the edges of your values when working on material. Even things like satin will have soft blends of values and color so either use a dry brush technique when adding your values or remember to soften with your finger but soften them.

When it comes to highlights, usually you can add white to lighten a color and it will work fine, red is a different animal. Adding white to red give you pink. Even a little white can change the red enough that what you wanted as red now looks like some variation of pink. Rather than adding white, instead use orange to lighten your red. For your very lightest highlights you will need to use white but that will be okay for the highlights to be a bit pink.

This lighter value is near the top of your folds it may also be the highlight for some of the smaller folds or these that may be in the shadows of others, look at your reference to see where you might use this color. Fabric has a lot of subtle changes the more of these you see the better. Using dry brush to add touches of color here and there can add another value without having to mix one, just use your brush very lightly and let a lot of the previous value show through.

I cannot stress enough to all of you that you need to take the time to learn to use your brushes so you can see how they work. Pressing hard will put more paint on your canvas, lessening the pressure will leave less paint and give you a softer blend. This is a common problem I see in class: Students struggling because they are stuck in one mode with their brush and it is usually being heavy handed. They get too much paint when trying to do dry brush because they are pressing too hard even if they have wiped out their brush of most paint. So practice barely touching to surface of your canvas it will help in may situations.

The final highlights are right along the tops of folds but please notice that they may not run the whole length of the fold. The folds on fabric start and stop. Some are higher some are lower, just pay attention and you should do okay.

The coming class will be the last for the semester. Be sure to bring in something for critique, either something you really like or something you need help with or both. Bring in several if you want. Critique is a good learning experience and you will be surprised to find that other people will have a better opinion of your work than you do. We are usually our own worst critic so it is always good to get a second opinion where art is concerned. See you in class.

Acrylic Summer 2010

Acrylic – Glass and Metal Finishing Touches

For the most part, we were about finished with basing in our still life last week, all that is left are the finishing touches to make it come alive. The most important part of this process is putting in the shadows.

Shadows are often times neglected or put in as an afterthought by many artists beginning and advanced alike but they are the key to give your painting drama and a sense of light. You should look to see where you will have your shadows even in the planning stages and even if you are working from a photo that doesn't have shadows per se you need to figure out where exactly you need them for the best effect in your painting.

Another thing to remember is that you should only have one light source otherwise you will have light shadows going in several directions. While this might work well if you were doing dancers on a stage, in most other cases, it will work against you. This may take some practice on your part and maybe so be sketching so you know where you are going but eventually as you develop your skills, you can look at a flat lit scene (meaning that there is no distinct source of light) and decide for yourself where the light should be coming from and place your shadows accordingly.

My light on this still life came from the right so all of my shadows will go off to the left. Notice the shadow under the snuffer because the handle is propped up on the edge of the candle holder there is a gap between the handle and the table it is resting on. I used my charcoal to sketch this in and also the shadows under the bell of the snuffer, the holder, the candle and the bottle. I needed to get some dark behind my candle so using my artistic license, I imagined that the table was up against a wall and the shadow of the bottle runs up the wall behind the candle, this give me the darkness to make the candle stand out from the background.

Next I mixed a dark shadow color which consists mostly of ultra marine blue and purple with maybe the tiniest touch of sienna to darken it. This color should be very dark. It isn't, you have too much water in your paint, probably from your brush. Be sure to dry your brush well before you start to mix this color and squeeze it near the metal ferrule where water likes to hide.

With little paint on your brush, start scrubbing this color where your shadows will be. The edges of shadows are seldom hard except maybe right next to the object that is casting it so keep the edges soft, you can make them harder later if you feel you need to. Notice that under the holder, there are 2 shadows, one is very dark right under the rim the other is just slightly lighter, just be sure to get it dark enough under the holder you can even scrub over the one side of the foot of it creating a "lost and found" effect that can add interest. Get the area behind the candle fairly dark and in the area where it might be the shadow from the bottle, scrub a bit of green into it. Glass is transparent so some of the light comes through the glass and is in the shadow, however, this color should still be darker that the bottle as it has passed through it and has lost strength.

As the shadow of the bottle goes up the wall it changes from the blue/purple to a dark green because of the afore mentioned transparency of the glass so using the same dirty brush, I mixed a bit of Hooker's green into my brush and scrubbed in the shadow of the glass onto the wall occasionally picking up touches of sap green to make parts lighter or added blue to make it darker to suggest the varying thickness of the glass.

Once that was done, I thought that I needed to darken the edges of my painting to make it more dramatic. I went back to that dark blue/purple color and scrubbed in with a dry bristle brush more color. I started in the corners to get the darkest color and as I moved towards the subject, lightened the pressure on my brush to give a graded look to this glaze. I did this all around my painting.

To finish it I mixed a color similar to the table color and put the light holes back into the shadow of the handle of my snuffer and looked for any place else I thought needed more shadow or highlights. This is a personal preference though I do suggest that you quite while you are ahead. You can fiddle a painting very easily to being overworked so if you are looking for things to do: STOP! Let it sit for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes, you will probably find it looks okay as is so call it finished and put it in a frame.

This finished my demo as such. This wasn't intended to be more than a study however, if I was going to be doing this as a true painting, there were things I would have added and several of my students either asked or pointed out the need to make it finished so I made a few adjustments and it turned out to be a more satisfying finished product than just a study. Again, these are things that you as an artist need do decide for your self and can either put them in or leave them out, your choice.

First, I wanted to make it looked like a polished wooden table. Using my liner brush and mixing colors that were both lighter and darker than the table color I suggested wood grain in the table area. I didn't spend much time on this just light lines that could pass for grain. Next, I put in the reflections of the objects. Reflections are always a darker version of what they reflect and they reflect what is underneath them, it is like seeing what a mirror would see if it was on the ground, not on the wall. With the appropriate color and a very dry bristle brush, first I pulled this color straight down, then straight across. This takes a very light touch and you may need to build up to it but don't get heavy handed or you will have problems. This is reflections on a table, not on water which can appear more solid in color.

To the candle, I added a flame. First I took straight yellow and dry brushed in some yellow haze on the inside of the candle using a circular motion but my brush was very dry and my touch very light to give a slight glow on the inside and back edges of the candle, then with a round sable brush using orange and yellow (first orange then yellow) quickly added the flame. I also added these colors to the side of the bottle and smudged them with my finger. Notice I left a space to suggest the side of the candle o the bottle.

It was also suggested – and I agreed – that there was an empty space that needed "something". I am glad that my students are seeing these things because it isn't always easy to spot when the negative space is lacking and that negative space is as important as the rest of it, like supporting actors in a movie, it makes the painting more interesting so to finish my painting, I added a book.

We are done with the class project so you will need to bring in something of your own to work on. I will be doing a demo on how to finish a painting with varnish and I will demo creating fabric. We only have two more sessions and we will take a break. The next classes will start Sept 20^th and registration for Torrance residents will start Aug 24^th, non-residents on Aug 31^st. Be sure to get registered in your classes as soon as you can so they don't close your class for lack of students, they usually close under enrolled classes a week before they start so don't get left out and encourage your friends to take classes as well. See you in class.

Acrylic Summer 2010

Acrylic – Metal and Glass Still Life

This week we finished up our under painting so all that is left to do are the finishing touches.

Most beginning students do not understand the importance of the under painting or exactly what it is yet it is the basis for any good painting whether it is acrylic, pastel, oil or watercolor or any other paint based art form. It is the foundation which you build you finished painting, just like building a house if the foundation is solid the house will be solid. If your under painting is good your finished painting will be a success.

As you build these layers of paint during the under painting process, you do not cover up all of the work you did in a previous layer, you leave some of the previous layer for texture or shadow. It is why we use the dry brush technique so often so we can see the previous layer through the layer we are working on building upon what we had to create what we want. As you learn more and more about acrylics you will begin to see what I'm talking about, for now, you will have to trust me.

We left off with our background done and most of our bottle based in (under painted), now we need to finish getting in the candle and the snuffer.

The candle looks white or cream colored but we do not start there, if we did, we would have no place to go with our color. We start with a gray version of the color. Remembering that wax is translucent I don't want a real dark color as my under painting so I mixed white with a touch of blue, sienna and a tiny touch of red making a soft gray color that was not too light but a little lighter than a middle gray. Starting in the shadowed side of the candle I scrubbed this color in. At the edges of the candle, I used the end of my bristles and pulled in rather than pulling a straight line down the side. This keep the edges soft for now if I want a harder edge I can do it later but for now I want to avoid and ridges of paint that will be hard to get rid of once they dry. As I painted towards the lighter side I added touches of white and sometimes picked up red or orange to warm and lighten the gray just slightly.

I skipped and area where the rim of the candle was and went to the inside starting with the darker gray down along the bottom and again as I moved up the inside of the candle added a little white, red or orange. Keep in mind I don't want a RED or ORANGE candle, I just want to give the suggestion of color, the highlighting will come in the next steps, this just sets the tone.

The under painting for the candle holder is a mix of blue sienna and touches of yellow. The yellow will turn the color slightly green but this is okay it will give the appearance of tarnished brass in the end, with any luck at all. Just get the holder covered in the dark color and it will be much darker than the candle, we will give it shape and form later when we highlight.

The brass snuffer has a couple of sections, first the inside of the bell. Notice how dark it is, many of you struggle getting your color dark enough and usually the problems is either 1, you have too much water on your brush diluting the mix, 2, you aren't using enough paint and stretching it too thin or 3 a combination of 1 and 2. Before you pick up paint, if you have been using a light color you will want to rinse your brush well (guess there is a 4^th, light color on your brush) just be sure to dry it well and get the water out from under the metal ferrule before you pick up paint. Remember, a little water will go a long way and it will thin your acrylics down so much they are transparent, it doesn't take much.

To get a dark color start with the ultra marine blue, sienna or burnt umber and a touch of purple. If it looks too brown add more blue. Ultra marine and sienna make a very nice dark gray adding the purple gives it life but it will be very dark. Start in the center that would be the very inside of the bell. Not only is there shadow but there is also soot so it will be very dark. Create the upper edge with this color and down the sides a bit. As this color comes out into the light, add a touch of white, not much just enough to make a nice dark gray and blend the light into the edges of the dark so there is no hard line, use your finger if you have to. I used a sable brush in this area because it helps me to make soft blends of color while the paint is still wet.

The brass on the snuffer is a bit redder that the holder so the color I mixed for its under painting was blue, orange and a touch of red, it should look like dark mustard. I painted in the all of the snuffer with this color.

The next step could have been done right after I did the background, but I waited until now so I knew where all of my elements were going to be and that is the table top. Remembering where my light was coming from, I started near the bottle with orange and sienna to give a warm glow around the bottle and the bell end of the snuffer and as I worked my way to the edge, using a horizontal scrubbing stroke with my bristle brush, I picked up some red and sienna, then sienna and purple and finally just purple and what mud I had on my brush to take it to the sides and corners. I am making a wooden table but this will work using any color you are using in your painting, just use colors you need and add blues and purples to make the corners darker.

I did start the highlighting process on the candle and snuffer, these aren't the final highlights these are more like giving the things shape. On the candle I mixed a lighter version of the gray I used before and scrubbed it on using a very dry brush. If you are doing this right, you should be able to see the under painting thru this layer. Again, I picked up touches of red or orange along with my gesso I was using for white and scrubbed on the color even along the rim area. When I had all of the area covered, I came back with more gesso and the mud on my brush and still using a dry brush scrubbed the light color on the lightest side of the candle and the top rim. I also looked for places that were lighter to give shape to the lumps and bumps.

The holder, I used yellow and the mud on my very dry brush and scrubbed this color in. It isn't a bright yellow, more a dirty yellow and looking at my subject lightened areas that might be getting some light. I used some of the dark shadow color under the top rim to create depth and to start to shape the stand it is on.

On the snuffer, I used yellow, orange and red and again using a dry brush, scrubbed this color on. It should be brighter than the under painting but don't cover up all of the under painting, it creates texture. I did use a dark color to add some shadows to the holes in the snuffer and along its edge.

We will finish the still life next session so please have something you want to start painting with you in class. Only a few more sessions left so best to get started now while you have time to ask questions.