http://www.painters-online.co.uk JUNE 2019 45
9 MODEL GOOD PAINTERS
While you’re trying these assorted
palettes and developing your colour
knowledge, look to model good
examples by studying other painters.
Don’t worry if you’re interpreting
a colour painting in black and white,
or using burnt umber and ultramarine,
strive to make the values right. If you’re
using a limited palette, match what you
can, but again, ensuring the values are
right is more important. As you gain
more in confidence, explore and
emulate the colour choices of the
painters you admire.
Focused practice feeds into your own
work. Try working on small studies that
take a couple of hours at most; this
means painting more and accelerating
your learning. You’ll discover more from
a dozen small studies than you will from
a large painting that takes weeks.
Develop the habit of keeping all your
studies – whether they are good, bad
or indifferent – dated and in an A4 file.
For a great resource with outstanding
images of master paintings, visit
https://artsandculture.google.com.
It allows you to search individual artists
and has a zoom feature that takes you
right up to the very weave of the canvas.
This means you can monitor your own
progress. Join me in the next issue
when we will go through the five
stages of painting in a step-by-step
demonstration.
Acrylics
Steve Strode
Find out more about Steve
and his working by visiting
http://www.stevestrode.com.
If you have any questions
about this article, please email
him through his website.pulling them together this way means
you can stop when you have the value
you need. Adding one colour right into
the middle of the other commits you
to using all that paint and hoping
for the best.
To help combat faster drying times
use a stay-wet palette. Spraying the
paints and covering the palette with
Clingfilm when you’ve finished will
usually keep them moist for the
next day’s session.8 YOUR PALETTE
Organise your palette and begin as you
mean to go on. Don’t be stingy with the
paints and lay out more than you think
you’ll need; the more you use the longer
they’ll take to dry out, especially if you
use a stay-wet palette and keep spraying
them to prevent a skin developing.
Laying out worms of colour along the
rim edge rather than randomly placed
blobs means you can use either end of
the worm, leaving the colours clean.
Lay the paints out a good distance from
each other and mix in the centre of the
palette to prevent cross contamination.
Mix colours by introducing one paint
to the edge of the other. GraduallyPrimary colours on a homemade
stay-wet palette.tAfter Elizabeth Kroll Roberts,
acrylic on card, 8x6in. (20x15cm).
Elizabeth Kroll Roberts is a great artist
to study for reducing a busy scene
to simple shapes.
t