Whole New Medium

Ok well I needed to take a break from painting. We all have those moments where you have hit a painters block or you are just sick of it...so I had decided to play with some charcoal and do a drawing. I haven't played with this medium since high school so I wasn't sure how it would turn out....but it went well. I had a picture of my cat that I used and went from there. Charcoal drawing can be quite difficult and frustrating...take your time...walk away and come back...I had to do this a few times. But anywho...here it is...enjoy...

Trying Something New

Ok so my blog to you is me teaching you about painting. Well I as a painter am a student too. I recently got a new artist painting magazine and came across and idea how to do still lifes and portraits. I myself typicaly paint from a picture and rarely ever do a still life. Infact I think the last time I did a still life was back in high school. So this is a learning experience for both you and me.

I have decided to show you my first attempt at doing this so that you can see the step by step process. Now the I have not mastered this technique in anyway and I am still learning. I may eventually paint over this and redo it lol.

Ok so first we must pic a subject :

I have picked a old Gingerale bottle that I have in my room that I have put a single daisy and some other things I had boughten at hobby lobby. This is a great decor piece that I had made a while ago. And today I am going to paint it. When picking your subject and you are new at doing still lifes...pick something simple and to the point. If you give yourself too many objects with too many colors/shades and shadows then you have more to do and you can get frustrated along the way so keep it simple.

Next you will need a very simple brush, some water, and a very baisc small brush. I used an angle brush ( a brush that tapers to one end ). Now you will need a basic brown, burnt umber, seinna. Something of that sort. Put a bit of paint on your palette and use a spray bottle to put a good amount of water on the palette. Basicaly we are wanting to make your acrylic paints into a sort of water color.

So now you got you've got your subject, your paint ready, and I assume your canvas. Ok so now you are ready to Paint! Basically what you are going to do is sketch a very basic outline of your subject on the canvas with your water down brown acrylic paint. Kinda like using a pencil but instead you are using a paint brush. Keep it simple and just do the outline of your subject. Keep a paper towel handy so that you can dab extra water off your brush as you go along so that the water doesn't run down your canvas. Why do we use a dark color and paint to do this...why not just use a pencil you say? Well using paint will blend in with your paint as you go along and it will also create some depth to your subject. If you use a pencil you might still see your lines in the painting after you are done. That is if you are doing a more opaic watered down painting.

Next you are going to aply the color to the painting. Very basic don't worry about the details. You are going to use water just like before. You can also go back in and darken later. A dark green, light green, yellow, and white will be used.

So then you will just build from the base. Adding more color and definition as you go along. But beware. Don't over work your painting too much. If you get frustrated with something walk away do something else and come back when you are relaxed again. Trust me I have this problem all the time. And before I realize it I have over worked a painting and made it worse and have wished that that I didn't touch it to begin with. So keep building, stay relaxed and calm. Grow with every stroke of the brush. Not every painting you do is going to be amazing and a masterpiece.

The reason for me showing you this new technique and for me trying such a new thing is because it's nice to try new things. If you get so caught up in doing the same old thing every time you paint you will never grow. So break out of your comfort zone and try something new...who knows you might be quite good at it! :) Happy painting!