Free Lessons and Painting Tips

 

How to paint an "eye!"

 

 

The eye has to be painted the right way in order for it to look round and real. Have you ever stood in front of a portrait and the eyes seem to "follow" you when you move from side to side? If you paint your eyes this way you will have those mysterious eyes and people will be amazed at how they will follow them!

Rules:

1. The whites are never really "white" add a bit of flesh color to make them look accurate. The true value  of the white area is closer to the value of the skin tone.

2. The eyeball is a sphere, that means it is round like a ball,  not flat like a CD. You will accomplish this by carefully placing your shadows.

3. The highlight dot should always be placed very carefully. It should be just barely touching the Iris, not inside the Iris. If you see two highlights in the eye, limit the highlight to the most prominent one.

4. The upper lid will cast a shadow onto the white area and the Iris, it runs under the lid and around the sides of the white area of the eye. Add a bit of grey-blue to the white color for this shadow.

5. The reflected light is "directly" across from the highlight dot.

6. The outer edge of the Iris is a tiny bit darker than the rest of the Iris.

7. The upper lid is shadowed on the sides leaving  a lighter color in the center, this makes it look like it is following the form of the eyeball.

 

General Information

1. Use freezer paper you can purchase on a roll for your palette paper for oils.

2. When starting out with oils, set up your pallet with the blues, greens and violets on one side and reds, oranges and yellows on the other side. White and black on the end.
3. Under each color write with a sharpie the name of the color so you will get familiarized with the name.
4. Put left over paints in the freezer with saran wrap over it.
5. You can store left over paint in the small pots but if you do put a tiny amount of linseed or Canola oil over the top to keep it from forming a skin, remove the oil before you use by simply just tipping the pot upside down.
6. To help your oils dry faster add a tiny bit of Cobalt drier to your mixture.
7. To keep them from drying add a tiny drop of clove oil to your mixture.
8. If the white of the canvas intimidates you, simply apply a wash of any acrylic color.
9. To prevent your line drawing from being smeared or removed, simply give your canvas a light spray of hair spray, not aerosol but from the pump bottle.
10. To remove any lines that may be showing through simply take a Q Tip and dip in the hair spray and remove the lines, then repaint the area.
11. To keep your sable brushes in good condition remember they were once on an animal, the animal had natural oils that conditioned the hair, when you repeatedly  clean them you remove this and you need to add a tiny amount of hair conditioner to them once in a while.
12. Remember to re-shape your brushes after you have cleaned them.
13. If you don't want to clean your brushes at the end of your painting time, put them in a ziplock bag and put them into the freezer, they will keep for a week or so that way, however don't ever them too long as the paint can be harmful to the bristles.
14. To remove paint from your clothes even if you have accidentally washed them and put them though the drier, simply spray  the spot with oven cleaner and let it sit for 20 minutes, then re wash and usually all the paint will come out! And yes I did say Oven Cleaner!
15.Never use a brush basin that has the plastic ridges in the bottom if you value your brushes, they will ruin you brushes causing you to have to replace them often. Even if the manufacturer tells you they will not hurt the bristles, just remember most of them are manufactured by brush companies, if they actually sell you something that would never wear out your brushes they would not stay in business, simple logic!
15. Use a clothes pin to attach your reference photo to your easel.
16. To go green, use your old bath towels that are worn out for your cleaning rags, I simply cut them up to the size I want and when painting I have a basket full of them, they can be washed and re used! Saving you and the environment by not using paper towels.
17. Keep a baby bottle filled with Q Tips next to your easel for removing small mistakes on your canvas, while the paint is wet you can dip the Q -tip into your paint cleaner and just remove the area with ease.
18. To keep you studio safe, have cross ventilation, that means you need two windows that carry fresh air across you and your palette, the fumes from the paints and the mediums can become very bad for artists who work a lot of time  in confined areas.
19. Use green cleaners for your brushes, like Canola Oil or Turpenoid Natural, these won't hurt you or the environment.
20. To get the very last of your paint our of your tube purchase a Tube Ringer, they work great! 
21. There a lots of art boxes on the market but before you choose one go to Wal Mart
Look at the tackle boxes...some of these are much better and a lot cheaper.
22. If you purchase a cheap canvas, take a measuring tape to the store with you so you can make sure it is what it say's it is, often they will be slightly off, and then they don't fit into a standard frame.
23. Do not get paints on your hands, and don't eat when you are painting! Lots of pigments are harmful even in little amounts. If you have a cut be careful that you don't get paints in it.
24. Odorless cleaners are not safe just because you can't smell them....they are still emitting dangerous toxins in the air so don't use them.
25. NEVER wash you hands in any turp or brush cleaner  product, other than Turpenoid Natural, they are very toxic and absorbed through your skin into your liver. Be careful with all the products you use in oil painting.
26. Don't buy cheap oils....you don't save a dime....they are filled with mediums like linseed oil. Unfortunately this is especially true of beginners sets that are from companies that are not one of the top oil makers. You will only find that you can't paint beautiful rich paintings because you have very little of the pigment in your paint. Good paints don't have to cost you an arm and a leg, but you need one that has a high concentrate of pigment.
27. In oil painting you do exactly the opposite of painting with acrylics, that is you start with your darkest colors first and build up the lights, in a lot of acrylic techniques you start with a light or medium value and add your shadows.
28. When you are working on your canvas remember the following:
A. Start painting with  the background, the farthest thing from the front of the canvas.
B. Things get duller in color and cooler in the distance.
C. Things get smaller in the distance.
D. Things have less texture in the distance.
E. Things show less detail in the distance, they have softer edges.
F. Things have more color intensity in the foreground and are warmer.
G. Things are shaper in the foreground, their edges are harder.
H. You can see more details in the foreground.
I. Things get bigger as they come closer to the front of the canvas.
28. You should NEVER spray your oils with anything to make them dry faster, this only puts a coat on top of your oils making it harder for them to dry, they dry from the inside out and it takes time to completely dry unless you have used Cobalt drier and then they will dry faster.
29. To "create" depth  in your painting remember you have to overlap objects.
30. Look for "tangents" these are areas where two objects are touching, not overlapping, this is very irritating to the human eye, sometimes we will not know why we don't like a painting and it may be that there are "tangent's here and there and they cause tension.
31. NEVER use baby oil to clean your brushes with it is a non-drying oil...that means when you mix it with your paints they will never become completely dry....I have seen this happen in my art academy!
31. If you paint with oils and acrylics.....keep them in separate places especially if you are using acrylics in a tube! It is easy to reach for a color if you keep them close and get an acrylic when you are using oils.....what a mess!

 

 

Impressionistic Paintings Some history and how to get started.

The name of the  impressiontistic movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari.

Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air. They also took the act of painting out of the studio and into the world. Previously, still lifes and portraits as well as landscapes had usually been painted indoors. Canaletto painted outside and may have used the camera obscura, others certainly did.  Painting realistic scenes of modern life, they emphasized vivid overall effects rather than details. They used short, "broken" brush strokes of pure and unmixed colour, not smoothly blended, as was customary, in order to achieve the effect of intense colour vibration.

 Monet’s rapid sketch of Le Havre was a denial of that what was good in the fine art world. Yes it was not what one would expect a “good” painting to be.  Radicals in their time, early Impressionists broke the rules of academic painting. They began by giving colours, freely brushed, primacy over line, drawing inspiration from the work of painters such as Eugene Delacroix.  Since that time in history, the battles over impressionism have subsided and the impressionists have claimed their triumph. The public, at first hostile, gradually came to believe that the Impressionists had captured a fresh and original vision, even if it did not receive the approval of the art critics and establishment.

Popular art history states that Impressionism magically appeared out of know where with Monet’s notorious sketch. But in actuality  impressionism grew  from the established tradition of the academic training and landscape painting of the day. The very detailed work of the artists of the time was usually preceded by a small scale free-hand study. These contained the basic ideas of the impressionist revolution.

The real roots go way back farther than this, English artists, John Constable and Joseph Mallord William, in the early part of the 19th century were painting studies outdoors, then taking them into their studios to be finished.

Charles-Francois Daubigny, Theodore Rousseau Jules Dupre,
Jean-Francois Millet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot artists from the French Barbizon school of painters, were working outdoors as early as 1830.

Edouard Manet who is often considered the father of impressionism refused many invitations to exhibit with the other impressionistic painters of the day, preferring to show his work in his Salon. He never really adopted their methods.

The part of the impressionists work that appeals to most of us today is the quixotic struggle of a small group banned together against the large domineering French art society.

For me it is the wonderful canvas’ that are literally filled with light, and brightness of everyday life that pulls me into the genre. I love to see the heavy textures and marks from the brush or knife that they left us to enjoy!

There are many lessons we can learn from them, first to really  understand their work we have to be able to “See” it. The study of impressionism is the study of momentary appearances. You must let go of any preconceived idea of how things look, the colors the shapes and the skin tones etc. You need to learn to see the way nature intended you to see…the way it actually appears to the eye. When you try to paint this way you have to do what Monet told us to do,” When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have in front of you, a tree, a field, merely think, “here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow” and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives your naïve impression of the scene.”

You have to stop thinking of your subject as a thing, and start thinking of if as a shape and color.

In order to really become a good impressionistic painter you need to train you eye to see the different colors, this takes practice and time. Constantly compare colors against one another, see if you can tell the difference of a warm and a cool color. The impressionists loved to use the complements placing them sided by side in doing so the colors would reflect the glistening quality that is the trademark of natural color.

As you learn more about color and it’s relationships to one another, you can start to be more daring and you can exaggerate what you see. Paul Gauguin has told his students to put the colors down boldly in as pure a state as possible.

The old school of painters used detailed formulas for their palettes, mostly earth tones. This was because that is what was available then. In the 19th century there were  more bright synthetic colors available and the artists discarded the “brown school” philosophy of the academicians in favor of a high-key synthetic palette.

Monet’s biographer said it was the adoption of these synthetic colors as well as the elimination of brown and black that made the essence of the impressionistic work.

Monet himself stated” My secret is that I never use black”.

If you want to experiment at doing some impressionistic work here are some hints:

Remember that the techniques of the impressionists were to use “broken color” choppy short strokes and broad strokes. Touches of pure color are placed side by side and then they mix in the viewers eye.

 

A Impressionistic Painting includes:

Short, thick strokes of paint are used to quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. The paint is often applied impasto.

Colours are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, creating a vibrant surface. The optical mixing of colours occurs in the eye of the viewer.

Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complementary colours. In pure Impressionism the use of black paint is avoided.

Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and an intermingling of colour.

Impressionist paintings do not exploit the transparency of thin paint films (glazes) which earlier artists built up carefully to produce effects. The surface of an Impressionist painting is typically opaque.

The play of natural light is emphasized. Close attention is paid to the reflection of colours from object to object.

In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness and openness that was not captured in painting previously. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

If you want to give it a try here are some guidelines:

1.   Use a palette of strong high-key colors.

2.    Don’t use black.

3.    Use yellow, green, blue, orange, purple and red.

4.    Mix your colors lightly, and don’t use more than 2-3 colors   at a time.

5.   Try mixing your colors on the canvas.

6.   Begin your painting by placing small touches of paint all over the canvas.

7.    Use choppy, short strokes with a round and square bristle brush.

8.   Apply these first colors very thinly.

9.   Build the paint up using the time honored rule of fat over lean.

10.  Let some of the ground under the color show through here and there.

11.  Don’t try to get every detail, rather paint the “gesture” of the subject. Instead of painting the sharp details of a tree let the edges be soft and leave the details to the viewers eye.

12.  Remember you are painting an “impression” like a quick glance at something.

13.  Paint with “spontaneity” and have lots of fun!

This is what started it all" Impression: Sunrise By monet

 Can you see the "choppy" stokes????

 

What is "glazing" all about?

The technique of glazing is old, dating back to the Renaissance. Glazing is a series of superimposed transparent layers of colors, applied one on top of the other, only after the undercoat is completely dried. It is like holding a piece of colored glass over another colored area, creating a third color of unsurpassed translucence and luminosity. Each glaze changes the earlier ones, and the result is a rich, transparent glowing look. The reason for this is that a glaze, being transparent allows light to pass through it and be reflected back off the underlying color. The colors combine optically in the viewer’s eye and take on a resonance impossible to achieve by mixing them physically on the palette.

Jan van Eyck a famous Dutch artist attained a radiance that led to the belief that he possessed some secret process. His method, and the Netherlandish method (Oil painting first developed in a distinct form in the Netherlands and Germanic lands during the 14th century), in general, was to paint transparently on a white gesso ground resulting in a  finished  piece, with a luminous enamel-like result. The method was taken up in Italy, Antonello da Messina being a pioneer.

In Venice, Giovanni Bellini used a  Flemish technique which was a combination of a tempera underpainting with a final glaze of oil color. It was also a was a Renaissance technique used by Michelangelo. there was a further development of technique  in the 16th and 17th centuries, the artists wanted to obtain greater depth and three-dimensional effect. So the transparent method was replaced by a more elaborate process. The picture was first painted in monochrome, the light parts were painted with thick opaque color, the shadows were painted thinly. Successive glazes of transparent color were applied which gave  a deep richness to the colors.

 This  new phase flourished in Venice,  Rembrandt, Rubens, and Velázquez used  individual variants of what may be called the classic method. Titian however, represented its perfection.

The old masters had to rely on extensive knowledge of the different chemical qualities of the paints because, if they were not carefully applied, the layers of paint could damage those around or next to them over a period of time. so for them it was a lot of studying before they could paint.

Glazes are used to deepen, enhanse,tone down, brighten, neutralize and give more depth or more visual impact to oil or acrylic painting.

How many layers should you glaze? There is no rule here, you can use many or few it will all depend on what you want to achieve. The best thing to do is experiment to learn what each layer will produce.

How many colors you use to glaze with depends on the results you’re after. A glaze works best when you use colors that are made from only one pigment, not a mixture of two or more. The more pigments or colors you use, the sooner you’ll end up with a brown and gray.

Paint pigments or colors are classified as transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque. . Glazes work best with transparent pigments.

There are some who say you can glaze with opaque colors by adding them to a transparent medium, but these are not true glazes, they will produce a misty effect that is called a "Veil".

I highly recommend you use Liquin to glaze with because it dries fast and it is clear and renders a vibrant glazing.

When using a glaze one of the most important things you need to know is what the complement colors are. Remember, complement colors are any two colors directly across the color wheel from one another.

When you want to “tone” or “grey” a color down a color the best way to do this is to do it with its compliment color. If you are mixing a color that is too bright you can add a small amount of its complement to tone it down.

But if you have already painted something and you want to tone it down then you do this by applying a glaze of its complementary color over it.

You also need to remember this: cool colors will recede while the warm colors will advance. By using warm colors that advance and receding cool colors you will get the illusion of depth in your painting. 

 Here are some other ways to get depth with glazing.

1.        Applying a complementary cool glaze over a warm color will tone it down and it will appear to recede.

2.        Applying a warm glaze over its complementary color will tone it and add warmth. It will also give it more “depth”.

3.        If you add a warm color over a warm base it will intensify the base color and make it look richer and it will appear to advance.

       4.    Apply a cool glaze over a cool color darkens it making it look deeper.

For example, lets say you have just painted a vase of sunflowers, all the flowers are in the light, you have painted all of them the same value, (remember value is the darkness or lightness of a color,) you study your painting and realize that there is no depth and all the flowers seem to be on the same plane.  You want to have some of the flowers in the shadow but you don’t want to spend lots of time re-painting them. How can you fix this?  The easiest way is to apply a glaze of violet over some of the yellow flowers which are its complement color.  Instantly you will see the flowers you have glazed with this color recede and look like they are pushed back or in the shadow. You can repeat this many times depending on how far back you want them to look.

Another example of what a glaze will do is it can lighten and brighten something and make it look vibrant. On the same painting of sunflowers you may want to really give some of the petals more zing, so you can apply a glaze of a bright yellow over the base color and this will be accomplished, you can also apply this yellow over the leaves to brighten them up .If you want some of the leaves to look like they are farther back then you would add an orange, blue, or violet glaze over them.

Maybe you want to have a touch of orange on some of the petals, all you do is apply a thin glaze of orange where you want this color to be.

As you can see glazing requires an understanding of how different colors react with each other, basic color theory is very essential to have for glazing.

I have developed a line of acrylic glazed to be used with acrylics here is what they will do and this can be applied to oils.

What the glazes will do:

Berry Crush Red Glo Over:   (deep Pink)

GREEN: this will tone down the green and make it look richer; repeated glazes can neutralize it because they are complimentary colors.

YELLOW: creates a rich orange color with a lot of luminosity.

BLUE: produces a rich red-purple glow.

RED: deepens and enriches the brilliance of the original red color.

ORANGE: creates a deep red-orange color with a lot of radiance.

PURPLE: deepens the red to a deep red-purple.

BLACK: adds a deep red glow that creates depth and warmth.

BROWN: adds a warm reddish brown glow.

Sunrise Yellow Glo Over:

GREEN: creates a rich yellow-green luminous color.

YELLOW: deepens and enriches the original yellow color.

BLUE: creates a bluish-green color.

RED: creates a deep red-orange glow, with lots of luminosity.

ORANGE: creates a deeper and more brilliant orange.

PURPLE: tones down and darkens, can neutralize with more than one application because they are compliments.

BLACK: creates a greenish, warm black.

BROWN: warms and deepens giving a golden glow.

Emeraude Green Glo Over:

GREEN: creates a darker, richer green.

YELLOW: creates a greenish-yellow glow.

BLUE: darkens and adds green tones.

RED: tones down and darkens, can neutralize with more than one application because they are compliments.

ORANGE: darkens and tones down.

PURPLE: darkens and softens the color.

BLACK: darkens and adds a green glow.

BROWN: creates a greenish-brown glow.

Deep Sea Blue Glo Over:

GREEN: darkens and adds a blue glow.

YELLOW: darkens and add a green tone.

BLUE: deepens and intensifies the blue.

RED: darkens and adds a purple glow.

ORANGE: tones down and darkens, can neutralize with more than one application because they are compliments.

PURPLE: tones down and darkens, creates a blue-purple color.

BLACK: darkens and adds a blue glow.

BROWN: darkens and adds a cool glow.

Sunset Orange Glo Over:

GREEN: darkens, softens and gives depth.

YELLOW: creates a rich orange-yellow color with a lot of luminosity.

BLUE: darkens and gives depth, can neutralize with more than one application because they are compliments.

RED: enriches and gives a orange-red luminosity

ORANGE makes original color deeper and more brilliant.

PURPLE: darkens, softens and adds depth.

BLACK: adds depth and a warm radiance.

BROWN: deepens and warms the color.

Primrose Purple Glo Over:

GREEN: softens the green, giving it a rich deep luminosity.

YELLOW: darkens and neutralizes, can neutralize with more than one application because they are compliments.

BLUE: creates a purplish-blue color.

RED: creates a red-purple color.

ORANGE: darkens and adds a rich luminosity.

PURPLE: deepens the brilliance of the original color.

BLACK: adds some depth and deepens the color.

BROWN: darkens adding purple tones.

Sweet Earth Brown Glo Over:

GREEN: tones and softens the green giving it a gold cast.

YELLOW: Adds warmth, with a brownish-gold glow.

BLUE: Gives the blue a “Greenish” tinge.

RED: deepens the red and gives it a more earthy tone.

ORANGE turns the orange a bit “rusty” looking.

PURPLE: warms the purple, adding orange tones.

BLACK: warms the black giving it more “depth”.

BROWN: warms and deepens.

Signature Turquoise Glo Over:

GREEN: darkens the green making it look richer.

YELLOW: creates a dark yellow-green.

BLUE: gives the blue a turquoise glow.

RED: enriches, tones down and deepens the red.

ORANGE: tones down and deepens to a rusty orange.

PURPLE: deepens the purple adding blue hue.

BLACK: deepens and enriches.

BROWN: deepens and enriches.

TURQUOISE: makes the turquoise look deep and more intense.

 

Transparent Colors you can use:

Semi-Transparent you can use

Azo Alizarin Crimson

Azo Burnt Orange Trans.

Azo Red Trans.

Alizarin Orange Perm

Cobalt blue

Cobalt Violet

Blue Oxide Trans.

Dioxazine Purple

French Ultramarine Blue

Green Earth

Green Oxide Trans.

Indian Gold Trans.

Maroon Red Oxide Trans.

Orange Oxide Trans.

Red Oxide Trans.

Yellow Oxide Trans.

 

 

Alizarin Crimson (Quinacridone)

Alizarin Crimson Gold

Brown Madder Alizarin

Blue Black

Cerulean Blue Genuine

Cinnabar Green Medium

Cinnabar Green Light

Phthalo Blue

Phthalo Green

Quinacridone Violet

Burnt Sienna

Indigo Blue

Manganese Blue (hue)

Thioindigo Violet

Sap Green

Van Dyck Brown

Ivory Black

Lamp Black

Permanent Red

Permanent Green

Phthalo Yellow Green

 

 

 

 

If you want to see more about my Acrylic Glazes click here

 

How To Prepare Masonite to paint on.

Artists have used wooden panels for centuries. The ones that were properly cared for still survive today. If those early artists had access to masonite they would have preferred it to wood. Masonite is a wonderful surface to paint on, and much cheaper than canvas. The only disadvantage is that is does not have the "spring-back" feel of the canvas.

I found that I could go to my local hardware store( Home Depot or Lowes) and buy a large panel, my hubby could cut it or they would cut it at the store. This is so inexpensive. I could get many paintings our of one large panel!

The first thing you want to do is to make sure the masonite is untempered, never use tempered masonite. Untempered masonite is used because its a non-oil surface.

Tempered masonite will not hold gesso or paint very well, in time the painting will flake off.

Cut the masonite to the desired size and sand the edges to get rid of the burs.

Apply a coat of Gesso to both sides to prevent moisture entering the panel causing deterioration and warping.

I find that Liquitex Gesso is the very best to use, do not thin with water, use it straight out of the bottle.

Use a nylon brush for the back and a foam brush for the front, when coating the front brush the gesso on in one direction for the first coat, let dry and then apply the second coat brushing in the opposite direction.

Apply at least 3 coats on the front of the panel. When the gesso is dry, apply water to the front with a sponge, hold over a sink , now with a #280 or #320 waterproof sandpaper, sand in a circular motion on the wet surface until the entire surface is smooth. Rinse with the wet sponge, wring it out and wipe the panel to remove the excess water.

When dry feel it to make sure it is smooth, if not repeat above process.

Applying the "Tooth" coat.

If you tried to paint on the panel now it would be slick as glass, you would slip and slide all over the place. You need a bit of "tooth" or "texture" to prevent this. Follow the instructions carefully in applying the "tooth" coat.

Mix 3 parts of water to two parts of Liquitex "Modeling Paste" using a level measuring spoon. Please measure very carefully. Mix completely to remove all lumps. Modeling paste is an acrylic and marble dust solution. The marble dust gives a fine sandpaper-like finish to the surface. It is just wonderful to paint on!

Apply a thin, even coat of this with a sponge brush over the prepared panel. When the panel is covered,  use another dry sponge brush and crisscross very lightly over the panel until the water is almost gone, the water lines will not be visible now. Dry spots will start to show as the moisture is removed.

Let this dry completely.

NOTE:  The "tooth" coat is very venerable to damage , be careful not to rub it or scratch it. If you do, that area may show through after the painting is finished. I would do a few at a time and wrap them in tissue paper when the were completely dried to protect them.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but if you get your panel all cut and sanded and gesso it all at the same time you will have many wonderful surfaces ready to paint on. Be sure to make your cutting the sizes of the frames if you are planning on framing your work. I encourage you to try this, once you do I am betting that you like so many of my students will find a new "favorite' surface to paint on!!

 

Preparing different surfaces with Liquitex Gesso

 

Surface Preparation: Rigid Surfaces

Rigid surfaces provide smooth or textured surfaces for artists who paint dimensionally and attach objects to rigid surfaces. Most boards can be used as supports to which canvas, paper or other material can be glued. Use Liquitex® Matte Gel Medium to adhere canvas to board.

The following surface preparation procedures for painting on board serve as general guidelines for most acrylic paint applications. Surfaces should be tested for proper adhesion of paint and compatibility of material for adhesion. See Adhesion Test below.

ACETATE

  • Acetate is a transparent, somewhat brittle plastic available in varying thickness and surface textures.

  • Matte-surface acetate, textured acetate and wet-media acetate (also called "prepared acetate") are suitable for acrylic paints, mediums and gesso.

  • Smooth acetate is not recommended, as the surface is smooth and slick. Paint will not adhere.

  • Wet-media acetate is a clear, smooth acetate that is chemically treated so that acrylic paint, mediums and gesso will not repel away from its surface.

CANVAS PANEL BOARDS

  • Prepared canvas panel boards are commercially available in a wide variety of sizes and a limited number of surface textures.

  • They are usually made of cotton canvas wrapped and glued onto heavy cardboard.

  • Not recommended for permanent work, as they may warp and the glues and papers used in their manufacture may not be permanent.

FIBERGLASS

Fiberglass can be painted with acrylics or oils if the surface is prepared properly.

1. Sand or sandblast the surface. Remove residual dust.

2. Coat with an industrial primer-sealer meant for use with water-based media.

3. After the primer is completely dry, test for proper adhesion (see Adhesion Test).

4. Spray or brush on Liquitex Gesso or Liquitex Clear Gesso. Let dry overnight. Again test for proper adhesion.

FOAMBOARD

Provides a smooth, inert, stable, uniform surface, but they are very susceptible to warping and impact damage.

1. Lightly sand the surface with very fine sandpaper and apply one or two coats of gesso. Sand between coats. Let dry overnight.

MASONRY AND CONCRETE

There must be no waterproofing, cement paint or silicones on surface. These materials are often used during construction and can adversely effect the longevity of the paint.

1. Masonry and concrete must be thoroughly dry and cured. This may take 8-12 weeks after set-up. All moisture must be gone or acrylic paint adhesion will not be permanent.

2. Liquitex Acrylics can be applied directly to a masonry wall, but it is best to first trowel on a layer of Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. This provides an excellent ground for the paint, seals the rough texture of the wall and reduces the amount of paint needed to paint surface.

3. Let Matte Gel Medium to fully dry, then apply one or preferably two coats of gesso. Let dry overnight before painting.

4. If the back of the cement wall is subject to moisture it may cause the paint film to separate from the wall.

METAL AND GLASS

  • Sand with 400-grit paper or sandblast for proper paint film adhesion.

  • Aluminum should be etched with a 5% lye solution for 4 to 5 minutes.

  • Glass can be acid-etched or sand blasted.

1. Wipe surface with a degreasing solution and coated with an industrial primer meant for use with water-based media.

2. After the primer is completely dry, test for proper adhesion (see Adhesion Test).

3. Spray or brush apply Liquitex Gesso or Liquitex Clear Gesso Let dry 3 days and test for adhesion.

MURALS

  • Murals cover a variety of techniques, including fresco, encaustic, mosaic, stained glass and photography. The type of mural technique most used is either painting on canvas, which is then attached to a wall or painting directly on the surface of the wall itself.

  • When painting directly on any wall, there must be no grease, wax or oil on the surface. It needs to be structurally sound and free of loose particles. It must not be subject to dusting. Back of the wall must not be subject to extreme moisture conditions.

  • Refer to Part II Applications & Techniques: Murals

MYLAR

  • Mylar is a film that has all the properties and uses of acetate with additional flexibility and strength. Much higher in price than acetate, it does not stretch, crack or yellow and is also available with a photosensitive surface for the reproduction of line drawings.

  • Like acetate, Mylar is available in a wet-media form that needs no surface preparation.

PLASTERBOARD

Use plasterboard walls only if not previously painted with oil or alkyd paint.

1. Prepare the surface by sealing it first with a barrier varnish such as Soluvar® or an industrial primer/sealer like AqualockTM, made for use with water base paints.

2. When sealer is completely dry, apply two coats of gesso with a brush, spray or paint pad.

PLASTIC PANELS (PLEXIGLASTM)

Depending upon the type of plastic, acrylic paint can be applied directly to the surface. Some plastics will repel acrylic paint, some are very smooth and the acrylic paint will easily scratch off and some have a slight tooth and provide the best surface for paint adhesion. The plastic must be chemically inert so that it will not react with the paint film over time.

1. For the most permanent acrylic paint application, sand the entire panel or sand only those areas that will be painted to preserve the transparent nature of the product.

2. After sanding, coat with a layer of Liquitex Matte Medium or Matte Gel Medium and one or two coats of Liquitex Gesso or Liquitex Clear Gesso.

  • Plexiglas is an acrylic sheet material manufactured in a variety of widths. When sanded, it will provide adequate surface tooth for acrylic paint. Both sides of the sheet can be painted to yield dimensional qualities.

  • When working with transparent colors use Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish, Glazing Medium, or Gel Medium to maintain clarity.

PLYWOOD

  • MDO Boards are varieties of plywood that are bonded with paper on one or both sides, available from sign making supply houses. They offer a very smooth surface quality that is hard to achieve with standard plywood. Negative aspects- weight.

  • Good exterior grade plywood or birch plywood provides an excellent painting support.

  • Plywood is available in 1/8" thickness (called "door skin") of mahogany, birch, maple and oak. The harder woods, such as birch, maple and oak will require less gesso to seal and provide a smooth surface. Plywood sheets may be adhered to wooden stretcher bars for added strength and to prevent warping. Glue and nail plywood to stretcher bars every 3-4".

  • All forms of plywood will require between 2-5 coats of gesso.

UNUSUAL SURFACES

  • Unusual surfaces should be tested for compatibility with the acrylic paint. Certain paint and surface combinations may react with one another, either immediately or over time.

  • The type of surface and ground used with acrylic paint has a large effect on how the paint handles.

 

Still Life Painting Tips

Some things to remember:

  1.  Experiment with your set-up, get it right from the start. One of the biggest mistakes that most amateurs make when they try to paint a still-life is to casually set up their props and start to paint. They rarely spend any serious thought about the set-up, the lighting, the mood or concept they intend to convey. Take some time, re-arrange. Choose your location: light source is the key to a strong painting. A strong lamp or bright window is perfect.

  2. Once you get it set up live with it a while. Spend a few minutes just looking at it, or more if necessary. 

  3. Things to paint: common kitchen objects contain a wealth of shapes and textures to be captured on canvas. Flowers, fruit, and vegetables abound with both obvious and subtle color. Everything found in your home can be incorporated into leasing subjects. Machine-made objects demand an accurate rendering of form and perspective. For a traditional feel, choose  fruit, vegetable and crockery, or find some old wares can be found at a thrift store. Wine bottles are always a favorite.

  4. Check out the colors, are they compatible?

  5.  Deicide what you want as your center of interest and build on this. remember there can only be one center of interest.

  6. Look at the colors designers use for a contemporary feel.

  7. When arranging, consider compositional elements, avoid bland central positioning and symmetry.

  8. Avoid piling fruit in a bowl this has been done so many times,  so try letting it spill out of the bowl or a bag. You can even have a half eaten piece of fruit on  a plate. 

  9. Give flowers a history - don't just put them in a vase, you can tucked in a hat, or strew them on the table top. Let one fall over the edge of the table. Maybe some of them can be wilted!

  10. View your arrangement through an empty slide frame, or  through you camera lens. Often I will take photos and look at them on my computer, I see mistakes this way easier so I can then go and re-do the set-up. Often I will turn them upside down to see any glaring mistakes, this works not just for the set-up but while you are painting. 

  11. Transparent and reflective objects, such as bottles and metal objects, can be challenging but these are excellent exercises to developed your eye to see the minute details. 

  12. Take photographs if you are using perishables, especially flowers, or where your work may be disturbed.

  13. If you will be using natural light, take photos to refer to once the light starts to change.

  14. Remember that everything has a distinctive shape. Get these in first and don't lose them.

  15. Don't light all objects equally. Things in the shadow make the still-life more interesting.

  16. Paint the shadows transparent.

  17. Remember that your center of interest is always the lightest part of your composition.

  18. Understand your subject. You cannot paint something that you don't fully understand.

  19. Remember to overlap objects to create depth.

  20. Remember that objects have a line of shadow beneath them, this "plants" them and  is commonly the darkest in the picture.

21 All paintings will have a center of interest, or “Focal Point” It may be a figure in a landscape, a vase full of flowers or one single flower. Physiologically a viewer will always look at the light areas first, and the center of interest is always in the light.

It will often be the area of the painting where the painter has concentrated the most work, delineating the main element of interest. Converging lines or shapes or sweeping curves lead the viewer’s eye to this point of interest. This focal point may be a brighter color or stronger contrast or more carefully painted than the surrounding area.

 For that reason areas of less interest may be of a more subdued range of color, closer range of value and with edges less sharp.

You want to create a gradual transition from the Focal Point area to the background, if you over emphasize the Focal Point, you can create the bull's eye effect, and the viewer will lock onto this and have a difficult time traveling away from that area of the painting. 
 The bull's eye draws so much energy from the rest of the painting that it becomes a total distraction instead of a well-developed stronger area. It’s sort of like someone wearing bright red lipstick, your eyes are directed to that area and you don’t see the rest of the face.

In trying to make the focal point area stand out from the rest, it must be different, one of the best ways to help develop the Focal Point area of a painting is to think in terms of opposites.

A good rule of thumb is that the Focal Point area is usually predominately opposite in temperature to the background of the painting.  If the background is cool, then the Focal Point will be easily recognized if you use hues that are warm or warmer than the rest! The Focal point should contrast with the background; this contrast will set it apart it from the rest of the painting.

You need to consider these characteristics when establishing the Focal Point:

 

Hue, value, intensity, texture. contrast, temperature, detail,

Hue – First you need to carefully plan what hues you want to use for the Focal Point. When you select the overall color scheme for the painting, you must consider if these colors that are chosen for the focal point, can be used in a different form in the painting, example can they be grayed to use in the background? Will they help to create the flow that is required to establish the harmony and balance within the painting as a whole?    If you are using a red color for the focal point, could you use it again somewhere else, either on another element or part of an element? 

Value - the values of colors (how light or dark) they are, will be strongest in the focal point, any color that is used in this area will have it's darkest values, along with the lightest used in this area.  If you use these here, they cannot be used at the same level of contrast outside this range. If you used in the same equal value, it will not only create distracting areas, but they will compete with the Focal Point.

Intensity - The intensity (how dull or bright) of colors will be the strongest in the Focal Point area.  You need to include both dull and vibrant colors within this area because one against the other will help to create the visual contrast that is necessary to set this part of the painting apart in visual interest.

 Texture and Contrast – Using these two elements is very helpful in drawing the attention that the Focal Point needs.  A smooth satin texture next to a rough one (opposites) will always draw attention to that area. That is why stripes and patterns get so much attention; it is the value between the stripes and the patterns that catches the eye of the viewer. If you paint a still life sitting on a blanket with stripes or delicate pattern, it would always be one of the first thing that a viewer will see.

Temperature - The temperature of colors (cool or warm) as they relate to each other, is of greatest contrast here in the Focal Point. Temperature change between objects also helps to establish depth or space between objects. Cooler colors recede and warmer colors advance.  Remember you are trying to create the illusion of space. If you have three apples sitting one in front of the other, they will get less red as they recede.

Detail - The detail is always the strongest on the focal point.  You see all the little veins on the leaves; the edges are crisp, and sharp. The rest of the painting is just slightly out of focus, with soft and “lost” edges, but the Focal Point has the clarity of 20/20 vision. If everything was as sharp and detailed as the focal point,  then the viewer would not know where to look, there would be no depth and the painting would look very jumbled, there would be no unity, it would basically be a bad painting.

Simple Composition

Symmetry
Symmetry is the balance of elements of your painting around a central axis or point.
Both sides will usually match.
with symmetry you can achieve  beauty through harmony and balance

Inflexible Symmetry
If you arrange your picture to have mirror images of each other then you have produced a "inflexible symmetry"
Example: a painting of two people at a table having a meal.

Flexible Symmetry
If you have a painting with only similar
shapes exist, you have a "flexible symmetry"
Example:  a still-life with numerous objects, all differing in shape and color

The "Golden Mean or Section"
 This is a very common Greek principal in art.
 The "Golden Mean" is accomplished by using a 3 to 5 ratio.
 I could explain the complicated method of arriving at this but as an artist all you need to remember is:
 Whenever you want to find the "Golden Mean" on your canvas, simply multiply the LENGTH or HEIGHT of you space by 0.6. This will give you the point of division without the complicated calculation.

 

Here is an example, if you draw a horizontal line running across the vertical line , you get the "golden Mean where the two lines intersect. 

 If you are designing your own pattern this is so helpful to know. Using this principal  gives you a great composition

 

 

Color Terms

Hue:

 Hue is color, such as red, green, yellow, etc. If you add blue to yellow you produce green  therefore you have changed the hue.

Value:

This is the lightness or darkness of a hue. Simple as that. Pink would be a light value of red. This is the most important dimension of color for the artist, if you have a good knowledge of this you can simulate form and effect emphasis through contrasts in light and shade.

Color Harmony:

Harmony is the result of a balanced relationship between all of the elements of any stimuli. The organization of a harmonious color pattern relies upon a pleasing relationship of the three dimensions of color: Hue, Chroma (intensity) and Value. A simple way to achieve harmony is to use complementary colors.

Chroma:

This is the "intensity" or brightness or the dullness of color. If you were to measure intensity, you would score a neutral grey as zero because it has no trace of chroma or hue. As you increase the brightness of a hue a 0 to 5 would indicate a low saturation. This increases above 5 and with a rating of 10 or above you would have a very vivid color.

Complementary Colors:

On the traditional color wheel complementary colors are found directly across from each other. You can dull or lower the chroma of a color by simply adding a bit of it's complimentary color to it. Two compliments placed next to each other often appear to be much more vivid than they do standing alone.

Tint:

 This is the result of mixing a color with white.

Here are some things you should remember:

A color cannot be right until the "value" is right

To make something look like it has "dimension" you need to paint 6 values. Light: Halftone: Shadow: Reflected light: Cast Shadow; and Highlight.

Colors are affected by how the light or reflected light is striking it.

Everything that has light falling on it will cast reflected light onto the other less brightly lit areas.

Colors in shadow will receive reflected light from other colors and change accordingly.

A good rule of thumb for "reflected" light is to keep it cool against a warm color and warm against a cool color. You can also apply the compliment theory here and use a complement color against one another for the reflected light. Example: Orange shadow---Blue reflected light. ( my favorite color for reflected light is Bahama Purple by Delta or Ultramarine Blue+ White for oil painters.

Shadows:

These are never painted black. The shadow will always retain some of it's local color. I like to glaze the shadows in by applying the complement color over the area that is in the shadow.

Cool Colors recede

Warm colors advance

Never tone or grey down a color with black, this will only "muddy" the color, to keep the original color rich tone it down with it's complementary color.

Golden Mean

If you place your center of interest at this point  you will have a very pleasing composition. The intersection of the two lines  is the "Golden Mean" Try experimenting with this and also look at some of the great paintings that have been done, see if you can see how they placed their center of interest in the "Golden Mean" Move the horizontal line up or down and it will still show you the "Golden Mean" where the two lines intersect.

 

Painting Form Using Values

 This illustration shows you all the areas of a pot.    You have to have all the elements:  light source, core shadow, highlight area, lightest value, middle value, shadow area, reflected light to create "form". Once you understand this concept you can paint anything and make it look like it has weight and substance.

There is a very big  difference between painting a circle and a sphere. You need a of range of values, and this creates the illusion of a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional canvas or sheet of paper. Then you will have something that looks like a sphere or ball rather than a flat circle, as the photo above shows.

You can use all the colors you want and never get the illusion of depth until you get the "values" right.

It is a fun learning  experience to paint the basic shapes which are: sphere, cube, cylinder, and cone in a realistic way, with this illustration you can do just that! You will have accurate highlights and shadows.

 I suggest painting a page or two of spheres, cubes, cylinders in your sketchbook.

Try using  different colors to paint the each one,  this will help to reinforce the fact that it's the values  that create the illusion of three dimensions, not the color with which you're painting.

 

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