Week 3: Acrylic Project – “Green Orchid”
There is more to this green project than meets the eye. Of all the colors on the color wheel, green is considered one of the toughest to use. I’m not quite sure why that is, maybe because it is an “in between” color in that it is a transition color between the warm and the cool colors, or if there is something inherently problematic about green, I’ve not heard an explanation beyond “green is a tough color to work with”. I consider it just another color and deal with it like I would any other color.
The biggest problem I am finding in class isn’t so much working with green, it just seems like half of you are using other variations of green besides the sap and Hooker’s that I am using and it is causing you a lot of headaches. In the previous post, I mentioned this and said that you will not get the same results I get because the colors mix different. The problem is compounded if you are using different colors to my blues, reds and yellows than I have listed, it’s like making substitutions in a recipe and expecting it to turn out the way you hoped. You can’t substitute salt for sugar or lard for butter, grape juice for wine and expect miracles to happen in the cooking process, you will even get different results with close substitutes like Equal for sugar or margarine for butter or white for red wine, it might be close but it just won’t be the same. Even different brands of ingredients can make or break a recipe. The same happens when you use a different palette from someone else: The end results are going to be different, there is just no getting around it.
However, you can learn to work with what you have but you are going to need to do a bit of experimenting. If you have an old canvas you can gesso out or a small canvas you don’t mind using for this purpose, you can create a color chart using the colors you have and mixing them with the other colors on your palette then painting little patches to show the end results. Label them so you know what you mixed with what and keep it with you as a reference. Include a patch with white to see the lighter color variation. Until you know your palette in your sleep, the time you take to make this color chart will pay for itself. Often time artists will do this as a matter of course so if they need to change their palette they know what the colors will do if they ad them to their palette. I’ll talk more in class on this subject.
This week was starting the detailing of these petals. Using a lighter version of the sap green (white with sap) and dry brushing (make sure your brush is very dry before picking up paint), I looked at my reference photo to find where the light areas on each petal were and scrubbed in following the way the petal would grow. Many of you are still “painting walls” in that your strokes all go in one direction – usually horizontal – learn to see and feel the 3-D object you are painting with you brush strokes. If an object is rounded, follow the curves, rough, scumble or chop the strokes. Think about what you are painting and try to create its essence on your canvas.
I highlighted all the petals but was careful not to paint over all of my under painting, just ‘cause it is called “Under” doesn’t mean we are going to cover it all up, it just means it was first and our foundation to build upon, it becomes texture and shadow, gives depth and substance to the painting, use it to your advantage.
The last thing I did was start to highlight the center part of the flower. I’m still not concerned with the red spots at this point, all I want to do is establish highlights and shadows, the spots will come last. Using white with a touch of blue and purple to get a cool white on the blue side and dry brush, I scrubbed in the first highlights starting at the end of the center petal and working towards the throat but lightening the pressure on my brush so it would blend in to the darker gray under painting near the throat. Please study the photo carefully, I know it is hard to see but there are subtle changes in shade on the white to suggest a curve and crinkles also, don’t worry about the yellow pollen areas, just worry about the lights and shadows on the center section.
Most important, don’t get discouraged if this isn’t turning out the way you would like, something about a lot of lemons and lemonade. You are all in a learning process, if it has been years since you have had any art training or maybe you haven’t had any art since grade school, where ever you stopped learning is where you have to start right now. This will come if you are patient with yourself and with the process. I’m proud of all of you for the efforts you are putting in, I just wish I could transfer what I know directly into your heads along with the understanding of the medium I have. Until such time I can learn the Vulcan Mind Meld, we will all have to struggle along and hope for the best.
Next week: More highlights and maybe some spots! Start looking for your next project.
Week 3: Watercolor Project – I-Pops
This was the final week for this project, be prepared next week to start you own project. I will show next week how I would put on some of the “fuzzy” stuff on the poppies, but it really isn’t necessary if you don’t want to do it but if you do…
The only thing I showed in class to finish this pict is how to do the background using a wet into wet technique. Many of you don’t like the brush strokes you get doing wet on dry, using wet into wet will eliminate some of that problem, but can create others so it is 6 of one, half dozen of another, nothing is fool proof in art so it is best to learn to accept that there will be “imperfections” in the final product. You want perfect, take a photo, even photography is an art and some are better photographers than others.
With the wet into wet technique, you want to wet “doable” areas at a time. For instance, because this painting already has objects we need to paint around, just start with one section at a time. It won’t do you any good to wet all the areas you want to paint at once because by the time you get done with one section, the rest of the paper will be dry. In lager areas, break it down into workable areas, wetting a part of it, painting the wet area, wetting the next area, etc, working your way around the painting. Turn the painting if you have to but watch out for “blooms” or “run backs” from the excess water that may be hiding under your tape.
First I painted an area with just water to wet the section of the paper I wanted to paint. I was painting over last week’s previous wash so I was careful not to lift the color that was already there. Next I took my blue with a touch of purple in a concentrated form – I.E. very little water, mostly paint – and painted the area. Because the area was wet, the paint spread out and did a lot of the painting for me. I moved on to the next section repeating this process all the way around my flowers.
My other demo was on a variation of this technique. By wetting small areas of a painting – in this case individual petals on a flower – and dropping paint into the wet or gently guiding the paint, you can get some beautiful soft blends of color. The key is to let the paint do most of the work. If you drop one color into another, LEAVE IT ALONE! If you start messing with it, you will loose the battle. I’ve said this before if you try to force watercolor to do your bidding, you will loose. The paint always wins. Don’t get carried away with this either just because it feels good doesn’t mean more is better, reread the under lined above, you will not win until you learn to let the paint do some of the work. Learn how the paper accepts the paint at different points in its drying. How does it react when it is real wet vs just damp to the touch? These are your tools along with your brushes and paints, don’t be afraid to just take a few pieces of paper or get some watercolor cards and experiment, it will only make you a better artist. Not everything is going to be a masterpiece nor should you always just paint a picture. Learning is experience. Experience becomes knowledge and knowledge becomes skill. You can’t skip from learning to skill anymore than you can force watercolor to your will, just not gonna happen.
I hope that my watercolor students will experiment with different techniques or seeing how what you already know can be used in different situations. Remember: It’s just a piece of paper! You are all still learning and the best thing you can do for yourselves is to not be afraid to experiment, this is how you learn.
Next week: Continue on your own projects and making a color chart.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Week 2 Spring 09
Week 2 – Acrylic Project: Green Orchid
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
Mostly what I need to discuss here is technique and being observant. As artists and, in practically, painters, we have to create miracles on our canvases to create an image that appears to have depth and dimension on a 2 dimensional surface, that requires you as the artist and interpreter of the material to figure out how to accomplish the task. What do we have to in our tool box to create a 3D image? Basically, we have very few things, but it is enough.
We have color. We have values. We have contrast. That’s really about it, it’s how we use these things that create a sense of depth and dimension, the problem is when you are starting out, your biggest objective is to get it done. When you are learning to do anything, you need to have patience with yourself and the process, speed will come in time as you learn how these things are used to create the form but first they need to become ingrained into your thought process so they become automatic.
What I saw as I went around the room was students trying to get caught up to where I am and not really paying attention to HOW I got to where I was in my painting. This is not a race; we will take all the time we need to finish a project, the important thing is learning the techniques.
A common problem I saw was not understanding about how contrast works. You need to have dark to show light but you also need it to show depth. Look at the reference pict and focus in the area where the petals go behind the center of the flower. Notice how the top and lower petals are darker near the center than are the two side petals. By working one petal at a time and focusing on creating that contrast in this under painting stage, you will have a lot less work for yourself in later stages. I started with the top and lower petals blending as I went (see previous post) so I could make sure they were below the top petals. Don’t be so restrained by your drawing that it looks like “paint by numbers”, another thing I saw several students doing, work one color into another so it looks like a natural progression of dark to light.
I was asked why we need to do an under painting. Even if you are doing something in a more impressionistic way, like I did my parrot, the under painting is important, it is the foundation of your painting if it is weak, you painting will not stand up. Just think of what would happen to your house without a good foundation and frame, how could you put up drywall or a roof without the supporting structure to hold it up? This is how important an under painting is to any painting so it is not a step to skip.
Another problem I saw was with the application of the paint and some of the brushes. Please make sure that you have bristle brushes, they are cheap for a reason, they are designed to take a lot of abuse. The bristlettes or sables have their purpose but aren’t designed with all the scrubbing in mind plus one brush costs as much or more than a whole tube of bristle brushes.
When I use my brushes, after I rinse them I dry them thoroughly before I pick up paint, many of you had way too much water on your brushes and that waters down the paint causing the paint to run, become more transparent and it doesn’t cover well. Dry your brushes as best you can with a paper towel and make sure you squeeze up near the metal part (feral) of the brush where water can hide. Then when you pick up your paint you don’t need to pick up big gobs. Most of you are working on smaller canvases so pick up just enough to cover a couple inches by scrubbing then reload. This will give you some variation in color that will help your painting.
While it is not written in stone that you should have the exact same colors as I have, it will cause less confusion especially for beginners. Every color has its own properties and when mixed with other colors will give different results. Mixing sap green with sienna is going to give you an entirely different blend then pthalo green with sienna. Sap is a more earthy, yellow green, pthalo is what I call an chemical green, not one usually found in nature, it has its uses but it is hard to use without getting a chemical color. As long as you understand that and also the fact that if you are using different colors from the ones I am using you will get different results, go a head and use them but you may have to experiment to find out what your colors will do, the end result will not be wrong, it will just be different.
About the only thing I did paint new that wasn’t a continuation of last week was the under painting for the white center of the flower. Remember, we need dark to show light so we can’t just paint the center with white and expect it to have depth, we start in the darkest area which is the throat of the flower and work out. Don’t worry about the red spots, that will come later, for now just worry about under painting the center with shades of grey.
I mixed white with touches of blue, sienna and purple to get a fairly dark gray color. Look at the reference photo and the throat of the flower, see how dark it is? This is where I started as I moved out from the center, I added more white to my brush, following the growth of the center with my strokes and lightening it as I went. My strokes on the front part of the center as it came out from the throat were curved as if they were coming up from the center then down the front. Think about what you are painting, think about its shape, what is it doing how can you reflect that in your strokes? Think direction of how it is growing, that is how your strokes should go.
When you are done, the center should be various shades of gray, this will allow you to have some place to go with your highlights when we get to that point. Remember, take your time, you don’t need to rush, however, you do need to learn the technique.
Next week: Adding some highlights.
Week 2: Watercolor Project – I-Pops
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
I hope you will all read the first 3 paragraphs and paragraph 8 I wrote for the acrylic class because the same applies here. As I go around the room and look at what each of you are doing, I know that I haven’t quite reached you or maybe you don’t trust me enough to try what I suggest, I don’t know but I will keep trying until I get my point across. I have hopes.
I-Pops is a very simple painting but you wouldn’t know it from what I am seeing as I walk around class. I know you all watch me when I do my demos – this is where I think the trust issue kicks in - but I don’t think you believe me that it is simple or easy as I make it look because you go back to your own paintings and really over think the whole process. In theory, I should be able to give you a reference photo and you should go from there, ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED is in the reference photo. It shows you light and dark, shape and details all you need to do is study it and figure out how to achieve each step.
I don’t say this to be mean, I am hoping to get you thinking logically about breaking a subject down into manageable steps that when you put them together you create something you are happy with, mostly what I’m seeing is frustration caused by over thinking.
These types of poppies look like crumpled crape paper, they are not smooth, the lines in the petals are uneven and broken in spots, connecting in spots, thick and thin as they curve up from the bottom to the top. I had to decide how I was going to achieve that look, while I’m sure that there are many ways to this end, what I chose to do was to use the end of my angle brush to create a series of uneven, curved, broken lines to suggest the crumpled look of these flowers. I wanted to enhance the value of the color in some of the areas of the flowers and well as creating a more crumpled look to the flowers, using the end of my brush and paint with very little water to dilute the color, I made a series of choppy, curved lines starting from the bottom where my lines were touching in most places to the edges where I left a lot of the lighter previous wash. (See detail on pict page.) Remember, what I am trying to do is create texture and a sense of light. I referred to my photo often.
I separated the petals on the bud casing with a bit of blue and green on the tip of my brush, rinsed my brush and soften the outside edge by running the damp brush along the edge of the darker color.
When my flowers were dry, I painted in the cast shadows. For the orange flower I used a mix of orange, napthol red and burnt sienna to get a deep red-orange color, you might also need to add a touch of purple but be cautious, the purple can cause muddiness if you use too much. On the yellow flower the first wash was just orange and red but after it dried, I felt it needed something and added a wash of blue and purple, I suggest you do this as well rather than mixing blue and/or purple in with the red and orange. Mixing these colors together will just create a muddy color, by layering the color with washes, as long as you have let one layer dry before putting another wash on top, the layer underneath will show through the top layer, the look will be much cleaner.
Once again when I was applying the shadow color I was thinking of the direction of growth and the texture of the petals. I used the edge of the angled brush and tapped in my color. (See example on pict page) If there was a bit that I didn’t put shadow color on and it was too bright, I rinsed my brush and just tapped it with a damp brush to slightly tone it down and give texture in the shadows. I did this for both flowers and with the blue/purple wash on the yellow flower. Let them dry completely.
I started the background which is an optional step. If you like you painting without the dark background leave it or you can do some of the fuzzy details on the stems and pods if you want, your choice, I kind of like the dark background because it really sets off the flowers and put a spot light on them. I was working wet on dry but if you want a more even application of paint, you can wet the area first then add your paint, I don’t mind the brush strokes and they will become less as I darken the background but you need to do what feels best for you.
Next week: Finish I-Pops. Start looking for subjects for your next project, from here out you are on your own subject wise.
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
Mostly what I need to discuss here is technique and being observant. As artists and, in practically, painters, we have to create miracles on our canvases to create an image that appears to have depth and dimension on a 2 dimensional surface, that requires you as the artist and interpreter of the material to figure out how to accomplish the task. What do we have to in our tool box to create a 3D image? Basically, we have very few things, but it is enough.
We have color. We have values. We have contrast. That’s really about it, it’s how we use these things that create a sense of depth and dimension, the problem is when you are starting out, your biggest objective is to get it done. When you are learning to do anything, you need to have patience with yourself and the process, speed will come in time as you learn how these things are used to create the form but first they need to become ingrained into your thought process so they become automatic.
What I saw as I went around the room was students trying to get caught up to where I am and not really paying attention to HOW I got to where I was in my painting. This is not a race; we will take all the time we need to finish a project, the important thing is learning the techniques.
A common problem I saw was not understanding about how contrast works. You need to have dark to show light but you also need it to show depth. Look at the reference pict and focus in the area where the petals go behind the center of the flower. Notice how the top and lower petals are darker near the center than are the two side petals. By working one petal at a time and focusing on creating that contrast in this under painting stage, you will have a lot less work for yourself in later stages. I started with the top and lower petals blending as I went (see previous post) so I could make sure they were below the top petals. Don’t be so restrained by your drawing that it looks like “paint by numbers”, another thing I saw several students doing, work one color into another so it looks like a natural progression of dark to light.
I was asked why we need to do an under painting. Even if you are doing something in a more impressionistic way, like I did my parrot, the under painting is important, it is the foundation of your painting if it is weak, you painting will not stand up. Just think of what would happen to your house without a good foundation and frame, how could you put up drywall or a roof without the supporting structure to hold it up? This is how important an under painting is to any painting so it is not a step to skip.
Another problem I saw was with the application of the paint and some of the brushes. Please make sure that you have bristle brushes, they are cheap for a reason, they are designed to take a lot of abuse. The bristlettes or sables have their purpose but aren’t designed with all the scrubbing in mind plus one brush costs as much or more than a whole tube of bristle brushes.
When I use my brushes, after I rinse them I dry them thoroughly before I pick up paint, many of you had way too much water on your brushes and that waters down the paint causing the paint to run, become more transparent and it doesn’t cover well. Dry your brushes as best you can with a paper towel and make sure you squeeze up near the metal part (feral) of the brush where water can hide. Then when you pick up your paint you don’t need to pick up big gobs. Most of you are working on smaller canvases so pick up just enough to cover a couple inches by scrubbing then reload. This will give you some variation in color that will help your painting.
While it is not written in stone that you should have the exact same colors as I have, it will cause less confusion especially for beginners. Every color has its own properties and when mixed with other colors will give different results. Mixing sap green with sienna is going to give you an entirely different blend then pthalo green with sienna. Sap is a more earthy, yellow green, pthalo is what I call an chemical green, not one usually found in nature, it has its uses but it is hard to use without getting a chemical color. As long as you understand that and also the fact that if you are using different colors from the ones I am using you will get different results, go a head and use them but you may have to experiment to find out what your colors will do, the end result will not be wrong, it will just be different.
About the only thing I did paint new that wasn’t a continuation of last week was the under painting for the white center of the flower. Remember, we need dark to show light so we can’t just paint the center with white and expect it to have depth, we start in the darkest area which is the throat of the flower and work out. Don’t worry about the red spots, that will come later, for now just worry about under painting the center with shades of grey.
I mixed white with touches of blue, sienna and purple to get a fairly dark gray color. Look at the reference photo and the throat of the flower, see how dark it is? This is where I started as I moved out from the center, I added more white to my brush, following the growth of the center with my strokes and lightening it as I went. My strokes on the front part of the center as it came out from the throat were curved as if they were coming up from the center then down the front. Think about what you are painting, think about its shape, what is it doing how can you reflect that in your strokes? Think direction of how it is growing, that is how your strokes should go.
When you are done, the center should be various shades of gray, this will allow you to have some place to go with your highlights when we get to that point. Remember, take your time, you don’t need to rush, however, you do need to learn the technique.
Next week: Adding some highlights.
Week 2: Watercolor Project – I-Pops
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
I hope you will all read the first 3 paragraphs and paragraph 8 I wrote for the acrylic class because the same applies here. As I go around the room and look at what each of you are doing, I know that I haven’t quite reached you or maybe you don’t trust me enough to try what I suggest, I don’t know but I will keep trying until I get my point across. I have hopes.
I-Pops is a very simple painting but you wouldn’t know it from what I am seeing as I walk around class. I know you all watch me when I do my demos – this is where I think the trust issue kicks in - but I don’t think you believe me that it is simple or easy as I make it look because you go back to your own paintings and really over think the whole process. In theory, I should be able to give you a reference photo and you should go from there, ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED is in the reference photo. It shows you light and dark, shape and details all you need to do is study it and figure out how to achieve each step.
I don’t say this to be mean, I am hoping to get you thinking logically about breaking a subject down into manageable steps that when you put them together you create something you are happy with, mostly what I’m seeing is frustration caused by over thinking.
These types of poppies look like crumpled crape paper, they are not smooth, the lines in the petals are uneven and broken in spots, connecting in spots, thick and thin as they curve up from the bottom to the top. I had to decide how I was going to achieve that look, while I’m sure that there are many ways to this end, what I chose to do was to use the end of my angle brush to create a series of uneven, curved, broken lines to suggest the crumpled look of these flowers. I wanted to enhance the value of the color in some of the areas of the flowers and well as creating a more crumpled look to the flowers, using the end of my brush and paint with very little water to dilute the color, I made a series of choppy, curved lines starting from the bottom where my lines were touching in most places to the edges where I left a lot of the lighter previous wash. (See detail on pict page.) Remember, what I am trying to do is create texture and a sense of light. I referred to my photo often.
I separated the petals on the bud casing with a bit of blue and green on the tip of my brush, rinsed my brush and soften the outside edge by running the damp brush along the edge of the darker color.
When my flowers were dry, I painted in the cast shadows. For the orange flower I used a mix of orange, napthol red and burnt sienna to get a deep red-orange color, you might also need to add a touch of purple but be cautious, the purple can cause muddiness if you use too much. On the yellow flower the first wash was just orange and red but after it dried, I felt it needed something and added a wash of blue and purple, I suggest you do this as well rather than mixing blue and/or purple in with the red and orange. Mixing these colors together will just create a muddy color, by layering the color with washes, as long as you have let one layer dry before putting another wash on top, the layer underneath will show through the top layer, the look will be much cleaner.
Once again when I was applying the shadow color I was thinking of the direction of growth and the texture of the petals. I used the edge of the angled brush and tapped in my color. (See example on pict page) If there was a bit that I didn’t put shadow color on and it was too bright, I rinsed my brush and just tapped it with a damp brush to slightly tone it down and give texture in the shadows. I did this for both flowers and with the blue/purple wash on the yellow flower. Let them dry completely.
I started the background which is an optional step. If you like you painting without the dark background leave it or you can do some of the fuzzy details on the stems and pods if you want, your choice, I kind of like the dark background because it really sets off the flowers and put a spot light on them. I was working wet on dry but if you want a more even application of paint, you can wet the area first then add your paint, I don’t mind the brush strokes and they will become less as I darken the background but you need to do what feels best for you.
Next week: Finish I-Pops. Start looking for subjects for your next project, from here out you are on your own subject wise.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
PBS Update
This is just a quick note to let everyone know that at least for the next couple of weeks KOCE Ch 50 (PBS out of Orange Cnty) has art shows on at 1 pm. Jerry Yarnell is on Wed for the acrylic painters and Terry Madden is on on Thurs for Watercolor students. Don't know how long it will last, but it is better than nothing. - LP
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Spring 09 Acrylic and Watercolor Projects
Both classes: Remember you can sign up to follow this blog off to the side <-- so you will get a notice when I update, that way you don’t have to keep checking back in all the time.
Week 1 – Acrylic Project: Green Orchid
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
I believe this is a first! I usually prepare to give the new students an introductory speech telling them about the class and equipment but because the new students we had join us already had acrylic classes, we were able to jump right in and get started, of course this was also the one time I wasn’t totally prepared to start a project this week but I managed.
I could have started this on a black canvas if I wanted but because I didn’t know if every one had black or black gesso, I started on a primed canvas first drawing my design on with my soft vine charcoal. The reason I use the charcoal is it can be erased with a wet paper towel plus it doesn’t leave any hard line like sketching with a brush can do. The charcoal doesn’t hurt the paint so I can paint right over it and not worry about any unwanted hard lines showing in my final painting.
I am also sorta breaking the rules here because of the nature of this painting, my orchid is almost centered. If you have been in my class before, you have heard me rail about “rule of thirds” and keeping things out of the center, I have also said that there are exceptions to every rule and this is one of them though I did try to slightly move my subject to the left of center so that it wasn’t “dead” center. I also wanted to make sure that I filled the canvas with my subject, to the point that I have 2 petals that go off the canvas. When designing a painting or drawing, you want to make sure that your main subject is prominent enough that your viewers will keep looking at it, this is particularly true when simplifying, like I have done here, to one element. If the negative space it too dominating your viewers will move on to something else so fill up your canvas with your subject. Have your reference picture handy at all times, it holds the answers to your questions.
Once I had my design on my canvas I started painting the 3 petals that are underneath the top 2, those are the top petal and the 2 on the bottom of the flower. Because they are coming from a part of the flower that is a bit further away from the center, the shadows are a bit darker. As painters we need to find those areas where dark meets light so we can use it to create depth and dimension in our paintings. Using my #10 bristle brush (it was an old, well worn brush), I picked up Hooker’s green, ultra marine blue, cad yellow pale and dioxizine purple, I started in the darkest area next to the center and under the 2 top petals to establish my darkest area. I was using a scrubbing type stroke to get the canvas covered but was aware of what I was painting so I followed the form and curves of my petal, this is important because the eye can see the subtle brush strokes so follow the shape of the thing you are painting with your strokes.
Rather than mix on my palette, I chose to brush mix my colors on my canvas. This allows the colors to vary in shade and color as you apply them to the canvas, this is a good thing because it adds interest.
As I moved away from the center, I added more green, yellow and white and less blue and purple. I was careful to blend back into an area I had already painted so there wasn’t a “line of demarcation” between the darker areas and lighter one. This smooth transition will help create a rounded look to your petal.
I continued to add touches of white to the green and yellow to establish my light areas but I also don’t want to get too light just yet so when you are painting your petals keep these underneath petals to the medium light value when you get to the edges. I used this same procedure on the other two lower petals.
I did start one of the upper petals and will finish it in class on Monday, the difference with the top petals is I started several values lighter than I did on the underneath petals. I still used the same colors: green, yellow, blue and a touch of purple but I added white to the mix to lighten the value. I still started near the center and still brush mixing with scrubbing strokes that follow the shape of the petal, it was just my color was lighter to begin with. It you have added enough white your top petal should be 2 – 3 values lighter. As I moved away from the center, I added more white to the green and yellow, I was also looking at my reference picture to see if there were lighter spots than others, while this is just the under painting stage, I am establishing my light and that is always important.
Next week: I will finish the under painting of the petals and start the under painting for the center.
Week 1: Watercolor project – I-Pops
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
First I want to thank everyone for agreeing to shorten the class by a half hour, I really would have hated to have lost the class because we were short one person and I think this will work out for most of the class since several members leave early to make other appointments. Thank you.
Like my acrylic class, I had al returning students who did not need my opening “welcome to class speech” so, though I wasn’t totally prepared to start the project, we started any way. First we needed to get our drawing on our paper. This is a simple design with only 3 elements – 2 flowers and one bud – but simple doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have areas of concern. I wanted to make sure that these three elements filled the page. Just like in the acrylic project above, the flowers in this project needed to be big enough on the paper to dominate over the negative space, this is important when you are doing a simple design like this, it helps bring the “Wow!” factor into your painting, if they are too small your viewer will ask “What’s the point?”
After I had my drawing on the paper, I wet the flowers with clean water. Since I was using a lighter weight paper than I’m use to using, it dried very quickly so I suggest if you are working in a warm area where your paper will dry quickly, wet areas as you go because at this point the important thing is we don’t want any hard, dark lines.
I used a general mix of blue and purple and what ever was on my palette to get a shadow color, I lightly touched the wet areas with the tip of my brush to create shadow lines in the petals. Remember to follow the shape of the petal, these lines will run from the edge to the center of the flower remember, they aren’t straight lines but curved and they aren’t solid but broken and VERY LIGHT. Look at your reference photo to see how the poppies grow, this is what you are trying to re-create. Let your paper dry completely.
Next, with cad yellow light, I painted the areas around the stems on both flowers and also parts of the stems and the casing on the bud. The light is coming from the upper right side so you want to put this “sunshine” color on the right side of your stems. Once that was done, I painted the stems and the bud using sap green with a touch of blue starting at the flower where it is darkest and bringing it down the stem, adding water to lighten the color and to blend it into the yellow. Be careful not to loose the yellow because it is your sunshine, however, if you do get a bit too much green on your yellow you can lift some of the color off or rinse your brush, pick up some yellow and just touch the area where you need to put light back in and let the paint do the work. Same on the bud, the top of the bent stem is darker and in shadow as is the left side of the bud, I will separate the sections of the casing later, right now all I wanted to do was establish light and shadowed sides.
For the yellow poppy I used mostly Indian yellow. If you don’t have Indian yellow, you can add a touch of orange or sienna to your cad yellow or if you have cad yellow med or dark, either will work as well though you will have a slightly different yellow from mine but color is not important because these poppies come in a variety of colors. The orange poppy is a mix of napthol red (Grumbacher or Windsor red), cad orange and cad yellow pale and a lot of water. As I was painting both poppies I was thinking direction of growth so any variation in value or color would look like light or shadow in the petals. The new poppy coming out of the bud was a concentrated mix of the red and the orange. I painted with my brush almost on edge and painted in the direction of the growth, there were some places that didn’t get painted so you see the white of the paper and that is okay, many watercolorists will leave white areas on purpose and on this painting they can look like highlights.
Next week: Adding shadows and background. We could finish this painting on Monday so if you haven’t already, start looking for your next project.
Week 1 – Acrylic Project: Green Orchid
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
I believe this is a first! I usually prepare to give the new students an introductory speech telling them about the class and equipment but because the new students we had join us already had acrylic classes, we were able to jump right in and get started, of course this was also the one time I wasn’t totally prepared to start a project this week but I managed.
I could have started this on a black canvas if I wanted but because I didn’t know if every one had black or black gesso, I started on a primed canvas first drawing my design on with my soft vine charcoal. The reason I use the charcoal is it can be erased with a wet paper towel plus it doesn’t leave any hard line like sketching with a brush can do. The charcoal doesn’t hurt the paint so I can paint right over it and not worry about any unwanted hard lines showing in my final painting.
I am also sorta breaking the rules here because of the nature of this painting, my orchid is almost centered. If you have been in my class before, you have heard me rail about “rule of thirds” and keeping things out of the center, I have also said that there are exceptions to every rule and this is one of them though I did try to slightly move my subject to the left of center so that it wasn’t “dead” center. I also wanted to make sure that I filled the canvas with my subject, to the point that I have 2 petals that go off the canvas. When designing a painting or drawing, you want to make sure that your main subject is prominent enough that your viewers will keep looking at it, this is particularly true when simplifying, like I have done here, to one element. If the negative space it too dominating your viewers will move on to something else so fill up your canvas with your subject. Have your reference picture handy at all times, it holds the answers to your questions.
Once I had my design on my canvas I started painting the 3 petals that are underneath the top 2, those are the top petal and the 2 on the bottom of the flower. Because they are coming from a part of the flower that is a bit further away from the center, the shadows are a bit darker. As painters we need to find those areas where dark meets light so we can use it to create depth and dimension in our paintings. Using my #10 bristle brush (it was an old, well worn brush), I picked up Hooker’s green, ultra marine blue, cad yellow pale and dioxizine purple, I started in the darkest area next to the center and under the 2 top petals to establish my darkest area. I was using a scrubbing type stroke to get the canvas covered but was aware of what I was painting so I followed the form and curves of my petal, this is important because the eye can see the subtle brush strokes so follow the shape of the thing you are painting with your strokes.
Rather than mix on my palette, I chose to brush mix my colors on my canvas. This allows the colors to vary in shade and color as you apply them to the canvas, this is a good thing because it adds interest.
As I moved away from the center, I added more green, yellow and white and less blue and purple. I was careful to blend back into an area I had already painted so there wasn’t a “line of demarcation” between the darker areas and lighter one. This smooth transition will help create a rounded look to your petal.
I continued to add touches of white to the green and yellow to establish my light areas but I also don’t want to get too light just yet so when you are painting your petals keep these underneath petals to the medium light value when you get to the edges. I used this same procedure on the other two lower petals.
I did start one of the upper petals and will finish it in class on Monday, the difference with the top petals is I started several values lighter than I did on the underneath petals. I still used the same colors: green, yellow, blue and a touch of purple but I added white to the mix to lighten the value. I still started near the center and still brush mixing with scrubbing strokes that follow the shape of the petal, it was just my color was lighter to begin with. It you have added enough white your top petal should be 2 – 3 values lighter. As I moved away from the center, I added more white to the green and yellow, I was also looking at my reference picture to see if there were lighter spots than others, while this is just the under painting stage, I am establishing my light and that is always important.
Next week: I will finish the under painting of the petals and start the under painting for the center.
Week 1: Watercolor project – I-Pops
http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring09#
First I want to thank everyone for agreeing to shorten the class by a half hour, I really would have hated to have lost the class because we were short one person and I think this will work out for most of the class since several members leave early to make other appointments. Thank you.
Like my acrylic class, I had al returning students who did not need my opening “welcome to class speech” so, though I wasn’t totally prepared to start the project, we started any way. First we needed to get our drawing on our paper. This is a simple design with only 3 elements – 2 flowers and one bud – but simple doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have areas of concern. I wanted to make sure that these three elements filled the page. Just like in the acrylic project above, the flowers in this project needed to be big enough on the paper to dominate over the negative space, this is important when you are doing a simple design like this, it helps bring the “Wow!” factor into your painting, if they are too small your viewer will ask “What’s the point?”
After I had my drawing on the paper, I wet the flowers with clean water. Since I was using a lighter weight paper than I’m use to using, it dried very quickly so I suggest if you are working in a warm area where your paper will dry quickly, wet areas as you go because at this point the important thing is we don’t want any hard, dark lines.
I used a general mix of blue and purple and what ever was on my palette to get a shadow color, I lightly touched the wet areas with the tip of my brush to create shadow lines in the petals. Remember to follow the shape of the petal, these lines will run from the edge to the center of the flower remember, they aren’t straight lines but curved and they aren’t solid but broken and VERY LIGHT. Look at your reference photo to see how the poppies grow, this is what you are trying to re-create. Let your paper dry completely.
Next, with cad yellow light, I painted the areas around the stems on both flowers and also parts of the stems and the casing on the bud. The light is coming from the upper right side so you want to put this “sunshine” color on the right side of your stems. Once that was done, I painted the stems and the bud using sap green with a touch of blue starting at the flower where it is darkest and bringing it down the stem, adding water to lighten the color and to blend it into the yellow. Be careful not to loose the yellow because it is your sunshine, however, if you do get a bit too much green on your yellow you can lift some of the color off or rinse your brush, pick up some yellow and just touch the area where you need to put light back in and let the paint do the work. Same on the bud, the top of the bent stem is darker and in shadow as is the left side of the bud, I will separate the sections of the casing later, right now all I wanted to do was establish light and shadowed sides.
For the yellow poppy I used mostly Indian yellow. If you don’t have Indian yellow, you can add a touch of orange or sienna to your cad yellow or if you have cad yellow med or dark, either will work as well though you will have a slightly different yellow from mine but color is not important because these poppies come in a variety of colors. The orange poppy is a mix of napthol red (Grumbacher or Windsor red), cad orange and cad yellow pale and a lot of water. As I was painting both poppies I was thinking direction of growth so any variation in value or color would look like light or shadow in the petals. The new poppy coming out of the bud was a concentrated mix of the red and the orange. I painted with my brush almost on edge and painted in the direction of the growth, there were some places that didn’t get painted so you see the white of the paper and that is okay, many watercolorists will leave white areas on purpose and on this painting they can look like highlights.
Next week: Adding shadows and background. We could finish this painting on Monday so if you haven’t already, start looking for your next project.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Notice to All My Watercolor Students
I just reacieved notice from my boss that if we can't find 2 more bodies the class will either be reduced in length , by how much I do not know, for the same price or it will be canceled outright.
Please, if you know anyone who has been thinking about taking an art class, get them to sign up tomorrow (Friday) so we can continue our class as normal.
Sign up at: www.Torrnet.com go to classes then to art my class is Exploring Watercolor Techniques. Or call, the number is: 310-618-2720 or go to the office and sign up in person.
Thanks. See you Monday, bring a friend.
Please, if you know anyone who has been thinking about taking an art class, get them to sign up tomorrow (Friday) so we can continue our class as normal.
Sign up at: www.Torrnet.com go to classes then to art my class is Exploring Watercolor Techniques. Or call, the number is: 310-618-2720 or go to the office and sign up in person.
Thanks. See you Monday, bring a friend.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Acrylic and Watercolor Spring 09 Classes
Both classes: I have posted the drawings and reference for the new semester on the picture page if you want to see what we will be doing. These shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to do so start looking for projects you are interested in doing to have at the ready.
If you haven't done so already, please sign up ASAP for any classes you want to take at Torrance because they will close under filled classes this week. I think we are okay as far as my classes go, but it doesn't hurt to have a few extras. The more the merrier!
<--- Remember, you can sign up on this blog to get notified when it is updated or check back in occasionaly for updates, thanks. See you Monday.
If you haven't done so already, please sign up ASAP for any classes you want to take at Torrance because they will close under filled classes this week. I think we are okay as far as my classes go, but it doesn't hurt to have a few extras. The more the merrier!
<--- Remember, you can sign up on this blog to get notified when it is updated or check back in occasionaly for updates, thanks. See you Monday.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Semester's End
We have reached the end of the Winter 09 semester and will be starting a new one on March 30th so if you are planning on taking classes at Torrance Art Cntr, please get in there now and sign up so your classes aren't closed.
I will post the projects for next semester next week so if you need to look at the pictures for your class project they will still be there for at least another week, after that you will have to go into "my gallery" and click on the album to see them.
We had a great semester and I'm proud of everyone's efforts, so keep up the good work, practice as much as you can at home and I will see you in a couple of weeks.
I will post the projects for next semester next week so if you need to look at the pictures for your class project they will still be there for at least another week, after that you will have to go into "my gallery" and click on the album to see them.
We had a great semester and I'm proud of everyone's efforts, so keep up the good work, practice as much as you can at home and I will see you in a couple of weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)