A simple maple leaf

[drd]

I painted this with acrylics on canvas...Now I'm not the best painter so I'd like some tips from those who are.

I painted this from life, I found the leaf outside in my yard, so I took it in and set it on my desk where I paint.

Probably took around half an hour...

One of my main problems is I can't blend colors right, I mean, in the palette they look like they'd be right but they just don't, the leaf was more orange...I'm tinkering with the idea of covering up the white background with some paper and doing some orange-ish spatter painting on top of the leaf by flicking with a toothbrush...

[Seedling]

Good for you, working from observation! :-) About the blending: you’re working with acrylics, so blending is always going to be a pain. That’s just part of the medium.

I see bits of white shining through from around the edges of your leaf. For the next painting, try first toning down your board to a middle gray or brown color. Then you won’t have to fight with the paint to hide those white flecks.

[drd]

Like do a complete cover with a middle tone? Because I usually just do abig white paint-over first to get the board smoother.

[Seedling]

Like do a complete cover with a middle tone?

yup.

If you want to smooth the board, use acrylic gesso on it. That's cheaper than paint. But if you really want a smooth board, don't use canvass. Use a board. Masonite is cheap, and you can buy it at hardware stores. Have the store cut a big sheet down into small rectangles. Coat the surface of the boards with two or three coats of acrylic gesso, and you've got a smooth, professional-grade painting surface.

[Jason Rainville]

yup.

If you want to smooth the board, use acrylic gesso on it. That's cheaper than paint. But if you really want a smooth board, don't use canvass. Use a board. Masonite is cheap, and you can buy it at hardware stores. Have the store cut a big sheet down into small rectangles. Coat the surface of the boards with two or three coats of acrylic gesso, and you've got a smooth, professional-grade painting surface.

Just remember to sand it down in between and after the final coat, or it might get a little bumpy :wink:

[drd]

Yeah, I've thought about getting some board, like Masonite...Would that make it easier to do brushwork, because I'm thinking that the canvas I'm using catches the paint a little too much...but it still needs tooth to hold it there, so I really don't know where to go with this.

I have a subscription to Blick Studios catalogue and it has a whole crapload of artist supplies, so I think it probably has some surfaces in there.

[Seedling]

Easier to do brushwork? I don't know. Bumpy? I don't sand, I like those bumps. :-) FYI anything sold from an art store is likely to be more expensive then something you buy from the hardware store and assemble yourself.

[wil.whalen]

This might help:

A 4'x8' sheet of masonite will cost you about 4 - 6 dollars (depends on thickness - 1/8 in worked for me, but you may opt for 1/4 in) and a tub of gesso cost me about 20$ (for a 1/2 gallon). You can probably get gesso cheaper, and I've heard primer for house painting works just as well. If you have a Lowe's or a Home Depot, you can go in on a slow day and they'll usually cut it for free.

1 4'x8' sheet will get you 24 16''x12'' boards, and the 1/2 gallon of gesso will be way more than enough to coat them 3 or 4 times each.

So, that's less than 30$ for 24 nice boards and some extra gesso.

[drd]

Woah...that cost even less than what I've already been paying for these cheap-o canvases =D

Thanks much, I'll definitely do that. =D

[subtle_squid]

The shadow from the stem seems to be missing. Also dried leaves tend to have a less smooth, more faceted surface than this.

I highly recommend your invest in some GAC painting medium from Golden. It comes in a variety of thicknesses, I'm personally a big fan of GAC 100, its not too expensive, and a little goes a long way. Mixing just a bit in to your acrylic paints will extend them and help them flow better over the canvas or board. Mixing in a bit more will let you layer up luminous color that mixes right on the canvas. Using GAC to glaze a bit of orange over what you have here could tweak the color with out losing all the detail, though it might require a bit of touch up. Be aware that you will be spreading out the particles of color so some cheaper, especially student grade, paints may see a degradation of quality with too much medium mixed in.

I'll second working on a toned surface. White does not lend itself well to color mixing. If you want to end up with a lot of big white canvas, like in this image, you can come back in with white paint or gesso later on. You can also ad just a hint of color to that white; like say a hint of blue might help the leaf look more orange by contrast.

[drd]

Yeah, that's my problem, I'm lost on making stuff like rough surfaces on things like this. I tried a bunch of different things but I guess I just haven't found it yet. I'll keep looking...

I have my second canvas toned so I'm gonna go outside again and find a good object. Another leaf, me thinks.

[Firefly]

What do you use for a palette? Color is all relative to what it's next to. So if you use a white palette and a toned canvas, or vice versa, what looks right on one might not work on the other. I don't know what your set up is, but I know whenever I see a color on my palette and it doesn't show up right on the canvas it's because the lighting on both isn't the same or something like that.

I'd say if you want the leaf to be more orange, glaze it in orange. That's how glazing works, the values you've established will still show through.

[drd]

I never thought of it that way...well, my palette is just a big piece of white plastic. I don't think it would be very easy to get a new pallete for each different tone I make though =/