Acrylic Project: TJ’s Bouquet Final

At some point you have to call a painting done and that is where I am on this project. The last class I worked on finishing details so there was much instruction because my painting is different from each of yours and I have different ideas of how I want it finished. This is a decision each of you will make on your paintings so it will fill your needs.

When I am looking to finish a painting one of the things I look for is where I can add contrast first and then add color. It is the contrast between dark and light that will “punch up” a painting. I also look to see that I have everything finished, it is easy to get focused on one area and leave other areas to die on the vine so be sure you look to see that all the elements of your painting are at the level they need to be where they are in the painting.

Using my small sable flat brush I went back in to my small yellow flowers and added the red edges pulling the color from the edge to the base lightly and using a bit of yellow to help me blend. These are very light touches to gently blend the colors not mash them together. You want to be able to see both.

I used this same technique of lightly blending colors to add some highlights and transparencies to the roses. Using my gesso for white and my cad red I lightly blended select areas so they looked more transparent or reflected light. Mixing white and red will give you pink and I didn’t want that so I took my time lightly blending. Practice this before you work on your flowers.

I also added a bit of reflected light near the top of the bouquet on the area that would be the wall much like what I did on the surface it is sitting on, this gives a bit more to the “glow” around the flowers. I used a mix or blue, purple and a touch of white but if your background is a different color from mine be sure to use those colors only just a touch lighter.

Adding a bit of the complimentary color to a painting is also a good thing. Since there is a lot of yellow in this painting I mixed a color for the reflected light in the shadow areas of blue, purple with a touch of sienna to slightly grey it and a touch of gesso to slightly lighten it and added this color to some of my shadowed leaves, dark sides of the roses and to the top of the basket behind the overlapping leaves. Little touches of purple will bring life to you painting as long as you understand the term “little touches”.

Before

Lastly and only because I really wanted to see how it would look, I took what I call my magic color which is Quinacridone Gold with a little touch of gesso and using my bristle brush and a lot of water, lightly glazed the surface mostly around the bouquet fading the glaze just beyond the flowers to the existing dark. You do not need to do this! Let me repeat: YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS!!! I just wanted to see what it would look like so I could show you alternatives to finishing your painting, if you want to try it fine but if you like your painting the way it is, please just leave it alone, it is your painting and if you like it that is all that matters.

After

We have 3 more weeks before the end of the semester so I hope you find something you want to paint, I will help you get started and do demos as needed. Keep painting and I will see you in class.

Summer 2015 Acrylic Class

Acrylic Project: TJ’s Bouquet Week 6

Mostly we worked on brightening and detailing the flowers in our bouquet. Because we are working on black it sometimes will take 2-3 coats of paint with gesso to cover the canvas.

I also went in and based in the ferns which I will add highlights and shadows in the next class. The base green I used was a mix of sap green, a touch of orange and gesso to dull it a bit then to lighten the green I would add yellow and gesso to lighten and blue to darken it it is the painting of the fern that will be the challenge here so they don’t look like green fish bones.

The one thing you need to do before you start painting is to LOOK at the fern to see their shape and their structure so you will understand my description and it is best if you practice on another canvas BEFORE you work on you painting. You will notice that each frond of the

fern has a basic triangular shape being wider at the top, branching out to smaller and smaller limbs to nothing at the end and they curve. Each of those limbs also branch out being wider at the point where they connect to the main stem getting narrower to the ends. You must see this to paint it even it is just a general wedge shape. Draw a guide if you need to with your chalk or charcoal so you have something to follow and be sure to look at the reference photo or find some asparagus fern and study it before you begin.

Using a smaller flat bristle brush – my #4, you may need to use a #3 or #2 if you are working on a smaller canvas – I worked the paint into the bristles by pushing it into the paint on my palette the wiping the excess lumps off on my paper towel. If you have an older, worn down brush like mine, it will be the perfect shape for this, if you brush is newer, you will need to use the corners of the brush.

I started at the top of the fern and worked my way down doing each limb by lightly taping my brush in a series of overlapping irregular dots. Think fuzzy as you paint so you don’t get a whole frond of neatly placed dots, your strokes should overlap, congest in places, thin out in places, the limbs themselves will over lap at times or be shorter than the opposite side pair and tap lightly don’t smash it into you canvas. As you do this you can add more green or blue to make it darker or yellow and white just by picking you those colors and tapping them into the existing color, but this is going to take some practice to understand and perfect so get out that spare canvas first.

We will be finishing up this painting on Monday our last class is Aug 24^th so you will have a week to finish this up or start your own painting. I know that people have been taking vacations and other various commitments throughout this summer session, just do the best you can and I will see you in class.