Acrylics - first attempt

[Erik]

Hi!

I'm trying to learn how to paint in the real world media. So i've got acrylics (i'll try oils later maybe, they seem to be more difficult to work with), some nice brushes (flat ones, quite big, about a half inch) and some MDF (50x70 cm) so i got started.

As i was doing a lot of painting in painter after photographs and that helped me a lot i'd thought to do the same here. Of course turned out that my skills are lacking, so i had to start over like 4 times, and now i came to this point (see below)

Any help on how to proceed is welcome. I have departed from the photograph, but i want to finish the painting. I need help on techniwue. I now use a layered approach, doing a mix of thin layers of darker shades and sort of drybrushing like strokes. It does take ages that way but i'm scared of useing much paint at once because it gets very unpredicatble for me that way.

This is after two sessions (on this one) and a couple of evenings so it's not nearly finished. However, i am feeling it is much less fucked up than the previous attempts.

The colors in the pic are not entirely accurate (sic!) as i had to use my camera with a flash (night) ... in some areas i mean to go back and adjust the stuff, this is more an underlayer in those regions.

Any help is appreciated!

http://www.xs4all.nl/~erikedf/art/wip/acrylics_1.jpg

[R_M]

Hi Erik,
it is now you ask yourself where is Crtl/z!?! tried some years ago and hated it, but maybee I was just lacking patience.
can't really help you with live media, exept pencils, but you migh want to look at Darkeens stuff in the Live drawing section, or some of the other guys. once in a while a really good Wip shows up, and it is worth gold! I think El coro had a nice tutorial in his section, the one with the miner....

keep it up!

[Erik]

I really miss my undo button ;-) but a piece of clean cloth makes up for it somewhat. No layers, no saving previous versions ...

I may or may not have the patience to get good at this, but at least i have the impression that i need to have some experience in the real thing, it will help me on the digital ones as well. Mixing colors is hard! Controlling brushes is difficult, stuff acts unexpected and all that. I lear a lot of it and it is very nice to do, in the computer i always get sort of a 'it's not real' idea after a while but this can be touched.

Well, i'm thinking of having another session on this one.

BTW. El Coro's tut you refer to is in ink-washes and pencils so i don't know if it applies.

Any help appreciated!

[R_M]

If I am right, acrilics are water based.
straight out of the tube the behave like oilcolours, but are much more like inks if diluted. I think the way elcoro works is appropriate for acrilics. I think you should try it out, it seams like a rather fast way to work.

[GhostofMacbeth]

Never been a big fan of acrylics since they dry too fast and you have to basically mix every color ahead of time. Have always prefered oils since you can mix on the canvas or board a lot more.

That being said they key (o me at least) is to work general to specific. I normally go kind of background to foreground, You can slow down the drying process somewhat by putting medium in the paint. Anything past that is best left to the people that use em more :) I have never been that happy with them since they are bascally plasstic and feel weird and don't do what I want em to.

[Soulsurfer]

Hi there...new here.
I love acrylics, and use them almost exclusively. On a colored ground, I always lay down a monochrome underpainting, done very wet and loose over a line drawing. I then block in backgrounds all around my main focus areas. After that, I start tightening up details, working in glazes which help create a rich feeling. After that, I darken the dark areas and lighten the hilights.

Your attempt looks very good. My only suggestion would be to watch just allowing white to be a hilight...it has a tendency in acrylics to just hang on the surface, and not feel very blended.
Here's an example of a painting I did using the technique I described.
http://www.robwoodrum.8k.com/babytuckin.jpg

[Johannes]

Soulsurfer -Ur painting looks very good. Erik - I ( just wanted to say that Ive done a bit of work in oil (not much - maybe 3-4 paintings) and also a bit acryllic (maybe 5-6 - mostly graphic or comic style work, though) and it almost seems to me that acryllics have a way of their own. I just dont really get it - they blend so "dirty" especially the highlights and also the shadows too. I sometimes mix them with water, almost too "watercolors" and layer them, but that looks "watercolor" too. :(
I have problems with skincolors specially in acryllics. :/

Im watching this thread and hopes some interesting and good knowledge shows up. :D