Quick tutorial - oceanic painting

Are you ready for a quick painting?

Well, here we go...

So, in my last post I said that you can whip this painting up in a morning and I promised to return soon;

well, with the help of this 3 year old angel;

 

we misplaced my camera card reader.

I figure if I show you my cute angel, you will all have an awwww moment,

and forgive another extended absence.

Did it work?

So, pop back one post if you wish to read up again about the background and inspiration behind this painting.  If you would rather not read back, all you need to create this painting are the following items;

• a canvas to the size you want to paint - start small if you just want to experiment with this first;
• some house brushes. I had a big canvas, so I used big brushes.  We don't want any fiddly fuss on this painting, just blended strokes with interest - so you decide what size, for your canvas size, is best.
• a palette knife - don't buy one especially if you don't want one.  I used the flat side of mine, so if you don't want to buy one, a house knife is fine.
• This painting is created using two house paint colours and three artists acrylic paints.  I had previously said it was two acrylics, but I did forget one...oops.

So, are you all set to go? 

First up, let's do a little check-in with ourselves to see how we feel about this style of painting.

When I first started painting, I was very much a person who had to have my paintings look like something.  I went in thinking that if I didn't achieve what was in my mind, then I had failed.  

Silly right!

If you had read back through some of my earlier posts, you will see that I have learnt mistakes are not that at all.  Mistakes are instead a way to learn something new; try something new.  Much of the time, it is only after making a mistake and thinking "oh well, I've blown it now", that I actually relax and just let the painting take it's own form. 

And that, is when the magic happens.

queue the angel choir

So for this painting I had no intention of painting anything in particular; I just wanted to use the particular colours I had in my room, on the particular canvas I had ready to use, to fill a particular gap in my wall....

So for you I wish the same.  We need lots of;

relaxing...

laughter...

breathing...

No expectations!!

Be sure to paint in a way that makes you happy. 

Health warning

If you feel any of the following symptoms during this painting; 

your shoulders are high,

your breathe is held, or

your stress levels are rising because you think that it just isn't working

Stop immediately

and undertake the following recommended course of treatment:

jumping on a trampoline,

colouring in with orange crayons for a while

(orange crayons are happy crayons - you ask them!),

skipping with the kids, or

singing in the car like no one can hear you!

Righto, with that out of the way let's get splashing!!

My gorgeous girlfriend Kath was a happy participant and willing hand model in this little exercise; we had a blast!!  

Kath did a "test" painting before she did this one, so she had the hang of what she was meant to do before we took these photos: this could always be an option if you are feeling nervy about just launching straight in and certainly, the second time around is much quicker again.

Step 1: Paint your two house paint colours onto the canvas;

Step 2: blend the colours together.

 Remember to work very loosely, and to not "fuss" about anything. 

Step 3: with the complimentary colour, add depth to your top colour

In my painting this was an acrylic paint that was a couple of shades darker than my base colour.  I added this to the top corners, blending in a rounded, softening way.

I also added this colour about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Note: it was later we noted that Kath had added hers in the middle of her canvas.

Step 4: with your palette knife, house knife or plastic spatula, apply a thick amount of white acrylic paint.  YES! Kath used her spatula because it provided the best feel for her!!

In my painting, I dragged a thick application, with the side of my palette knife 3/4 of the way across my "horizon".

Do not overwork your colours or blend too much.  Loose. Relaxed. Breathing normally :-D

Step 5: add in a contrast colour.

I used a chocolate coloured paint direct with the brush.  Be sure to not apply too much of this to start with, then just roughly blend this across.

For my water like reflections, it really is a quick flick of the wrist - don't overthink it!  Brush down, down, down...across the area you are applying your contrast, then use the edge of the brush and a light hand to apply a few horizontal strokes across the area.

Remember to stand back from time to time to appreciate how it looks from a normal viewing distance.

And that's it!

Because of the "middle" horizon, Kath decided to add some height to her painting by applying a dark blue city skyline.

 

 

So to look at my painting, keeping in mind the above steps, I have broken it up into quarters for closer detail. 

The top left section of my painting;

• At the top of this section you can see the complimentary darker green/blue over my "house paint".  Yep, it was applied with a house paint brush - I wasn't in for smooth and gentle and you can see I haven't even tidied the edges.
• Across the lower part of this section is where my complimentary colour has added my "horizon"
• The white is applied over this complimentary colour with the palette knife, aka spreading butter style.  Think of this as icing a cake, spreading butter or jam, or whatever takes your fancy.  It doesn't have to be perfect.
• on the left side of this white area I have blended with my housebrush brush to form the textured  "spray".  I have also scraped the side of my palette knife with white across the "horizon" into my "sky" - this was quite a thin spread...the nice thing about the palette knife is that you can spread it on, and scrape it off again.
• at the bottom left of this quarter, you can see where I have used my palette knife to pull some of my beige up into the white to form a straight section; nbsp; 

The top right section of my painting;

Pretty much the same as before:

• At the top is the complimentary darker green/blue over my "house paint". 
• This side of the painting has a stronger "horizon" line.
• The white applied over the complimentary colour here is quite thin. 

The bottom left of the painting;

• So this bottom section is a continuation from the top left quarter, so you can see the "spray" of the white acrylic blended into my sky, and the beige palette knife line cutting through this white that I had mentioned previously.
• In the lower part of this section, I added my brown.  I did this with my brush, applying it gently as I went.  I didn't load up my brush for this either, preferring to use a very light hand to skim the colour across until I reached the depth I was seeking.
• To achieve this "reflection", it was a case of brushing downwards all across the area I wanted darker, then placing some horizontal lines at random. 
• At the bottom of this section to frame the painting so it wasn't completely flat beige, I added an almost dry brush of the chocolate around the edges of my sand.  The angle of my brushing was upwards in an angle towards the centre of my painting.

 The bottom right of the painting;

•  Again on this side, the brown is brought through both in the "reflection" and down at the edge of the "sand" area, that pulls up towards the centre.
• You can see on this side where I had first, added my complimentary colour, pulling it down, then applied palette knife of white over the top.  It is also probable here that I pulled some of the darker green down while using the palette knife for the white, hence the layering.

You can finish your painting off with either a gloss spray paint, or a painters acrylic gloss varnish.  As acrylic can be quite flat and will also fade if not protected, this will help protect your painting and assist the colours to pop.

Ta-dah!!!

I hope this was clear and comprehensive without being too much to take in! I know it reads like alot, but it really takes no time at all. 

Please let me know how you go; I would love to see some paintings!!

Big hugs