|
|
 |
Medium:
Acrylic
Category: Floral
This acrylic painting demonstration is from Barclay Sheaks' book, The Acrylics Book: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist published by Watson-Guptill Publications of NY. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. All steps in this demonstration are included.
|
|
|
|
An Acrylic Painting Demonstration of
the "Opaque Watercolor" Technique
WINTER FLORAL
ACRYLIC ON CONSTRUCTION PAPER, 16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm)
by
BARCLAY SHEAKS
|
Although they are basically similar, the opaque wet-in-wet technique has fewer restraints than the transparent version. There is no question in my mind that you will have a freer experience because, in the opaque wet-in-wet process, you can easily cover any mistakes with more paint. If your surface begins to dry before you finish painting, you can remoisten it with water sprayed from an atomizer, and, conversely, if your painting is too wet, you can dry it with a hair drier.
For this painting, I am using an 18" gesso-coated hardboard panel as my palette and a selection of brushes that includes one #12 flat, two small brights, and a small trailer. Note that I spray my paints often to keep them moist and workable.
|
|
1
In this quick preliminary sketch, I block in the basic, large forms of my composition on my paper surface with a lithography crayon (also called a lithographic crayon). I place my subject slightly off center to make the composition more interesting and dynamic. After completing the sketch, I wet the paper thoroughly with water, allow it to expand, and then flatten it on a piece of glass. I prefer construction paper because it is very absorbent and stays wet for a long time. When I use the wet-in-wet technique, I keep my surface flat (horizontal) so that I have more control over my paints as they run and bleed.
|
|
|
2
Using the #12 flat brush, I apply the background color, which is a creamy mixture of burnt umber, alizarin crimson, and black. Notice how the paint bleeds when it meets the wet paper.
|
|
|
3
I leave the paper unpainted in the area where the flower arrangement will be.
|
|
4
I use the #12 flat brush to rough in the flowers, trying to get a good balance of color in the arrangement.
|
|
|
5
Here I spray the surface with water to keep my paint wet and to encourage the running and bleeding effects that are so characteristic of the wet method. I enjoy watching the paint chart the course of my picture
|
|
|
6
The narrow tip of my small bright brush is perfect for suggesting flower petals.
|
|
|
7
Using my trailer and small, pointed brushes, I add highlights to the glass container and the smaller blossoms. I also place a strong patch of blue near the center of the arrangement to provide some interesting contrasts, but it attracts too much attention and contrasts with the other colors, so (in the next step) I tone it down.
|
 |
|
8 Finish
After softening the distracting blue spot, I decide, "Enough is enough." As an artist, you must resist the temptation to overwork your paintings, especially when you are using the spontaneous wet-in-wet technique. To my eyes, the picture is definitely finished.
 Varnishing Note I applied a satin-finish varnish to all but the right-hand portion of this watercolor to show the effect of varnish on color depth.
|
|
