Leisure Painter - UK (2019-06)

46 JUNE 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

M

ostnew acrylic painting begins

with a well-primed surface.

I prefer a stretched canvas for

paintings that might go into a competition

or exhibition. If you are not anticipating

anyone other than yourself, family and

close friends seeing your work, any rigid,

porous surface is suitable. Avoid using

paper. Even watercolour paper is not

suitable for the sort of treatment it will

receive from acrylics. Acrylics are much

thicker than watercolour and are only

flexible to a certain extent. They can

still crack if folded tightly.

Ready-made canvases are usually only

lightly primed. I always add two or three

coats of acrylic gesso to seal the surface.

To ensure full coverage, I use up any

coloured paint from a previous painting -

mixed with the new white gesso for the

first coat. The colour shows where the

brush has been and leaves no doubt about

which areas have been covered and which

still need covering. For the next coat, I use

a different colour and, for the final coat,

I add a pure white gesso or titanium white

paint to provide a clear drawing surface.

Before the colour

While the newly-primed surface is

drying, I sort out the reference material

and load it onto the computer. Having

a computer is not essential to the paint,

but it is very helpful. For this painting,

I used a dozen or so images of

Ilfracombe Harbour in Devon, taken

from photographs, old postcards, holiday

brochures, advertisements and memory

from the time I lived there. No individual

image will be copied, but all will

contribute elements to make up the

picture I want for my painting.

Having decided on a composition

and using Photoshop, I ramped up the

colour (saturation and brightness) and

removed a lot of the finer detail, using

the eraser tool. The brighter, more

colourful and simplified version was

saved as my final image and formed the

basis for the painting. Although I had

this master image to work from, I kept

the other pictures and referred back

to them as and when necessary.

With the canvas well and truly dry,

and before drawing, I added a final

coat of titanium white. While this dried

thoroughly, I prepared for drawing

using a medium-grey watercolour pencil.

A watercolour pencil mixes with the

acrylic paint so the pencil lines disappear.

I took a few measurements to establish

the more important details, including

the waterline, beach width, roofline along

the top of the harbour-side buildings

and the height of the church. After I had

completed a simple drawing, I was

more than ready to apply the paint. LP

Part 2 Alan Taylor takes you through the painting of one of

his iconic images, inspired by travel posters of the 1930s

Inspired by the railways

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

nHow to simplify a scene

nPaint with a limited palette

nTry an acrylic painting process

Acrylic

Step 1

1 I mixed a little cobalt blue with a pea-sized

amount of cadmium yellow medium and

a good helping of titanium white. The result

was darker and greener than I really wanted,

but as a first layer, it was fine.

2 After roughly covering the sky and placing

the canvas for a few minutes in front of the

heater, I applied a second coat. I added more

white and a touch of blue to the mix. The new

colour was paler and nearer grey than blue,

which I liked. After a third coat of colour, the

sky was done. I obliterated my drawing lines

to make sure the sky colour went right up to

the edge of any other colours, but the lines

could be redrawn if necessary.

t

DemonstrationIllfracombe

You will need

nSurface

lPrimed canvas 20x20in.

(50x50cm)

n Artists’ acrylics

lNaphthol red light

lCadmium yellow medium

lCobalt blue

lTitanium white

lBlack oxide