Going back through my old art journals, I’ve been finding all sorts of interesting notes scattered throughout the pages. Figured here would be a great place to record some of these things. They mostly document my own journey as a little first-year art student to now, all-grown-up graduate. There’s highs, lows, triumphs and tribulations – what’s not to love? See how I got to where I am — what to do, and also what not to do! Whoops!
Whoops!
Mixing your own black paint
I mixed up the palette easy enough, but it did come out a lot bluer than intended, I think partially because of the cheaper paints I was practising with, and partly because of the poor lighting. USE MORE YELLOW NEXT TIME.
However, one consistency with the quality paints was I found a cooler, darker blue made all the difference. In this instance, I didn’t have a cheap yellow available, but I did have a kind of ochre colour. This may have actually helped darken it more than it might have otherwise.
This is the first acrylic painting I’ve done in a long time, so… here goes!
TIME SPENT: approx. 3 hours
What I’ve learned:
- LAYERING IS KEY!!!!!! Don’t just jump into the detail.
- Start messy and big. Slap on a light coat.
- Don’t mix so much paint – it just goes to waste
- Add a little more yellow for a more neutral grey tone
- White dulls as it dries, but black looks darker. Had to layer white a fair bit more to get things brighter
- Painting this way is brilliant for fixing mistakes! Originally had his face entirely out of whack, just had to wait until he dried a bit and painted over those snafus
- Adding a smidge more water while painting helps colour flow, but not too much or it’s too watery and thin
- Keep brushstrokes quick and messy for a more painterly effect, also helps prevent getting bogged down in tight details which (I think) makes for a more lively portrait
