MATERIALS
• Small canvas approximately 26cm x 20cm
• Cartridge paper
• 2H graphite pencil
• Rubber
• White pastel pencil
• Small round sponge (like you’d use to shine your shoes)
• Primer Atelier Gesso
• Derivan Impasto Medium
• Fine tip brush 570
• Small and larger nylon brushes
• Rough small brush
• Lino cutting tool (small u shape)
• Serrated steak knife
• Bookleaf pine leaves
• Derivan Matisse Flow paints:Cobalt teal, Aqua teal light, Phthalo green and blue, Ultramarine blue, Cadmium orange and yellow
STEP ONE
Take photos of your preferred fish, and then prime your canvas. Sketch your fish.
STEP TWO
Place background colours (cobalt teal and aqua green light) onto the canvas. Using your larger nylon brush drag paint across, now work in the Matisse Phthalo blue and green towards the middle. Lighten your colours as you work towards the bottom of the canvas. Take your round sponge, place three colours on a china plate, side by side. For example: Titanium white, Matisse Phthalo blue and green. Twist the sponge in a circle to merge the colours. Work from the top of the stack of rocks to the bottom. Lighter colours go towards the front – don’t twist the sponge as much. Use white, yellows and scarlet. Using a small rough brush, use light strokes add centre coral with rough strokes, using Titanium white, Cadmium yellow and scarlet/vermillion.
STEP THREE
After doing the background, corals and rocks, I take a bit of a dress maker’s approach. I take some cartridge paper and sketch my fish subject as big as I need it. I’m mainly looking for the shape of the fish, checking where the fins start and finish, and the placement of the eye and gills. Take your sketch and cut it out, with the scissors. Place on your canvas, trace around with white pastel pencil. Gesso in the shape of your fish, so the colours will come out vibrant!
STEP FOUR
Under paint your fish using Matisse cobalt teal, Cadmium yellow and orange, Chromacryl magenta and violet and cobalt blue. Now to add the background weed! Get your bookleaf pine leaves, trim with scissors if needed, and place on some newspaper. Using a small foam roller, roll on Phthalo green paint. Push leaves onto the canvas, as many as you like.
STEP FIVE
Take your lino cutting tool and metallic silver paint to create scales of the fish. Work from the head back to the tail. Take the Derivan Impasto medium and larger nylon brush, and brush down from the left corner. Use a serrated knife to form ridges of the sun rays, and drag through the Impasto.
STEP SIX
Dry brush some Cadmium yellow, magenta, white and cobalt blue paint through your sun rays to add colour. Using your ultramarine blue and fine tip brush put in the finer details of your fish. Use violet and scarlet create your upright corals – small brushes required.
STEP SEVEN
Using Cadmium yellow and metallic violet, put highlights on the upright corals. Add silver metallic fine lines on some of the ridges of the rocks. Put in extra colours throughout the corals: purple, magenta, yellows, and silver metallic paint, and dry brush on with brush, or use fingertips to apply.
STEP EIGHT
Using Phthalo blue flow paint, add a little water. Use it like water colour paint to deepen your shadows in the background. Shadow under the fish body, around the rocks and amongst the corals.
FINAL STEP
Take your fine tip brush, highlight around your fish and the upright corals. Use either white or jet black. Don’t forget the side fins, using your fine tip brush and Titanium white. Use the watered down Phthalo blue paint, for that transparent look. Now put in small spot details using a toothpick, on the fish and front corals. Using- (whites, yellows, blues, oranges and teal).
Add shark to the top right hand corner, with fine brush and Phthalo green. Gently dry brush with white to fade it into the background a little. Finally, spray twice with a matt varnish for acrylics.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• Take lots of photos for future reference.
• Always add Titanium white to the three colour ball combination as it allows extra colours to be added later.
• Keep all your fish patterns for larger future paintings in your visual diary.
• Alternately you can paint in your background weeds if the printing of the leaves is too hard, so long as your background colours are dry! When attempting the bookleaf pine leaf printing you can use a wet Chux to wipe off if they don’t turn out the first time.
• When you twist your round sponge in a circle, the paint will form ridges. Fine line the ridges in with paint, as it give the impression of fish eggs, or just edges of the rocks.
• As you progress, you can start to place some of the fish in amongst the weed and rocks to give the impression the predator fish are hunting them. Most of all have fun with it!
• If you don’t have a curved lino tool you can hand paint in scales, or cut down a popper straw in a U shape.
