Recently I met up with an old friend, Mel Woodend. Since we last met she has developed her writing career. And completed a term as Staffordshire Poet Laureate. She is now working on her phD in Aston University, Birmingham. Her most recent book ‘Little Brown Mouse and the Silent World’ is about her own journey with hearing loss. I also got to meet her wonderful hearing assistance dog ‘Kirrie’. She is a miniature poodle and a sheer pleasure. No-one would say she hasn't worked hard at her skill - she is an author and a poet, she is a creative!
Mel and I met when we both started Open University together. We stay in touch via Christmas cards, the occasional meet up and socials. It is amazing to see how far we've come in parallel but not the same creative careers.
This brings me to talent. Why is it that people think that if you can't instantly draw or you don't produce a masterpiece at the first attempt it must mean you have no talent? And shouldn't pursue your dream of being able to paint…
What is that all about - it makes no sense?
Mel couldn't write a children's book or poetry anthology. I couldn't paint abstract landscapes from nature or match a colour with paint.
Think about it… you decide you'd like to run marathons. You go out for your first run, you don't expect to be able to run 4 minute miles, have stamina,, run 26 miles on your first day. You know it will take time and training and frankly hard work.
Or you decide to play the piano, a dream of yours. You find a teacher or some beginner books, you practice scales, learn to read music. It takes time and you progress a little bit at a time.
But… you try to paint for the first time, you've never done it before and there are some really good things about your art. The teacher even says so. You have fun but the result is not as you imagine it… often the conclusion, ‘I’m no good at this - I have no talent!' and what I see most is those who don't try because they assume they have no talent. Lets explore this in more detail...
I decided to google it and according to the Cambridge Dictionary
a natural skill or ability to be good at something, especially without being taught:
Natural abilities apply to all walks of life. There are genetic and environmental factors within a person and in their upbringing. We are all better at some things than others, at school I preferred Maths to English. I took Science 'A' levels NOT Art but my family were artistic and though I did not know there may be some genetic element at play. But there appears to be a myth around that you are either an artist or not. That artists are born not made. A misconception that talent is the sole determinant of artistic success.
This is despite the fact that many renowned artists found their passion later in life and were self-taught. You might not believe it, but some of the most famous artists in history were self-taught. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Rembrandt are just a few examples. Here is an excerpt taken from an article about Leonardo da Vinci...
(Accessed; 21 March 2024 on Guardian.com... Why is Leonardo da Vinci such a Genius?)
So there is another factor at play here... when I first met Mel at University she may have wanted to be a writer but she wasn't there yet. She was a teaching assistant at a local primary school and has worked very hard to learn how to write books, poetry and learn how to publish. On top of that to become a Poet Laureate you need to not only write but advocate the arts. This takes hard work and dedication.
Ruth Egon (my co-podcaster to be) decided to study art but took textile design, she went along a 'sensible' route and ended up out of the creative industry completely she worked in IT and has painted and developed her art alongside a full-time job... she is working very hard! You can hear her story on our first Podcast coming out April 2024. She says when people say 'You are so talented' it takes away all the hard work she has put in to get where she is today.
I never saw myself as an artist but following ill health I worked hard to find something creative. This has not only developed into my own art business but has also helped my health. I was never good at art at school, my background is academic but here I am and loving it! People still tell me that I must have an innate talent. Or is it the house full of failed paintings and tons of hard work, research and fun I have had along the way?
So how do aspiring artists address the impact of the 'talent myth'?
In my opinion perseverance is key but you won't persevere with something unless you enjoy it. So my big tip is find your passion for painting. You need to enjoy what you do, regular groups whether a class or an art group can provide the like-mindedness that helps it to become a regular activity. If you paint over and over again you will improve but you that's not why you should paint.
It's not about outcome it's about enjoying the process, it's all about experimenting, finding what you like and doing it for the enjoyment. Don't get me wrong there will be frustrations. I had an email from Rose, a member of my class that says I still find painting difficult at times but it is so rewarding.
And I can guarantee that if you paint and paint and paint you will get better. It's obvious that will happen and I have seen it so many times. You build confidence, learn materials and find your own interests. If you pay attention to your surroundings and paint you will start to find what you like to paint. If you observe other artists and compare them to your own art, then observe what you like about both... then paint what you like you will find your voice. Don't overthink it just paint and see what happens - it's the magic of creativity!
It is experimentation and exploration which helps you develop your individual voice. I am being specific here as people often look for their 'style' but you can paint in many styles. One singer can sing both Jazz or Opera but there is a recognisable quality to their voice. An artistic voice arises from the choices we make. One artist might usually paint in certain colours another will use familiar marks. Sometimes the same marks that at first they perceived as mistakes, it is the signs of who they are.
Think of Lowry, Picasso or Monet. You can look at their paintings and know that looks like a Monet or those figures are like a Lowry, we all know Picasso's work.
Finally I want to quickly talk about talent and creativity as related but distinct concepts. Talent often refers to a natural ability or aptitude for a particular skill or activity. It can be thought of as a predisposition that may make learning and excelling in a certain area easier for an individual.
On the other hand, creativity is the ability to generate new ideas, concepts, or connections. Often in a way that is original or unconventional.
Some individuals have a natural talent for artistic expression, such as drawing or painting. Whereas creativity involves the generation of unique, innovative, and imaginative ideas. Creativity can be nurtured and developed through practice, exposure to diverse experiences, and the willingness to explore new ways of thinking and expressing oneself.
Therefore, while talent and creativity can complement each other, they are not entirely reliant on one another. It is possible for individuals with varying levels of talent to cultivate and enhance their creativity through dedicated practice and a willingness to experiment and explore new approaches to their art.
I would say both. But I think you can learn to access your creativity which we all have and thus learn artistic ability through developing our art skills without any talent. Am I saying there is no such thing as innate talent? No, I'm sure people are predisposed to have a flare in one thing or another, a genetic factor and exposure during childhood, however…
I'll let you into a secret... an artists voice is about creativity and creativity is inbuilt in us all, you can be creative in the same way as you can walk and talk. Do you know why I know? It is because creativity is the way we learn, it is the way we build our skills through play. As children we played, made up things, drew, painted and didn't worry about whether it was ‘good’ it was just learning.
And my next secret is this… I don't teach people to paint! I teach people to be more creative, because it's fun! Oh yes there is technique thrown in, that's a skill and can be taught but learning what you like to paint is the greatest joy so that is thrown into the mix too, and you do that yourself.
What I am saying is that artists can be made. I believe it is a myth that artists are talented (or not) from birth. In fact it is really obvious that we all have to develop skills, we all know that! To think you can paint a unique and mature piece of art with a complete understanding of who you are as an artist from birth is a strange concept... if you stop and think about it. It's why artists don't believe it! What we can all do from birth is create - all of us! We know this as it is how all our brains work, they create from young, they learn to analyse as they get older. And that's why very young children can paint, some will have an innate talent for a particular aspect of art as in all of life but they all can paint and so can we.
So next time you create a piece of art that is not great then remember its all part of the process, learning means failing and an artist is only someone who has failed more times than you have painted. A great artist embraces failure, starts to welcome the times it goes wrong because there is the greatest learning and the accidents are the discoveries that make unique art. So if you want to paint do it, it's fun, frustrating at times but always rewarding if you give it time and let it unfold. Can't wait to see your art!
I hope you enjoyed this blog, if you want to hear more from me then sign up to my Newsletters HERE where you can ask me questions and let me know what you think.
I will let you know when the blogs arrive on my site and keep you in touch with the new podcasts, starting in April 2024 and What's On so you don't miss out!
How do you go from realism to abstraction and what is abstraction?
In this series I am exploring these topics by showing you how I am taking my love of nature and abstracting from reality in order to express something more. Whether it be from sketches whilst outside, poetry that I have written about nature, inspiration guided from seasons or what is happening in my lovely garden.
In this second video of the series I show some of the results of different sketch ideas and what I have done with them, this was inspired by a course I took with
Lewis Noble, here's a link to his channel... https://www.youtube.com/@LewisNobleArtist
Other contemporary artists I am learning and inspired by: Jane Hodgson (My Art Mentor)
https://www.youtube.com/@vjanehodgson
Louise Fletcher (Art Tribe and now Find Your Joy!) https://www.youtube.com/@ThisPaintingLife
Carole Baker (Shropshire Artist who's Landscapes and Use of Colour I Love) https://www.youtube.com/@CaroleBakerRBSA
Annie Luke Turner (Wonderful Process from Outside to In!) https://www.instagram.com/annieluketurnerartist/
It's always an exciting journey, but now I'm finding my true inner artist. It's not about techniques or knowledge though I am learning (a lot!) now it's about feeling, hence why it's so special.
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You can see the first in my series here:
I hope you enjoy this video, in it I have used A3 Spiral Bound and A6 Concertina Sketchbooks, both are Seawhite.
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Polar Bears in the beautiful Aurora but the ice is showing signs of melting, a poignant reminder of our strange weather. You can follow along using the photograph and drawing below. Apologies that some of the footage is not high quality, parts of this video were recorded in Zoom lessons but I decided to release them anyway, it is still useful stuff... I will be releasing my old class footage over the next year interspersed with vlogs, you will see the improvement over time!
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This is an acrylic painting on canvas or canvas board.
Colours: Pthalo Blue
Quinacridone Magenta
Titanium White
Mars Black
Lemon Yellow
Pthalo Green
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Creative Commons Music Attribution
Free to Use: 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Mozart
Free to Use: 'Angel's Dream' by Aakash Gandhi
Source: Source: / audiolibrary
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Photo Attribution Polar Bears with Aurora Borealis Sky Thank you to Three Shots @ Pixabay for the original photograph. It is through the generosity of photographers that we have access to more images. Here are links to the original photograph and photographer…
Image by Three-shots from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/polar-bear...
Printable Drawing: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/009...
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My first Vlog in Spring 2023 about how my art is changing.
In this video I talk about clearing out the old to make way for the new. All my old artwork has been put away and I'm experimenting with new techniques.
How it feels like to have travelled full circle to find myself back to my roots... painting loose with feeling but this time knowing why I paint, and understanding more what I'm interested in.
Art, as in nature, as in life, comes in cycles. And over the years we see patterns, repeating ones; it's how you know what you like.
If you want to join me on my exploration into abstracting my love of nature this is the first in a series of VLOGs this year. How do you go from realism to abstraction and what is abstraction?
I'll be working on paper and in sketch books, I'll be reflecting on old work and creating new.
It's always an exciting journey, but now I'm finding my true inner artist. It's not about techniques or knowledge now it's about feeling, hence why it's so special.
I hope you enjoy this video, in it I have used a Seawhite Concertina Sketchbook if you are wondering.
Socials Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest @debbiechatfieldartist
]]>Did you know that a group of penguins on land is a Waddle?
In my art I love to capture transient moments in time. Here this Waddle have come together in what appears to be a moment of gossip. It made me smile so I had to paint them, let me know in the comments if you see it?
Apologies that some of the footage is not high quality, I had some technical difficulties at the time this was taken but I decided to release it anyway, it is still useful stuff... I will be releasing my old class footage over the next year interspersed with vlogs, you will see the improvement over time!
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This painting is being currently shown in the 'Together' Winter Exhibition in D31, you can see it in the gallery or... View the Exhibition online at: https://www.d31artgallery.com/winter-...
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For those who wish to paint along the colours I used are:
Pthalo Blue
Quinacridone Magenta
Cadmium Yellow
Mars Black
Titanium White
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Download Original Photos by Pixabay from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of...
https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of...
Printable Drawing Download Using the Above Two Ideas Combined: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/009...
You can use White or Graphite Tracedown paper to transfer it on top of the background layers.
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Creative Commons Music Attribution Free to Use:
'Angel's Dream' by Aakash Gandhi Source: / audiolibrary
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Connect with me at: https://debbiechatfield.co.uk/
Or keep in touch via my socials on:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/debbiechatf...
]]>Tiger – by John K. Thorne – Flickr
I thought I would re-post this blog which covers ‘How to paint Cat’s Eyes Realistically’ as we're painting tigers in class. 🐅
Enjoy it…
There are a few tricks to painting realistic eyes in acrylic. It’s all in the observation but often they just don’t look right without a catch light or two. Eyelashes can be a danger too, overworked or all the lashes like soldiers in a line. Here is a video from the Art Sherpa to help you along the way. Note she suggests if you want realism then paint on a flat (not textured) surface. This follows for all realism.
If you skip to 7.50 minutes that’s when she explains about painting a realistic cats eye and how to use your reference material. If you skip again don’t miss the highlights at 54.00 mins…
Have you seen Painting an eye... Mixing or Titanium White?
]]>Most people use titanium white as their 'go to' white but what are the advantages of using it and why would you then need to use mixing white? After all they are both white, aren't they?
Yes they are the same in colour (hue)... the big difference is in their opacity.
Titanium white is opaque, meaning you can't see through it. If you want to cover up a painted area, get back to the white so you can paint on top with titanium gets great coverage. When tinting i.e. adding white it can form a pastel hue.
Mixing (or Zinc) White is translucent. This means that it is more subtle when mixing colours using it. The brightness of the colour will remain and the paints will not look chalky.
The answer to this depends on what you are trying to achieve.
When colour mixing either of these whites will lighten the tonal value but titanium white will have a more pastel, opaque and sometimes chalky effect.
When wanting to cover an area completely use titanium... if you want to glaze or retain translucency consider mixing white.
Using mixing white is useful when you are finding that the titanium white is overpowering the mix. Another example of why you might use mixing white is when painting the eye...
Retaining translucency of a transparent colour is not going to happen if you add titanium and this is where mixing white is so great - a wonder when highlighting the eye. Mixing white lightens without creating the pastel tinge as it is translucent, compared to titanium white’s opaque covering abilities. The video below shows Lisa from Lachri Fine Art painting an eye using mixing white, you need to try it for yourself, we tried it in class and it really works.
I hope you enjoyed this blog.
Next blog is painting a tiger's eye... click here to go to it.
]]>I'll show you all the techniques needed to paint a beak, eye and feathers as well as going over how to create the background so that you can do your own version of this painting from start to finish. I've already covered how to get the drawing for this painting in my last video, bellow is the link... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMTZ_...
Cadmium Yellow, Permanent Rose (or Cadmium Red), Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, Mars Black
How to Paint the...
◼ 00:39 Background
◼ 03:54 Beak
◼ 06:52 Eye
◼ 09:52 Feathers
◼ 12:49 Brown Feathers
I hope you enjoyed this video!
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I have always tried to share other people's content... now here is some YouTube content of my own!
This is taken from a series that was done for Paint with Debs. Next week I am adapting that series into a 10 minute How to Paint video.
The following week I am going to give you a sneaky view of my studio and how it was built from the garage... remember to subscribe and hit the bell so you can keep in touch with how to videos, I will also be taking you out and about once we start plein air again... I am so excited (and a little nervous) about this new venture, wish me luck!
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Complementary Colours in Traditional Model
In simple terms complementary colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. They can be used in two different ways, you can mix a small amount of a colours complement to dull it down or larger amounts to ‘grey’ it. You can also put the complementary colours next to each other on your canvas to make your colours more vibrant to make them ‘sing’. So by using complements in a painting you can enhance the effects of the colour.
Ok, so this seems easy red-green, blue-orange, yellow-violet are all in theory complements.
Hence in our Venetian Gondolas Painting, here is the original pic...
Photo by Boris Ulzibat from Pexels
I immediately think of complementary colours blue-orange.
But….
I was reading an article in ‘The Artist’ a long time ago now. The article was by Hilary Page and she was explaining about a whole new scientific theory on what the complements are, it is a fantastic article and well worth a read. She uses the mixing complements red-green, blue-orange and yellow-violet but looks at ‘visual’ complements in a whole different light.
So from this article it is my understanding that science shows that colours peak their wavelengths in different places and when you look at colours that are neutral (greys, black and white) they are flat lined. Hence if you add two complements together you get a flat lined result. And here is the thing – the flat lined result is not produced from the complements that we get from our colour wheel, the one I use in class!
Hilary suggests it is scientifically proven that the complement of yellow is not violet it is blue because it is blue and yellow that peak in a way that combined form a flat line. She also suggests a whole host of other complements within a table for you to try.
I had a ‘lightbulb’ moment… when preparing the Sunflower Workshop I had tried Violet as a Complement to the Yellow but then preferred the Yellow-Blue combination. I was unable to understand why this, to my eye, had popped more but now this makes sense.
When we are looking at a picture we are following visual rules rather than mixing rules… this brings us to the Additive vs. Subtractive Colour Wheel.
Additive vs. Subtractive Colour Wheel
The first wheel illustrates the Additive or RGB wheel, representing light so for example our computer screens mix colour using this wheel; it is an additive wheel as by adding all the primaries together you will get white.
Whereas in a subtractive colour wheel which is the type of colour wheel used when mixing pigment in for example inkjets and also for pigments in our paintings it is a CMYK colour wheel.
When pigments are added together they make an optical black so our paint uses a subtractive system, further information on Additive Colour vs. Subtractive Colour including a pigment colour wheel can be found here.
So when Hilary Page talks about ‘mixing’ vs. ‘visual’ complements she is talking about the use of two colour systems, the subtractive for the colour ‘mixing complements’ and the additive for the ‘visual complements’ as it is how light is seen by the eye that counts when seeing something visually.
Interesting! Well it is for me…
But then really it doesn’t matter, as long as we take on board what can help with our paintings so if you look at Hilary Page’s Complementary Colour table, she provides some great examples for us to try out, so I’m going to try them, hopefully in class too.
I am looking forward to painting our Venetian Gondolas, I will let you know how we get on with the complementary colours in a future blog.
Hope you've enjoyed this blog about complements. Maybe see you in the next one, I'm planning to start some vlogs! Any queries just ask.
]]>Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels
Secondary colours are simply two primaries mixed together. So green, orange and purple are all secondaries.
In the first blog in this colour series we found out how to use the colour wheel and started to mix the primaries together. We noted that if colours lean towards each other they would mix brighter than if they leaned away. Hence if you have a Blue that leans towards Yellow and a Yellow that leans towards Blue a bright green is produced. A more natural green such as that which occurs in nature tends to be muted. So a Blue that leans towards the Red (say ultramarine) will make a more muted green because there is a touch of Red in this Blue so when mixed with Yellow you produce a Green that is duller as it contains all three primaries.
So if it is a dull Green is this a Secondary colour or a Tertiary? Hmmm… lets start with some definitions from the Cambridge Dictionary, lets go back to primaries:
‘one of the three colours, red, yellow, and blue, that can be mixed together in different ways to make any other colour’
I would take it further than this and state that they can not be made by another colour. Also it is interesting to note that true primary colours are cyan, magenta and yellow. These are the pigments that are used in the printing industry, the ones you find in your Ink Jet Printers and together with black they form other colours. The reality is we as artists don’t use only three primaries although you can buy process cyan, magenta and yellow i.e. the colours found in Ink Jet printers if you want to.
So why have I got all these reds, blues and yellows... which one should I use????
Think in terms of colour leaning, it simplifies our understanding and believe me colour theory can get complex! Primaries are not all equal...
one of the three colours – orange, green, or purple – that can be made by mixing together two of the primary colours
How can we make varying Oranges, Greens and Violets- our secondary colours – by mixing the primary colours remembering they are not all created equally i.e. some lean more one way or the other so red can be a red-orange (cadmium red) or a red-violet (alizarin crimson, permanent rose). I will even use burnt sienna as a red... start to think like an artist...
Depending on which primary pigment colours we mix depends on the type of secondary colours we get and it helps to understand this so we get colours as we want them bright or dull – and that’s back to the last blog which talks about how to create a colour wheel that leans.
Here it gets even more complicated if you look in Wikipedia’s definition you can see that there are different slants on this.
The general definition as seen on the colour wheel is that tertiary colours are those in-between primary and secondary colours hence red-orange is a tertiary colour.
But…
‘Another definition of tertiary color is provided by color theorists such as Moses Harris[3]and Josef Albers[4], who suggest that tertiary colors are created by intermixing pairs of secondary colors: orange-green, green-purple, purple-orange; or by intermixing complementary colors. This approach to tertiary color relates specifically to color in the form of paints, pigments and dyes.’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_color)
Confused? It is easy to be confused as suddenly there are two definitions of tertiary colours… But it doesn’t matter what the definitions or theories are what matters is how you mix the colours you have on your palette to make the colour you actually want to paint. As we go through these colour blogs at least you can start to understand there is sometimes confusion and then what is important to take on board for the purposes of painting.
Our next blog in this colour series will be about Complementary Colours and how we can use them in our paintings to make the colours ‘pop’.
Hope you have enjoyed this blog you can contact me with queries or if you would like to join my on-line class.
]]>A colour wheel is simply... 'a circle with different coloured sectors used to show the relationship between colours'
In this blog explore how understanding this useful tool can help when planning your paintings and mixing colour.
]]>A colour wheel is simply…
“a circle with different coloured sectors used to show the relationship between colours”
Above is an example of a standard colour wheel you can buy them large around 9" or as a pocket size one around 6" they are useful when planning a painting. Do you want to use complementary colours or maybe a colour scheme... what happens if you add white to a colour and they even help with colour mixing.
But... there is nothing that beats your understanding of colour than mixing your own colour wheels. When you mix your own you will be using the primaries in your own box. Try choosing three primaries and see how many colours you can mix in a classic colour wheel.
However, when you mix I like to understand why two primaries mix more dull and others bright so to my favourite colour wheel... the leaning colour wheel. It is when showing people this wheel for the first time that you see a ‘light bulb’ moment – suddenly it starts to make sense. This will help you to know how to mix colour – we will cover colour mixing in another blog. But before I describe a colour wheel that leans lets talk about warm and cool colour.
So would you describe a colour as warm or cool? Almost everyone agrees that certain colours give a feeling of warmth, red, orange and yellow are seen as colours on the warm side of the colour wheel whereas green, blue and purple are described as cool.
Colours are relative to those that are next to them and this is where we get differences of opinion. Not all colours are created equal so a red that leans towards yellow (an orange-red) could be described as warmer than a red leaning towards blue (a purple-red). Yellow is reasonably simple as well. However, what about Blue – Is a blue-green cooler or warmer than a blue-purple? – this is not so simple. Everyone has a different opinion, if you are interested in the history and science behind colour and anything you wish to know about colour theory handprint is a fantastic online resource, here it goes into warm vs. cool.
When I talk about a colour that leans I am referring to which other colours they lean towards. Process colours are the primaries that a printer uses: cyan, yellow, magenta (they also use black). With these colours in theory any colour can be produced.
But paint pigment generally leans more one way than the other. It certainly does relative to other paints as all colours sit somewhere within the colour wheel. A primary colour is a colour that can not be mixed, in paint these colours are red, yellow and blue, if you add all three of these colours together in theory you will get black (NB a light colour wheel is different, all colours added together make white light and a prism will split out the colours - but lets get back to paint!).
Lets take two paint colours: cadmium red and alizarin crimson. These are common paint colours often used. Cadmium red leans towards yellow and will make a bright orange; alizarin crimson leans towards blue and will make a brighter purple. I often use Permanent Rose as a primary - beautiful purples, it definitely leans to blue.
With blue lets take Ultramarine (red leaning) compared with Pthalo Blue (green leaning). Just to confuse in professional acrylics you can get the same colour in with different leanings e.g. Liquitex has an Ultramarine (Red Shade) or Ultramarine (Green Shade) so it is all relative!
Finally lets take cadmium yellow (red leaning) and lemon yellow (green leaning).
A Leaning Colour Wheel with Two of Each Primary – Red, Yellow and Blue
To start your Colour Wheel draw a circle split into three or even just three lines without the circle. With the yellow at the top I have painted the cadmium yellow on the side of the line that leans towards red whilst the lemon yellow is on the side of the line leaning towards blue. The cadmium red is leaning towards the yellow and the alizarin crimson is on the side of the line that leans towards blue. Ultramarine on the red side, pthalo blue on the yellow side. Once you have done this, as you can see in this diagram I have started to mix greens and then purples but only those that lean towards each other. None of the colours mixed here have ‘crossed’ a line, they lean towards each other and hence will be bright.
A Leaning Colour Wheel with Two of Each Primary
After mixing all of these colours you can then move on to crossing the lines. In nature not all colours are bright and it is often better to mix a green that crosses the line i.e. mixing a blue with a yellow that leans red and hence a touch of red. By introducing red the colour is dulled and when painting this is something that needs to be considered depending on what is being painted. Some examples of colour mixes that are dulled are found on the side of the colour wheel. Try it for yourself!
I hope you have enjoyed this blog, our next one will explore colour even further. Contact me with any queries or if you want to join my on-line class.
]]>What are you talking about? In the last blog you used flow improver to make acrylic act like a watercolour. Now your saying you want to make it act like an oil paint... 'Your losing it Debs!' I hear you say.
Ok... so it does sound a bit odd but think about the qualities. What is it that flow improver does? Well we explored that in the last blog. It reduces surface tension and makes it flow better. So what is the difference between acrylic and oil.
Lets look at the similarities first. Both can work from dark to light. You can get great coverage and the way you paint can be very similar, you can even use the same brushes.
The major differences between acrylic and oil is drying time and blending. It is more difficult to blend with acrylic because it dries quickly. Most differences stem from this... so for example you have to wait a lot longer before varnishing oils because of drying time (you can't varnish over wet paint), it is easier to blend oil because it dries slowly (blending is only possible with wet paint) and it is easier to get more detail in oil (you simply have more time!)
There are other obvious differences such as what they are made of i.e. their binders are different (polymer vs. oil binder) hence the mediums and cleaning agents need to be different. This also affects how they retain colour, acrylics can dry darker, oils retain wet colour etc.. but practically from my perspective I want acrylic to act like oil for blending and detail whilst painting.
It seems fairly obvious that the way to slow drying time is to add some slow drying medium but this does not necessarily give the smooth buttery oil feel, its hard to describe, some slo-dry mediums are better than others...
Then I came across the following video by 'Paint with Maz', in a Tip of the Week from the SAA. I really had to share my thoughts. The first thing I did was to try it, as an experiment in class! I didn't know if it would work, I wanted to blend a smooth sky and wanted to have more drying time, I really wanted my class to have more time, here is the video I came across, she tells you to add flow improver to slow-drying medium, how and why...
At least whilst your painting, it does dry faster but there is plenty of working time.
Mixed together the two mediums feel a bit like wallpaper paste. You can add the mix to your paint or paste onto your canvas and work on a wet canvas. Great for blending! If you add some water it stays wet for well I've not timed it but a long time!
Contact Me to let me know what you think when you've tried it.
Do you remember the 'golden rule' from my Flow Aid Blog? That you should add a maximum of 30% additive and that flow aid is an additive (and so is water)... mmmm. I figured that as your adding the mix to paint it should be reduce the flow aid percentage to more like 30% from 40% but just be aware if you add toooo much extra water you may have some issues.
I hope you've enjoyed this Blog... please let me know what you think or contact me with any queries or if your interested in my on-line courses.
]]>The Amazon description sort of speaks for itself:
This medium increases the flow of acrylic colours, allowing the application of areas of flat, even colour without changing colour strength. It is also effective for hard edge painting techniques. It maintains the stability of the colour and slightly slows drying
Accessed August 2020
From what I understand flow improver decreases the surface tension, so when added to acrylic paint and water it means that the paint has a better flow.
You can either add it to the water you are using or directly to the paint and mix on the palette... I would for example add it directly if the environment is very hot or windy. This article is painting like a watercolour so I add it to the water as we will be using lots of water.
A third way of using it is described in the partner blog 'Use Acrylic like an Oil'. I explain how to mix the flow improver with another medium to make the paint act very differently!
Flow Aid is an additive so care must be taken to avoid adding more than 30% to acrylic paint either neat or mixed with water.
Acrylic gels and mediums are acrylic based. Meaning that they have the same polymer binders that the paint does. The difference between them and paint is that they do not contain the pigment and each one has been designed to perform a particular function.
Anything that you add to acrylic paint / medium / gel without this binder in is classed as an additive. Hence water is an additive, sawdust is an additive etc...
Golden Rule: do not add more than 30% of any additive (or 30% of combined additives) to acrylic paint / gel / medium. If you do not follow this rule the binder could break down causing cracking or flaking.
If they are a gel or medium it will state that in the title e.g. 'glazing medium', 'gloss gel' if they don't they are an additive... Alternatively look on the back of the bottles, there are always instructions.
Yes.. different brands call it different names.
Firstly, get some watercolour paper... if you want acrylic to act like a watercolour do it on the correct surface.
Secondly, don't make your life hard by using heavy body acrylic, its designed to be thick. Use a soft body or flow acrylic. Acrylic Ink is a great option too.
When you use acrylic on watercolour paper you can relax the 30/70 'golden rule' and use more water. This is because the extra absorbency of the paper (as compared to canvas) creates a surface that is easier to bind to.
However, water on its own does not reduce the surface tension enough to give it that 'watercolour feel'.
So finally add the flow improver to the water that you are mixing with the acrylic. Then add plenty of water / flow improver to your paint, as you would if your paint was a watercolour. Create a mix, even washes, that is fluid like a milk consistency.
Acrylic will never be exactly the same as watercolour, it retains its colour on drying and does not lift once dry but it does work well, even with wet-in-wet techniques.
Try it!
P.S. you can use flow improver in this way with actual watercolour paint, this reduces the hard edges... great when painting portraits when trying to avoid hard edges on the skin.
Next Blog is a Partner to this one: How to use Flow Improver + Slo-Drying Medium to make Acrylic Act like an Oil!
Here is my finished seascape. I started it in acrylic and then on one of our 'Out and About' days it was chucking it down so instead of acrylic plein air as we have been enjoying I had a go at oils (thanks to Lydia who gave some guidance and loaned paint).
I loved it! Its not just the blending that is so much easier it is the colours, sooo vibrant. I think it really creates a depth which you can't see with acrylic until you varnish.
Needless to say I came home and placed an order for some oils and I have treated myself to some brushes from birthday money (thank you Mum and Shell) always great to be trying out something new.
I'll show you the results.
]]>In this months 'Paint with Debs' this question arose so it got me thinking about black...
Which cast me back to the start of my paint journey using watercolour. We were told never to use black (or white for that matter!). 'It is always good to mix your blacks' resounds in my ears from all the watercolour teachers and books I have read.
So as a self-taught acrylic artist I still like to use chromatic blacks. If you're wondering what a chromatic black is, it just means one that has been created using other colours. My go to chromatic mix is Ultramarine Blue + a brown, often Burnt Umber but there are many others, I'll cover this topic in another blog post.
'Ok Debs but you're waffling, so back to the original question!'
Ok, so this isn't the original question but a very relevant one. Well sometimes it just seems like a good idea. With acrylic and oil we often work dark to light and in, for example, the horse and rider painting there is a black silhouette...
I looked at this photograph and it seemed to call for black. When creating silhouettes or abstract paintings as above I often think it well - just works!
'We are now getting to the original question. Honest!'
So are there other reasons to use black. I'm sure there are many but the one I have noted quite recently is this...
Believe it or not its a great colour to mix with yellow to create... wait for it - green! Last term we were painting water with rocks. The rocks had moss on them and I loved what one of my students had mixed, a moss green for the rocks. When I asked how she had mixed it she had used yellow + black.
So the answer to 'Why use black at all?' is 'Why not?'. If the situation calls for it, then use it!
Aaaah, now you are asking. And I would say yes. When using black in your paintings they can look flat. You want your shadow areas to be alive, full of dark nuances of colour.
So how do we remedy this? Simply add some colour to your black. In the Bald Eagle painting I have used Ultramarine Blue and Permanent Rose in the background as well as black. It was painted as a complete underlayer and the Bald Eagle painted on top. A pic of him here shows the darks are adding to the feather depth, note I mixed a chromatic black for his pupil. Did I need to? Not sure, but I think it works.
'Ok. Then back to the original question...'
We've established its ok to use black or at least in acrylic and oil paintings. Let's now look at which black and what are the differences. Mars Black is my go to black, it is opaque. This is because I only use black in certain circumstances and usually when I want to either cover completely, as in a silhouette, or underneath, as a ground (background) colour.
Ivory black (not now made of ivory by the way) is more transparent so this would help when you are mixing colours so that the black doesn't overpower. At least this is my understanding.
So Mars black is opaque and provides great coverage. Ivory black is more transparent. It's more suitable for subtle mixing and glazing, although Mars black will glaze.
There are lots of blacks. Carbon Black, Lamp Black are two names you may come across. I think that when looking at any black you have to consider these things. Is it opaque or more transparent? You can tell by seeing what the coverage is. The other thing to consider is what colour do they lean towards so e.g. carbon and lamp black are more bluey. Just try yours out.
]]>This photo taken by Margaret Barrett was taken on a beach in mid Wales, she has very kindly agreed for us to use it in our group seascape painting.
Feel free to paint your version and send it in. Or follow my version, I will take you through step-by-step my process.
This scene has an amazing versatility. Decide on which area you wish to concentrate on... I decided I would create a cropped square version but there are many parts of the photo you could choose or you can create the whole scene, here is my cropped version.
Decide where you want your horizon line and then lightly draw the essential areas. I have not worried too much about the accuracy of the rocks or cloud formations, it is the spirit of the scene I am aiming to capture.
The colours I have used are Quinacridone Gold (a great colour for the glow in the sky, it is transparent so will work for the rays too), Cerulean, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Rose and Titanium White.
Try experimenting with colour mixes for different parts of the painting. Note the darks in these rocks (see photo below) with blue-green highlights, try out the dark colours. I decided to use the ultramarine, rose and burnt sienna but underpaint with the quin. gold hopefully enabling a 'glow'.
Once you are happy with your colours, have done your drawing you can use texture paste if you wish but as many of you won't have paste at home I will do this painting with just acrylic.
If you do choose to use the texture paste consider where you put it, for example, in the clip below you can see where the raised areas are and although you do not need to be precise considering this will help. Try not to put texture in only one part of the painting, if you focus it in one area only it could feel unbalanced or disconnected, the same applies for introducing a colour in only one area.
As with most landscapes the first painting step is the sky, I painted the sky using a dry brush technique, I hope to add my own video in tomorrows blog when I do the next layer of the sky... meanwhile here is a video by Tim Gagnon showing the scrubbing motion of dry brush technique. Remember for this technique you need to use a hard bristle brush, if working on a large area you can use a household brush. Also do not use a lot of paint, dab it off on a paper towel if too wet. In this video Tim used a blue painted background introducing clouds on top, I have used the same brush stroke but with many colours not just white on top of dry blue. I will do another layer on top in a video form to demonstrate.
Things to note clouds are smaller the closer to the horizon they get as this is further away. See the first stage of the sky in the painting below. The advantage of this technique is that you can do further layers which I will demonstrate in the next blog. See how I have left the area which will be the sun and rays of light without any blue.
Be careful when adding colours in the sky... I have used quin. gold and perm rose with white to make the peaches and orange hues. The blue colour is cerulean, be careful to separate the yellow from the blue to prevent a green sky... you can do this by adding a bit of red to the blues to create purple hues.
I will definitely do a video on this, my first one so wish me luck and excuse me if it's not perfect!
Hope you've enjoyed getting ready for this painting and learning about dry brushing for clouds, I hope you are looking forward to the next steps.
See you in the next blog.
Debs x
]]>We have been creating seascapes in class, the results of which I will post on my Facebook page soon. Meanwhile I thought it would be useful to point you to a blog I found about how to draw a wave.
When you are trying to visualise the direction of the wave it is sometimes difficult, particularly as it overlaps. It can be helpful to imagine it as an open cylinder. By seeing the direction the wave in this blog is drawn in a step-by-step way I hope this will help you paint your waves using brushstrokes in the right direction. Contact me to let me know what you think?
Next term we are spending a whole term on water - another seascape, a waterfall, reflections in a Lake and a stream... lots more blogs about water to come - looking forward to it!
]]>We have been painting fast and loose, here you can see Pam's painting of a teapot. By using large brushes and starting with a drawing in paint we used a limited palette of Ultramarine and White to focus on tone. Our teapots took approx. an hour and were a great start to the new term.
Tips for painting loose:
This will all add up to a more painterly approach.
Here is a video of a painting using some of these techniques, enjoy...
]]>The best way to explain Fluid Art is to demonstrate it but essentially it is a technique used with acrylic paint where you add a pouring medium and other products to make the paint behave in a fluid way. The paint takes longer to dry and flows, the consistency being like pouring cream. By pouring paint on the canvas using different techniques you produce an abstract painting.
There are several, the ones I use are Liquitex Pouring Medium and Floetrol
Cell formation is all about science, it is about the density of paint, additives like silicon which split paint or the way you move the paint which are important in cell formation.
Find out more or book onto our next fluid art Workshop.
I hope you enjoyed this video any queries leave in the comments below or contact me directly.
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As I'm writing this blog Dotty came and sat on the keyboard, she loves to help! So I thought as I'm blogging about fur I would capture her, you can see how close she is by the angle.
I wrote this and the painting realistic cats eyes over the Summer but as I've lost the old blogs I am re-surfacing some of them on my new website, here are the videos on fur and feathers that I highlighted at the time with a few points to take note of. I hope you enjoy these videos, I’m hoping to have some of my own very soon!
In the following updated video by Lisa at Lachri fine arts demonstrates how to paint a realistic owl. She uses black within this painting and explains how she paints furthest back first. If the feathers are dark underneath then work dark to light. Note with the black if you wish to have a more opaque black use mars black, for transluscent use ivory black. She uses oil paints on top which some of you may find of interest. Enjoy…
Block out fur, not worrying about the texture at first. Do think about the brushstrokes… they must be in the direction of the fur!
Here is a video from the Art Sherpa about how to paint fur; it includes suggestions for fur colour which is very useful.
Any queries contact me or get in touch in the comments below.
]]>I thought I would do a quick blog on some of the Materials that I use for my fluid art Workshops so people who have been to them can reproduce what we do. If you've never been to one of my Fluid Art Workshops I provide all of this so you don't have to buy in advance.
I am not precious about the type of Acrylic Paint I use in my pours. You can mix any acrylic based paint but heavy body paint is harder to mix without lumps. The softer the paint (or more liquid) the easier to mix).
I will often use cheaper brands... poured paintings take a lot of paint but cost isn’t my reason. I found that some of these paint brands make excellent cells. Thus I’d advise you to use any paint that is available to you, experiment… add a bit of glitz with some metallics, go for it, you will find out what works for you.
In the Workshop I will be using Canvases 40×40 cm Square and Push Pins to raise them. I find that canvas board can warp as this is a very wet technique so I only use it for small canvases.
When I am doing something large I prefer to work on wood either as a panel or cradled as I am concerned about the canvas dipping in the middle. I prepare the wood with gesso.
Ensure that the canvases you use are as taut as possible and they must be levelled with a Spirit Level.
To make the paint fluid it is necessary to add a pouring medium. I use Floetrol Waterborne Paint Conditioner and Liquitex Pouring Effects Medium as well as Silicone Oil to mix with the acrylic paint in combination depending on the technique I am using.
Trays
You need to protect the area you are working on from dripping paint. I use the base of dog trays! They are waterproof and have a small lip to catch spills whilst allowing easy access for working with the paint. I spent ages trying to find suitable trays so thought you might like to know what I use. You can see one of the trays in the photograph above. I line these trays with polythene for ease of cleaning but this also allows me to collect the paint left over as skins for jewellery.
TIP: I also use these trays when I am using Resin. I put one on top of the other using large pots to hold the top one above the painting. Finally wrapping it with plastic to form a tent to prevent dust.
There are many other consumables but essentials include Vinyl Gloves, Giant Lollipop Sticks Natural Wood, Disposable Cups, Chefs Larder Flexi Black Drinking Straws Approx 250 Straws, Kitchen Rolls and Baby Wipes.
You will need various tools a hammer (if using push pins), spirit level and a blow torch (the type they use for culinary purposes).
Not only does varnish protect your paintings it also brings out the colour and makes it look finished. So varnishing your painting is the perfect way to finish off your painting.
Varnish comes in different types of finish; gloss, satin and matt. I often use a satin finish so it is still glossy but not quite as reflective. In modern ‘fluid art’ paintings I like gloss. The finish is a personal choice and does not effect the protection of the painting.
Varnish comes either as a liquid or spray, this is a preference - if you choose a spray varnish make sure you are in a well ventilated space and wear a mask.
You can varnish your acrylic paintings with either acrylic varnish or solvent varnish. Solvent varnish can be lifted (for cleaning) whereas acrylic varnish is permanent. It is wise to apply an isolation coat using an acrylic medium prior to applying the solvent varnish. I generally use an isolation coat to protect the layers and even the finish prior to varnishing.
Below is a video which talks about and demonstrates how to apply liquid varnish. It can be daunting to apply coats of varnish over your finished painting but it will be fine as long as you consider a few things…here are Winsor and Newton's top ten tips from there 'all you need to know about varnishing' page...
Top ten tips when applying varnish
In the video below from the PainterInYou he uses a foam brush. I use a varnish brush (do not use them for anything else as you don’t want old paint to come out on the surface of your painting). You can choose either. I hope you enjoyed this video… comments welcome below or contact me with any queries.
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