2020-08-01 Artists & Illustrators

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DEMO

•Paints

TitaniumWhite,AzoYellowLight,

AzoYellowMedium,Cadmium

Orange, Yellow Ochre, Burnt

Sienna, Pyrrole Red, Primary

Magenta, Permanent Green Light,

Phthalo Green, Brilliant Blue,

Primary Cyan, Phthalo Blue,

Ultramarine Violet Light,

Permanent Blue Violet, Prussian

Blue (Phthalo) and Greenish Blue,

all Amsterdam Standard Acrylic

•Brushes

Daler-Rowney System3 Sky Flow

fl at brushes, sizes 1”, 1.5”, 2”

and 2.5”

•Canvas

Stretched cotton canvas, 51x61cm

•Palette

•Water pot

Hashim’smaterials

1

A precise drawing can help less confident artists get

started. However, as HASHIM AKIB explains, a chaotic start

that you tidy up later can produce more satisfying results

I

t’s important on so many creative levels

to allow a little bit of chaos to reign over

your artistic process. This is how you’ll

discover the most innovative and engaging

aspects of your art. The naivety that allows

you to make random marks without inhibition

is exactly what many artists strive for, and

most children have in abundance.

We are generally corrupted in this aim

by well-meaning instructions to perfect the

mechanics or follow techniques in a very

exacting manner. Yet fundamentally, great

art needs a balance of chaotic innovation

with a more orderly approach to technical

mastery; make it too predictable and it

looks dull, too chaotic and it leads to a

complete mess. So, think of chaos as the

mystery, the unexplainable. It does what it

wants and doesn’t want to be understood,

there’s no pattern or cycle, rhyme or reason.

Determining the sweet spot between

order and chaos is subjective but fi nding

it can be really exciting for both you and

individuals viewing your art. I work on the

basis that the fi rst hour of the process is

always the most chaotic before the logic of

the scene catches up. The start of a painting

is the most important as there’s nothing

restraining you, no boundaries, no precious

lines to mess up. You might be mentally

apprehensive, but your blank canvas or

paperis a cleanslate.

As you start considering a new subject,

sketching a few guidelines or defi ning

the forms is where the restrictions start.

Try instead, at least for the fi rst half hour,

to avoid drawing outlines and simply look

for larger marks and possibly richer colours.

This technique is especially useful when

working in acrylics as they dry so quickly.

Having established the initial fl urry of marks

only then should you look to fulfi l your

drawing duties and defi ne the shapes. Use a

large brush or palette knife for those early

stages and aim to end with your smallest

brush. When using acrylic avoid over

working, diluting or blending the paint, you’ll

certainlycreatea complete chaos if you do.

1

Start the painting without a

drawing to guide you. Apply much

more random colours and marks than

usual and don’t worry about where

edges begin and end. Use your entire

arm to apply these early strokes.

2

Use a large fl at brush so that you

can load it with paint and give

each stroke a greater impact. When

using acrylic, there’s a danger things

could get messy very fast so avoid

too many layers or over blending.

The following exercise illustrates my

point. Avoid a clean, concise painting

in favour of something a bit wilder.

Some parts will look raw, perhaps

muddy, but the purpose will be to

start the process of evolving painting

away from something too clinical.

DEMO Venice Scene

Top tip

Avoid over-examining

• think of the scene
  as a thumbnail and
  identify the largest
  forms

2