MATERIALS
Canvas
• I stretch my own canvas using heavy weight primed linen on heavy duty stretcher bars. This is then primed again with several layers of gesso.
• I would suggest, if you are buying a ready-made canvas, to buy the best you can afford. Make sure the canvas is strong and the stretcher bars are thick to minimise warping. Brushes
• I use flat bristle brushes, sizes,8, 10 and 12. You may like to experiment yourself with filberts or round brushes.
• I also use a painting knife when I need a straight edge.
Paint
• Matisse Derivan Structure
Acrylics: Titanium White, Naples Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium, Alizarin, Pthalo Blue, Cobalt Blue, Permanent Light Violet, Permanent Green Light.
Varnish & Mediums
• Gesso
• Acrylic Painting
Medium – if needed
• Gloss Varnish
STEP ONE
With an old brush – a badly looked after round bristle is my favourite – draw in the main areas of the scene. Same brush and colour, with lots of water – block in the dark areas. Follow this with a wider brush and use your darkest dark – Pthalo blue in this case. As you are using cool colours, block more areas with your blues and greens.
Let the painting dry between stages. As I use a lot of water early on, it is very important not to muddy your colours by painting different hues over wet paint. It won’t take too long – the joy of acrylics, and you have an excuse to have a cup of tea.
As per the cool colours, introduce the warm – reds and yellows. Feel free to allow a lot of drips. There is no careful planning here. It is fun and splashy and the aim is to cover all of the white canvas with a colourful underpainting.
STEP TWO
I’ve had another cup of tea and I am ready to make sense of the image. With a careful hand- use a painting knife if you like; add the sky, leaving your tree trunks and branches as silhouettes. I also started to paint the foreground.
STEP THREE
Blocking in more ‘natural’ colour. Don’t use too much green – as long as you have the right tones (light to dark), you can use other colours such as pinks and reds for foliage. Work on the tree trunks with lights and darks. Even though this is an impression of a landscape, you still need to observe where light falls on an object -e.g. the light on the right of the main tree.
STEP FOUR
Here is an example of how you may see’ different colours on a different day. This day I decided I wanted more blue and dark in the painting. For the ‘black’ areas I mixed my darkest tones – Alizarin and Pthalo blue.
STEP FIVE AND FINAL STEP
Take time to look at your work. After several more cups of tea , I made up my mind that it was going to be a light ‘high key painting after all. Time to take a ‘dance’ with the canvas.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• Find a style of brush you are comfortable in using and stick to it. My paintings are all about the stroke, and the brush is intrinsic to this.
• Gloss Varnish – this is my choice. You can use an acrylic water based one or a turps based one. Satin is a better option if a high gloss will not be suitable for your painting. It is important to add varnish to your acrylic paintings as it keeps the colours vibrant and protects the work.
• When I add a new colour into the work, I also have a lighter and darker version mixed and ready on the palette. This keeps the momentum of working from one side of the canvas to the other, always keeping an eye on my original scene/photo. It truly is a dance of sorts – I may be using violet, then decide I want one area to have yellow, another area to have more green. Place your brushstrokes boldly on the canvas and leave them there, don’t scrub. If the colours start to mix and muddy on the painting, wait for it to dry before you start again. I may take several weeks to finish a painting.
