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Free Lessons and Painting Tips
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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. Painting on Canvas 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. OILS
Preparing different surfaces with Liquitex Gesso 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!! 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
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). 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.
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.
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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General Information
Tips about using Oils Use freezer paper you can purchase on a roll for your palette paper for oils. 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. Under each color write with a sharpie the name of the color so you will get familiarized with the name. Put left over paints in the freezer with saran wrap over it. 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. To help your oils dry faster add a tiny bit of Cobalt drier to your mixture. To keep them from drying add a tiny drop of clove oil to your mixture. If the white of the canvas intimidates you, simply apply a wash of any acrylic color. 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. 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. 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. Remember to re-shape your brushes after you have cleaned them. 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. 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!
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. I have developed an acrylic glaze that works like oils to order click on picture
Still Life Painting Tips Some things to remember: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. Once you get it set up live with it a while. Spend a few minutes just looking at it, or more if necessary. 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. Check out the colors, are they compatible? Deicide what you want as your center of interest and build on this. remember there can only be one center of interest. Look at the colors designers use for a contemporary feel. When arranging, consider compositional elements, avoid bland central positioning and symmetry. 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. 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! 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. 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. Take photographs if you are using perishables, especially flowers, or where your work may be disturbed. If you will be using natural light, take photos to refer to once the light starts to change. Remember that everything has a distinctive shape. Get these in first and don't lose them. Don't light all objects equally. Things in the shadow make the still-life more interesting. Paint the shadows transparent. Remember that your center of interest is always the lightest part of your composition. Understand your subject. You cannot paint something that you don't fully understand. Remember to overlap objects to create depth. 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. 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 Inflexible
Symmetry Flexible Symmetry
The "Golden
Mean or Section" 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 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.
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.
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