Previous articles Painting – The Beginning, Paints and Brushes.

In this article I will give you first assignment and how to start first acrylic painting assignment.

The first thing you are going to do is a little evaluation. It is not an exam, because if you think you are failed, either you attempt again or give up. What I want you to do is to draw a sketch as per your wish. That could be an object, image or imaginary, check below image. Choosing an image would be much easier than any object.

Fig 0.1   Sample Sketch.

Don’t be scared and care too much about possibilities. Just draw the picture to the best of your skill. You will be checking your Perspective, Outlines, Illumination, Shading, Dimensions. Words are heavy, but whatever you understood is enough to start.

Assemble Your Art Supplies to draw a sketch, select a photograph, your first step is to look at your source picture closely (take your time), break your pictures into blocks as shown below, before you start sketching, practice some hand movements, don’t draw too heavily. Drawing in on a paper is much easier compare to canvas.

Fig 0.2 Partitioning of Sketch.

Compare your drawing with source image. How close did you get? Have you drawn close enough to what you see? It’s just like a kid making an alphabet A first time. It could be exact or their own version. 🙂

Your analysis will improve your perception. If you are satisfied, take another image else erase and repair. Practice reduces the imperfection. Practice makes the perfect. Practice makes the master. How much to practice? Someone has said that it takes10,000 hours of practice to get really good. I do not disagree, but if you are honest, dedicated and passionate, you will make good out of what you do.

The reason I told you to practice a object/image before painting because it helps to distil your sense to its essence and also figure out how to connect that essence in your painting. Sketching is exactly opposite of painting. In sketching you start with the objects near to you and draw background at last. And in painting you prepare background first.

Acrylic painting basics methods

Now, let’s start with Acrylic painting basics methods. The most basic supplies (brush, acrylic paint and canvas board) is used for practicing various brush strokes.

1.      Dry brushing using thick paint	2.      Water Wash with diluted the paint with enough water	3.      Dotting often used in drawing, usually done using thick paint
4.      Splashing is splattering paint onto a work	5.      Tapping is done with brush	6.      Dabbing is done using a corner of a sponge or even a piece of paper towel
7.      Detailing is small piece of work done with small, fine brush used to apply details	8.      Glazing make picture vibrant and 3D.	9.      Blending is mixing of two or more colors. Mixing can be done between all combination of thick and diluted colors

Fig 0.3 My Painting Best Friend showing where and which method is used.

Choose a image with minimum variety of colors as given below.

Fig 0.4 First Painting Assignment.

Wear comfortable clothes that you are not afraid of staining or protect more precious ones with an apron. Acrylic paint is pretty hard to wash off.

Sketch it as per necessity, fill up your water glass and put piece of cloth within reach. Take a blank canvas board and put it where you can reach it, and where it won’t slide around too much. Put your brush stand them bristle end up in a jar filled with water. Squeeze out your paints onto your palette.

Fig 0.5 Showing how much colors to be filled in a Pallet.

You should leave most of the palette empty, so you can mix colors in the big empty area. Squeeze out only a little bit of each color to start out as shown, until you know how much you’re likely to use. The paint dries pretty quickly, so whatever you’ve squeezed out is going to have to be used up or else it’s wasted.

If the paint on your palette looks like it’s trying to dry up on you, mist it with some water from a spray bottle.

Now, grab a brush, dip it in one of the paints, and start painting!

There are actually two different ways to hold a paintbrush. You can hold it in a “precision grip” as you hold a pen or a “power grip” like a hammer.

Happy Paintings!

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