A Direct Approach to Acrylic Painting by Greg Biolchini

Meet the Artist :

From an early age, Greg has worked to hone his craft, learning from past masters and inventing his own techniques and styles. In the process, he has built a body of work and list of awards that any painter would be proud to call his own.

With 30 solo and many juried group exhibitions to his credit, Greg Biolchini’s list of shows is testament to his solid local and growing national reputation. After winning his third national award at the National Arts Club in New York City, Greg was awarded Master Pastelist status by the Pastel Society of America. This, combined with his growing list of national honors and awards has helped further his reputation.

Greg enjoys tremendous popularity as a teacher. His workshops and demonstrations are well attended and consistently rated by attendees as superb.

Greg lives and works in Southwest Florida, with studio and teaching space on the Caloosahatchee River in North Fort Myers. He holds ongoing workshops in pastel, oil, and portraiture in his teaching studio and for art groups throughout Florida and the US (see workshop schedule).

Visit Greg’s Site:

http://www.biolchini.com/

A Direct Approach to Acrylic Painting
by Greg Biolchini

Originally published by Daniel Smith Art Supply Co.

“For years I stayed away from acrylics, thinking they were certainly not a medium for a representational realist painter such as myself. They dried too fast, making it impossible for serious paint manipulation. I am very glad my curiosity finally got the best of me and I began to experiment with this wonderful, timesaving, uncomplicated medium.”

To begin, I like to prepare my own canvas. I start with a medium-textured canvas that I stretch myself on heavy-duty professional stretcher bars. I give the canvas three or four good coats of acrylic gesso, sanding between coats.

Working from my own photographs, I started my Great Blue Heron painting by drawing a center of interest with soft willow vine charcoal. Using a big stick of soft charcoal, I drew the lily pads and grass, quickly blocking in the darks and lights. The soft charcoal was well-suited for this spontaneous process—all I had to do to make changes was wipe away the charcoal with a paper towel.

Figure 1: Center of interest is sketched in for placement in the picture plane.

Figure 2: Rough preliminary charcoal drawing.

At this stage, I am composing the preliminary drawing directly from my photographic references onto the canvas. Now, using hog bristle brushes, I removed some of the charcoal to produce the grasses in the background. For removing very dark areas of charcoal, I used erasers such as a kneaded eraser and magic rub. I did not use my fingers to remove or spread the charcoal. Fingers leave oils from your skin on the canvas, making it difficult to further manipulate the charcoal. Once I was satisfied with my charcoal drawing, I sprayed it with clear acrylic fixative. Figure 1 shows my painting at this point of completion.

Next, I began blocking in warm and cool acrylic washes over my charcoal drawing. I thinned the acrylics with water, making them transparent and allowing the charcoal drawing to show through. I used cobalt and phthalo blue for the cool, blue washes, and hansa yellow medium and deep for the warm washes. The yellows mixed with a little permanent red became orange.

Figure 3: Transparent acrylic wash over charcoal drawing.

I applied the acrylic glazes quickly with a large flat brush made especially for acrylics. I did my color mixing and thinning in a Stay-wet palette. The Stay-wet Palette was indispensable because, as the name implies, it keeps my acrylic mixes wet and workable for a very long time. For this transparent wash stage, I was able to determine where the cool and warm, darks and lights should be in my painting, based on my reference photography and a little imagination. Figure 2 shows the painting at this stage.

This acrylic wash over a rough charcoal drawing is an easy process compared to doing several separate preliminary drawings. At this early stage of my painting, I had already gotten a pretty good idea of what my finished painting would look like.

At this point, I thickened my paint, using less water than in the previous stage, and allowed it to become more opaque. I added only three additional colors to my palette: titanium white, quinacridone magenta, and violet. I used the magenta mostly in the lily pads. I began to use softer smaller brushes, the type called flats—numbers 6, 4, and 2—on the more detailed areas throughout my painting, see Figure 4.

Figure 4: Near-completion with opaque acrylic paint.

Figure 5: More details are added to the bird and highlights and shadows
are more developed. Light is given a more luminous, natural feel.

A note about brushes: I always do better using a brush that is a bit bigger than would seem necessary to do the job. I have found the slightly larger brushes do a better job and are a bit faster. I use the very smallest brushes only after trying and failing with a slightly larger brush. I used the tapered edge of high quality responsive synthetic flats for the smaller, more detailed areas in this painting. I want to stress that I used the softer synthetic flats only for the finest details, and only after first blocking everything in with the larger slightly stiffer nylon brushes.

Figure 6: Lighter-colored plants and flowers are added to improve the overall

composition and move the viewers eye through the painting.

Standing back and looking at the painting, I decided the background was a bit too busy and needed some additional elements to lead the viewer’s eye from place to place. I decided to add white lily flowers. The lily flowers were in some of my reference photographs but I hadn’t been sure I needed them until now. Working in the same fashion I had done for the rest of the painting, I blocked in the big, bold strokes using a slightly stiffer, larger, and more responsive brush. I then painted back over these big strokes with my slightly softer smaller brushes, for the detail. Notice that I also worked over the entire painting, adding touches of almost pure white accents to areas such as the bird and the flowers, and almost pure mars black, especially to the bird. I saved most of my darkest darks and my lightest lights for near the end of the painting. Almost like the final seasoning on food, these strong contrasting accents directed the viewer’s eye to areas of interest throughout my painting.

With these final accents, I brought this painting to completion, see Figure 4. The last step was to varnish it immediately with several coats of gloss acrylic medium.

Figure 7: Finished Great Blue Heron acrylic painting, 38″ x 53″.

I am very happy to say this preliminary drawing method done directly onto my canvas was much faster and more satisfying than having to first do a series of rough drawings to develop my composition. I have found that using transparent acrylic washes over a fixed charcoal drawing enabled me to establish my warm and cool values quickly and early on in my painting process, allowing the finishing stages of my painting to progress smoothly and quickly.

All acrylic brands and brushes are compatible with each other.

If you're new here, I recommend you subscribe to my free newsletter so that you can stay informed of upcoming content. Click Here To Sign Up!. Thanks for visiting!

After Monet - Acrylic Painting Demonstration By Brian Rice

“After Monet” is my copy of one of Claude Monet’s famous paintings “ Garden at Sainte Adresse “. It has never been my practice to copy another painter. But , in my progression as a student, in the fine art of painting , I felt that undertaking this course of study, of a master painter, would be beneficial.

This painting has a style that I am after in my own work ; a blend of realism and impressionism. The original painting is 38”x 50” . My version of it is aprox one third of that size, at 14” x18”. It is an acrylic painting done on a canvas covered panel. You can see an image of Monet’s original by clicking onto the link:  Monet original…

The sky is done with color combinations using paynes grey , ultramarine blue, parchment white, and glazes of crimson and blue. The water base color is done with paynes grey, pthalo green, parchment white and yellow ochre.

The patio base color is a combination of parchment white , raw umber and burnt umber . The grasses on the right are done with a light yellow , yellow ochre and ultramarine blue.

The fence is a combination of raw sienna, cad red med, cad yellow deep . The shadows in the fence have a raw umber and raw sienna mixture. At this point I added all those little ships in the background using paynes grey and umber colors. I put the waves in with pthalo green and ultramarine blue. The black on the left was my first attempt at the dark shadows, I used red, blue and yellow to get black, the way Monet would have done. In his later years he abandoned black from his impressionist palette.

Below is a close up of the mid ground sail boat before the final touch ups in the finished painting. At first I wondered why Monet used these dark colored sails . But ,then I guessed that the sails were made from raw canvas and they would tend to darken over time.

One area that I struggled with was the shadow color. The darkest shadow was not a problem . It was the midtone shadows that cast from left to right across the picture plane that I found to be the biggest challenge. In Monets painting the shadows looked almost black . I wanted to get a color that was a little warmer. You will notice that I went from a burnt umber color to a purple at first . I finally got a color I wanted by mixing a little cad red with paynes grey ,raw umber and parchment white.

In the photo above I hadn’t painted in the yellow umbrella. Notice below how that yellow changed the whole look of the young lady. I was also painting the white umbrella at that point. There is more detail in that umbrella then any other object in the painting. I was left wondering why Monet wanted that much focus on the umbrella. Can you guess?

The finished painting.

Click here to learn more about Brian and his work.

Painting a Mural For a Church By Julie Lamons

Artist Bio:

Julie Ann Crawford Lamons was born on March 25, 1953 in Newport Arkansas USA. She graduated from Bradford HS in 1971.Her interest in art began in her teens after drawing members of her church. She set aside her love of art for a few years after the birth of her twin daughters. Several years later she picked up her paintbrushes and began again a journey to bring her art to life in the world around her.

Julie graduated from a two-year art program with Penn Foster Schools in 2005, and is participated in workshops and working with the local artists. She enjoys working with acrylic and oil. She has a studio and small gallery located in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas. You will see a wide variety in her gallery from inspirational to landscape and still life.

In 2006 Julie was a member of the gallery walk committee of Heber Springs, Arkansas which worked to promote the arts in the area. She has been featured in Local Newspapers, and The Arkansas Newspaper magazine Three Rivers Edition. She is a member of the Arkansas Artist Registry and The Eureka Springs Artist Registry.

One of her paintings, Hay Bales was exhibited at the Clinton Presidential Library (July–August 2007, sponsored by the Clinton Foundation and the Thea Foundation), from where it moved to the El Dorado High School for the school year 2007/8 with Art Across Arkansas. She continues today to work with her local community to bring her love of art to others.

Visit Julie’s Website: http://www.jlamonspainting.net

Painting a Mural for a Church

The Commission

I was asked by the pastor of a local church if I would be interested in painting a mural. Despite some doubts (not least of which was the practicalities of working on scaffolding up to ceiling height), I said yes and before I knew it I was presenting a slide show of ideas at a church meeting.

My brief from this first meeting was to present three scenes in one: the cross, the tomb, and the ascension of Christ. I began evaluating the mural space – a 9×23 feet rectangle with a peak at the center — to find the appropriate style and approach to fulfill the church’s needs.

I sketched out my composition onto two sheets of paper I’d stuck together. (Later I gridded it up into inch squares to help me transfer the design to the wall.) I wanted to put some landscape (trees or shrubs) between each scene to make it look more natural. I did some research on the Internet to see what the landscape in the area in Israel actually looks like, then mixed in a little artistic license.

In order to place the emphasis of the mural the ascension, I deliberately placed dark clouds over the crosses, used medium tones over the tomb, and light tones over the ascension. The crowd looking up initially looked a little unnatural to me and I needed to make the figures feel as if they belonged. I feel I achieved this in the final mural through the placement of the tree and the landscape receding behind them.

Design Approval

The pencil sketch of my final composition for the mural. © Mural sketch by Julie Lamons.

Getting the composition figured out took me a few days. When I presented my final sketch to the church I still felt I hadn’t gotten all the bugs out, but felt confident I would. Some people felt the mural should progress from the cross, to the tomb, to the ascension, but with that peak in the center of the space I kept coming back to the ascension in the center.

Another artist I showed my composition to suggested I got rid of the steps in front of the tomb as the rock wouldn’t roll into place to close it the way I had the steps. A good suggestion indeed! The church liked and approved my sketch, and the debate then moved onto which colors should be used. The mural would be the first thing you see entering the church. Some people wanted muted color, some wanted warm colors, some wanted bright. My preference was for warm or earthy colors.

Preparations and Painting Supplies

A grid was used to transfer my sketch to the wall. © Julie Lamons.

Scaffolds were put up so I could get to the wall where the mural would be, then my husband put down a “floor” with a border on it so I wouldn’t forget where I was while painting and slip.

I had looked at the condition of the surface to be painted and the environmental exposure the mural would have in order to select the right type of paint. The church said they wanted me to use quality paint, not house paint , as they wanted the mural to last. I decided I would need to prime the wall first before painting as it needed to be free of any grease, wax, or oil as well as structurally sound and free of loose particles.

Although it looked very clean, I washed the wall before priming it using Liquitex Acrylic Gesso, which dries white. When it had dried, I sanded it smooth. That took me two days but I wanted the surface on which I painted the mural to be decently prepared.

Next I outlined the complete surface with masking tape, making a mark every 12 inches (one foot) to give me a guide for the grid I would use to transfer my sketch to the wall. (You can see part of the grid in the lower photo.)

I used artist’s quality acrylic paint for the mural, mostly Golden Artist Colors. When the paints I’d ordered to do the mural arrived, a large box of over 40 Golden paints, it felt like Christmas!

Painting Progress

© Mural by Julie Lamons. Photos by Portrait Designs of Cave City, Ar.

I started painting the mural at the tomb, but ran out of Payne’s gray and had to wait, frustrated, for my paint order to arrive. My sister Judy came to help me paint and we had some “debate” over a few things, including the sky color which I wasn’t satisfied with. But in the end we were both on the same page and worked well together.

I initially painted the tomb opening too large for the stone (Judy brought that to my attention!) and reduced it down to fit the stone, which made it look better.

But I wasn’t happy with my initial painting of the olive tree and reworked it a few times.

When I was painting I had to frequently back up to check out the proportions, color and the composition. This is very important in painting a large space, and the mural being high up makes it even more important because from looking at eye level something would seem fine, but when I got off the scaffolds it wouldn’t. The colors were also exaggerated to make them visible down on floor level.

I found myself getting anxious to finish as people kept wanting to have a peak but I didn’t want anyone to see until it was finished (or rather any comments on the work in progress). When I’d finished painting for the day, I covered the mural with a cloth.

The final few days I painted alone as Judy had another commitment, but I promised to wait on varnishing the mural until she returned and we’d done a final critique of it together.

Working on Location Rather than in a Studio

I discovered in painting a mural on location there is vast difference to painting in the comfort of your own studio on easel. In my studio I’ve always got supplies readily available, and my workspace is private. I’ve got all sizes and types of brushes, and generally use only small tubes of paint (2 oz).

Painting on location you’ve no privacy and you’ve got to transport all your supplies. I bought larger quantities of paint (4 oz. and 16 oz.), and several larger brushes (three- and four-inch). In the event, I found I wasn’t used to working with so large a brush and went back to using my one- and two-inch brushes.

To paint the sky I used Judy’s formula of cobalt blue, a touch of yellow ocher, and titanium white , which we mixed in a large quantity. For the dark clouds over the crosses I used ultramarine blue andPaynes gray .

To paint the tomb I worked wet-on-wet as I wanted the colors to entwine each other creating the appearance I desired, which couldn’t be achieved working on dry paint. I used red oxide, ultramarine blue, Payne’s gray, and burnt sienna. Titanium white was used to mix with these colors to create the lighter shade reflecting the sun.

The colors used for the garments included: yellow ocher, burnt sienna, raw sienna, crimson, cadmium red and yellow, Payne’s gray, emerald and oxide green, and cerulean, cobalt, phthalo, and ultramarine blue.

In painting the city I was constantly checking the angles and lines because I have a tendency to lean to

the left (Judy says it is because I am left handed). I was careful to make sure this was done accurately.

Working with acrylic we had to be concerned with the fast drying time, since directly above the mural were two vents. There were times when we had to turn the heat off to complete the sky without it drying too quickly.

After I thought the project was finished and the scaffolds removed, someone asked me if the figure in the center was a girl… It was meant to be a man, so back up I went to add a beard onto him (and make a few other corrections while I was at it).

Signing the mural was a task of its own. I knew my signature would be seen, so how did I sign it? Would I use my full name or would I sign it the same as a canvas, with my first initial and last name.

After careful consideration I decided to sign the way I have always signed my paintings: Jlamons

In order to protect the mural from pollution and dust in the environment, I varnished it a few days later with artist’s quality varnish (also from Golden).

Unveiling the Mural

The finished mural. Left to right: Julie Lamons, (pastor) Kenneth and Freda Altom, and Judy Gagner.© Easter Mural by Julie Lamons. Photos by Portrait Designs of Cave City, Ar.

The final mural, titled The Redemption, was finished just in time for . At 9×23 feet (6.5 feet at the sides) it’s the biggest mural I’ve ever done.

Every day that I went to paint on the mural I said a prayer before starting. Except for one particular day, when I was running late and I forgot to take the few minutes to pray. What could go wrong did; I ended up hurting Judy’s feelings, she hurt my feelings, and together we made mud. It didn’t take long for us to figure out that the day was in ruins because of our neglecting to pray. I never forgot to pray again, and was blessed for doing so.

I am a person with strong spiritual convictions and I do believe the Lord was guiding me. I feel like the Lord showed me that I could paint if I trusted him to help me.

I got very dizzy at first on those scaffolds, but when I got my mind on working I got over it. This has been a true test for me, both physically and mentally, but I believe it was meant to be. I had to do it, I did do it, and I’m delighted with it.

“A big thanks to the folks over at About.com who helped me put this demonstration together:
http://www.painting.about.com“

Speed Pencil Drawing of Lion

I found a really cool post today on Onlypencil.com.

If you have never visited this site before, then I highly recommend you do so today. This site has lots of awesome drawing tips and tutorials and lots of beautiful artwork.

Anyway, back to the post.

Its a speed drawing of a lion. The drawing is very small, only 2.5″ x 3.5″. Its quite amazing how the artist was able to fit so much detail into such a small space.

This is definitely worth checking out.

Click here to view the speed drawing.

Enjoy!

Acrylic Painting Demonstration & Tips By Lesly Finn

About Lesly Finn

I am English and emigrated to New Zealand with my husband in 1999, since when I have been able to pursue a long held dream of expressing myself with paint. Ideas for my work come from a variety of sources, including images from the natural world, dreams, emotions and memories. These are portrayed through a mix of colour, texture and contrast that evolve during the act of painting.

I enjoy drawing and pastel work, and paint with acrylic on canvas, often incorporating collage and textured elements. For me one of the many joys of painting is the continuous exploration and development of ideas, and my hope is that the resulting work will give pleasure and invite quiet contemplation.

- Lesly Finn

Visit Lesly’s Site: http://www.leslyfinnsart.com/

Painting With Acrylics Some Tips!

Acrylic paints are not that easy to get used to … at least that’s what I found when I started with them. They dry very quickly so paint often gets wasted, they can ruin your brushes and the ‘covering power’ of different colours varies quite enormously. So I thought that I would post a few general tips for using acrylics …. things that I have read and tried out that worked, and other things that I have found out through trial and error!

I use every sort of brush with my paints, both synthetic and non-synthetic. This is because I don’t have that many brushes that I really like. I have found that the main thing to worry about for your brushes is not to let paint, medium or varnish dry on them. Absolutely fatal … I recently totally wrecked my only 3″ brush by putting it down after varnishing and forgetting all about it. Sadly, repeated soaking and washing was to no avail.

TIP for BRUSHES

Always keep a jar of water to hand to place your brush in when you have finished with it, whether temporarily or completely. The bristles will stay undamaged until such time as you can wash the brush thoroughly in warm water and liquid detergent.

I have tried several different styles of palette with varying degrees of success. The large plastic ones with lots of small paint-wells and 3 or 4 mixing areas are really only any good for very small paintings when working with acrylics. I think that these are best kept for oils or watercolours. Similarly the small round ones with deeper wells, although capable of holding a little more colour, are not suitable when you need to mix many shades or larger amounts of paint.

TIPS for PALETTE USE

White plastic picnic plates and bowls are great for mixing up larger amounts of acrylic paint. Kitchen cling wrap can be used to seal them between sessions to help keep them workable. When finished with I soak them in hot soapy water for a few minutes and all the dried-on paint films can then be washed off really easily. However, it is safest not to let these ‘leftovers’ drain into the ‘grey’ waste-water system for ecological reasons.

I have a large white heavy duty plastic tray similar to those used to display meats in butchery departments. This also makes a great palette but of course the paint is at greater risk of drying up before you have finished your session. I get around this by putting a couple of thicknesses of kitchen paper-towel on the base and then wetting it thoroughly. Next I place a layer of baking paper (silicon coated or greaseproof) on top. The kitchen towel stays wet for quite a while (and you can re-wet as required) keeping the baking paper moist so the paint does not dry out. This ‘damp palette’ can also be sealed in a plastic bag overnight for use the next day.

One of the frustrating things I have found when using acrylics is coverage … by this I mean the ability of the paint mix to cover over what is underneath. While I am often happy for the underlayer to show through there are equally as many times when I don’t want it to!

TIPS for PAINT COVERAGE

Some manufacturers of acrylic paints give information on the tubes as to whether the pigment inside is Opaque, Semi-Opaque or Transparent which is very helpful. Where this information is not available one just has to find out what the pigment is going to do by trial and error.

I have found it useful to build up a collection of Opaque and Transparent versions of the main primary colours that I like to use, e.g. Pyrole Crimson (Opaque), Alizarin Crimson (Transparent), Cobalt Blue (Opaque), Ultramarine (Transparent), etc. So that I can mix an opaque with a transparent to get a more opaque primary or secondary when I need one.

To increase the opacity and covering ability of any pigment I often mix it with a small amount of White or Naples Yellow. And there are some lovely new neutral tones becoming available these days which can be mixed with other colours to make beautifully greyed tones, e.g. Toning Grey Yellowish manufactured by Atelier, and Unbleached Titanium by Matisse.

Sometimes a passage does not turn out how you want it to but, when working on canvas or board, this can often be rectified as long as the area is tackled the same day. And sometimes these remedial efforts result in unplanned and pleasing effects!

TIPS for RECTIFYING MISTAKES

I always keep a clean wet cloth and a roll of paper towel to hand while painting so that I can ‘wipe out’ colours as soon as possible when I feel they are not right, and for lifting runs or splashes. Sometimes it requires a little bit more effort to remove the offending area and for this I scrub gently with a toothbrush and soapy water. But this can only be attempted before the paint has truly set (under 24 hours) and I only try these methods where I am satisfied with the underlying area and want it to remain in situ. Where an area or painting has completely gone to custard I just paint over the whole thing with gesso and start again!

How did I paint that? - A Demonstration Using Acrylics

MATERIALS Canvas size: 100 x 80 cms Palette:Titanium whiteNaples Yellow HueYellow OxideJaune Brilliant Raw Sienna Burnt Sienna Light Red Oxide Pthalo Blue Cobalt Blue Brushes: 1 1/2″, ! “, 5/8 ” Synthetic bristle (medium soft) Mediums: Clear Acrylic Painting Medium, Gloss Acrylic Medium & Varnish
STAGE ONE I began by drawing the subject in brown pastel pencil and then go over the outline drawing with red oxide acrylic [next time I will use less pigment for this as I subsequently found the outlines rather difficult to get rid of]I blocked in shadow shapes on the figures with red oxide and washed in some of the shadows/reflections in the sea and sand. My aim was to establish the tonal values of the painting from the outset.
STAGE TWO I started filling in the background and foreground in fairly large blocks of colour …….. no details yet. At this stage I was experimenting with different mixes and hues. I wanted to get the feeling of a very hot, bright day.I decided early on that I would lower the horizon to increase the sense of distance. Because it is a large canvas I took frequent breaks and looked at the painting in the mirror from about 12 feet away. It would be all too easy to get involved in unnecessary detail …. I kept having to remind myself that I wanted this painting to ‘come together’ only when seen from a distance!Although it would be nice to get the background colours right before moving on to the figures I was not too worried as I knew I could easily change things later.
STAGE THREEI started working on the figures with very light washes.I realised that I was not very happy with the sky and sea at this stage so I went over them again, changing the colour mixes slightly.I put some of the sky colour into the middle and foreground … to give the effect of sky reflections on wet sand.
STAGE FOUR At this point I started to put shadow detail on to the figures in dark red, blue-green and red-brown. I kept the shadow shapes very simplified with little softening or blending of edges - See photo of detail below.I kept the paint thinned down and semi-transparent using painting medium to dilute the pigment.At all stages I kept a watchful eye on progress by checking in the mirror. In this way I was able to determine if the effect was what I wanted when viewed from a distance.
[Photo detail of shadow shapes.]
FINAL STAGE The final stage involved adding more body colour and glazes to various parts of the painting until I felt satisfied with the overall effect. I reach a point where I feel that I can usefully do no more.Enough is enough, already!

All Images and Text Copyright Lesly Finn

Visit Lesly’s Site: http://www.leslyfinnsart.com/

At The Dock - An Acrylic Painting Demonstration by Brian Rice

About Brian Rice:

Brian was born on May 25,1958 and his roots are in the small outport of Pilleys Island, Newfoundland, Canada. At the age of nineteen he moved to central Canada in the Sarnia, Ontario area, where he now works in the Petrochemical industry.

His interest in art began in high school, when an art teacher encouraged him. In 1979 he began to paint realistic images of Newfoundland and northern wildlife, using an acrylic medium. He has many admirers of his work and most of the paintings have been sold; many were commissions. In 1998 he did a painting of an old united church (circa 1945) for his hometown heritage society. Prints were made and sold as a fund raiser.

In 1997 he entered an art contest in Sarnia. This contest was held to select a winner to commemorate the new blue water bridge. The painting got an honourable mention and it was reproduced as a limited edition print.

Brian has no formal training in art. He is self taught and learns most from a careful observation of the order and design of the natural world . He believes that “nature is the artwork of a creator/master artist who displays a wisdom and a genius that we have only begun to understand”. His focus is to create art that will cause the soul to search for a deeper meaning in an increasingly chaotic world.

He started striving for a photo realism style in the 1990’s and achieved it to some degree, but, he found the style did not evoke much emotion and set out on a journey to find a style that was realistic but, with a much looser impressionistic approach.

Eighteen of his paintings were on display at his hometown Petrolia Library during the Summer of 2004.

The Painting “The Newfoundland Cabin” appeared in “Guest Gallery “which is a page in the downhomer magazine; www.Downhome.com is the biggest magazine on the Canadian eastcoast with 26,000 subscribers. This magazine also has a gallery and gift shop in St. John’s, Newfoundland which now carries prints of the painting “seasons of life”

Acrylic Painting Demonstration: “At The Dock”

I got the idea for this painting while on vacation in Newfoundland. The quiet and serenity of this area was what I wanted to capture in the painting. I liked this reference image below as a photo. But, I wanted to do something else in a painting . I thought I would push the islands apart so that the boat would point out the bay towards the opening in the distance. It just seemed right for a better composition.

On my 24″ x 36″ panel I drew out the plan:

I lined the head of the boat up so that it would point directly at that dot in the background. I guessed that this would become the secondary focus in the painting, after the boat, if I had enough elements pushing the eye outward towards to that area.

The hint of the dock would provide a link from the boat to land and serve as a directional line toward the boat.

I blocked in the main colors:

I wanted to keep the overcast sky. It seemed to suit the painting.

I wanted to show the ocean bottom near the dock . Calm, shallow water would serve as a great enterance to the painting and add to the over all appeal of the view . I had never attempted this transparent water look before. I started by putting in the main colors of the bottom .Then I painted rough forms that looked like rocks .

I used Thalo blue , Ultramarine blue, Paynes grey, a tad of Napthol red, and White mostly in the water and sky in the distance. I have a glaze or two of burnt sienna and yellow ochre in there too. In the foreground there are those colors plus burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow ochre . There may be a little burnt umber in the mix too.

My next move was to paint in the distant hills and island. . It took a lot of glazes and a few attempts to get the water and sky the way I wanted it. I wanted that opening in the distance to be in the direction that the head of the boat would be pointing towards. The pushing apart of the islands and moving the distant opening to line up with the boat seemed to also open up the view for the eye to go out the bay to the farthest inlet. This helped give the painting a feeling of space. The feel of wide open space is a wonderful sense you get in Newfoundland. It is a land that is 98 % unpopulated.

I worked on the glazing some more and defined the rocks better. I used glazes of thalo blue , then glazes of burnt sienna, then a glaze of yellow ochre. I repeated this several times with very little paint pigment in the glazes. I kept the area where the boat would be, open, mostly to keep in mind its placement area.

Excuse the blurred photo but the next photo just shows where I sketched a fairly accurate outline of the boat. You have to be very careful at this point. If the drawing is not right on, you could ruin many hours of work . If a line is off by an eighth of an inch it will be noticeable .

When I was sure the outline was right I blocked in the boat base colors. I wasn’t overly concerned where the green and red was inside the outline as long as I didn’t mess up the outer lines. The green is a mixture of Chromium oxide green and thalo blue. The red is Cad med toned down a bit with thalo blue.

I now worked on the rocks at the bottom more . I added a lot more little rocks and added a few more glazes over that.

At this point I knew the boat didn’t look like it was sitting right in the water . It could have been an optical illusion because the red and green inside the boat were not where they should be yet. I re-measured my outline and realized it was the bottom line at the back of the boat that was throwing it off. It may sound like I was being too particular. But, to someone who is accustomed to boats and how they sit in the water these things are very noticeable. It was something that was fixable . I also did some more redefining of the rocks at the bottom.

I worked on that boat again. The colors look a little raw at this stage and the boat interior needed more work. I re-worked that shadow; its more of a shadow then a reflection .The sky is overcast so I have to get that fine balance in the details , definition without strong shadows. Easier said then done . Most of the time its easier to have strong light and shadows. I thought I was finished with the water under the boat. The only areas that needed work outside the boat was the island on the left and the indication of a dock on the right side.

Next, I put a little more detail into the boat. I changed the rear look of the boat three times . I decided in the end that I was going to make this a simple row boat and not include that 4.5 hp gasoline driven outboard motor. The painting would appeal to me more without that noise making machine. It just don’t fit into my ideal world. The other advantage in not including a gas engine was the fact that one could think of its time period as being anywhere from 1940’s to today. If I didn’t use the bright red and green it could have been dated from 1900 - today. These little wooden boats had the same basic style for a century.

These photos aren’t the best quality because they were taken with just the light in the room without a flash. When the painting was done I got a better photo using daylight.

I then worked on the island on the left. Its showing low tide and the kelp is visible at the low water level. This kelp in Newfoundland is a distinct orange /ochre/ greenish color depending on the lighting of the day.

There as been a shift in my painting technique over the past year or so. I discovered the power of glazing and the excellent properties of Goldens acrylic glazing liquid.

I do paint the odd painting with the more opaque method.

But,this one will have been done with more layers of glaze then I have ever used before. I have about 20-25 layers in the water. At first I use to try and put glazes on with just glazing liquid and had some difficulty with application . But now I dip my brush in water more and dilute the glaze liquid . This seems to work much better and I don’t get a thick sticky layer that is hard to apply.

The secret to successful glazing seems to be in the application of very thin coats,with very little paint pigment in it , and then letting each coat dry before applying another. It is amazing how layer after layer of thin color can produce what opaque paint could never do.

I am starting to use glazes more and more as I continue learning about painting.

The finished painting

Detail of finished painting.

I hope you enjoyed the demo. You can contact me at brrice2003@yahoo.ca . Your comments would be greatly appreciated because feedback lets me know if these demos actually help others in their painting.

Learn Acrylic Painting - Painting Demo by Lorraine Vatcher

We are revisiting Lorraine Vatcher today with another beautiful acrylic painting demonstration. I do hope you enjoy. You can learn more about Lorraine by visiting her website as well as our one on one interview with her here.Lorraine is now offering art instruction classes for all who are interested. Please contact her for more details.

So many times I have heard people comment on the fact that they could always spot an oil painting because of the vibrancy of colours. These are comments as they are standing and looking at my paintings. When I tell them that these are painted in acrylics, they stand in awe. If there is no vibrancy in the colours, it is because the artist has done it that way. In my opinion, as long as they have not been muddied by over-mixing, the acrylic paint out of the tube has the same potential of striking colour as oil paint. This is a painting for medium to experienced painters, however, if you are a beginner, there is no better way to learn than to just jump in! Reflections of Pink and Green will require a good bit of time because you will have to build up the layers gradually. Each layer is fairly thin(a glaze) because the paint colour is mixed with a small bit of water to make it flow more evenly.If you would rather use flow medium, that is acceptable also. Each layer of glaze must dry before the next goes on. Much of the time, you will be working more than one area of the picture at a time because you will have to let areas dry before you put on another glaze. Have patience! It is worth the time to get this technique right.

Step 1Block in the background in shades of Payne’s Grey, Ultramarine Blue on the top two-thirds of the canvas and Burnt Umber mixed with Paynes’s Grey on the bottom two-thirds. Let this dry; it won’t take long. A

Step 2Draw the outline of the picture with chalk onto the background of the canvas. Chalk is very forgiving. You can draw and erase loads of times and as long as you don’t over-wet the surface, it will not hurt the painting underneath.

Step 3Paint Titanium White on the top petal and its reflection on the left side and paint the tulip on the right and its reflection of the tulip also with Titanium White.Then paint a layer of Permanent Rose onto these white areas. Start to colour in the form of the bottom petal and its reflection on the left( there is no white underneath right now).

Step 4As you continue to build up layers of paint, look at the form of the tulip and the reflections of the flower petals. Each petal has a highlight and shadow areas. In the shadows, blend in just a dab of Payne’s Grey. Then layer thin Permanent Rose paint on it keeping it smooth. Keep the brush strokes going in the directions that the lines of the petals follow naturally. Even the Payne’s Grey requires layering because it is partially transparent, as is Permanent Rose. The areas which will be the highlighted will have to be underpainted with Titanium White again.

Step 5Paint the ends of the loose petals with Titanium White first and then some Cadmium Yellow mixed with a hint of Sap Green. Do the same with the center bowl of the main tulip where the stamens will form. Keep glazing the petals in Permanent Rose. You will see as the process continues that the Titanium White will shine through all the glazes and you will be able to control your colour with the number of layers you use. While doing this, start laying in some Hooker’s Green on the area which will be the leaves.

Step 6When you feel that the colours you have used have acquired the richness you wish, it is time to glaze over the reflections with Payne’s Grey. Up until now you have painted the reflections with the same detail as the flower and loose petals. Glaze over the entire area below the actual leaves. Remember that the reflections will not be nearly as vivid as the actual flower and petals. If they were, they would command too much attention from the main subjects. After that layer dries, blend in another glaze although not as high as the first layer, and so on until the reflection gradually becomes darker as your sight pulls away from your subjects. Now you should show some depth in the lower section of the painting.

Step 7Paint in some horizontal lines of burnt umber mixed with a little Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White around the bottom of the vase and in between the lose petals and the flower. These lines will be the bands of sunshine on the surface of the wood and hitting the top single petal on the left, the tulip and the crystal vase.

Step 8Draw in the shapes for the crystal vase with chalk. It is simply a large, skinny X with a line going through from top to bottom, a water line, and a few arcs on the lower part of the vase.

Don’t panic at this time…It is not as hard to paint glass as you most people think!!!Step 9 Use Hooker’s Green, Sap Green, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ocher, Cadmium Yellow, and Titanium White to give shape and form to the stems. Do not fill in that area completely as one large shape. There will be long colours. Remember that glass will distort but cut crystal will distort more. Shapes will be cut off and seeming to start from nothing. So paint in some stems which will follow the normal ideas of being tubes(round in shape) and otherwise let the colours of stems follow the lines cut or molded into the glass.

Step 10Draw the outline of the vase and all the shapes inside the vase over the top of the chalk with a liner brush and very diluted Titanium White with a hint of Sap Green and a dotted line. Make it very light…you want it only for reference and to give an idea where the glass has variations of shapes. When you know it is dry, rub off the chalk. Now you have the shapes in front of you to continue.

Step 11Use Yellow Ocher with a hint of Cadmium Orange to bring up the colour of the stamens. The background will be darker with Hooker’s Green and Sap Green in toward the centre. Make certain you give the stamens a rounded look by highlighting with Titanium White and shading with a little Payne’s Grey diluted. After the shading and highlighting are done, glaze with diluted Yellow Ocher and Cadmium Orange mixed together.

Step 12In the background area of the inside of the vase(where there are no other real shapes) add a few colours surrounding the area. These will be Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ocher, Permanent Rose, etc.. Do not make any real shapes, just a hint of colour here and there because glass always picks up the surrounding colours. Then it does not look like such a “clear” area. Do not cover all the original background colour. Continue to build up the colours of the stems, both inside and outside the vase. As well, since you are working with the greens, don’t forget the leaves of the tulip. These colours will eventually shine out of the background colour but because they were painted over the dark colour, the will not overpower the focal points in the painting. Highlight with Sap Green mixed with Cadmium Yellow and shadow with Hooker’s Green mixed with Cadmium Red. Save the pure Titanium White for the brightest light on the glass, on the left hand side. I put a sparkle on the side because that is where the light hit straight on. Although I used white on the tulip petals and on the leaves, I went over them with a small bit of Sap Green mixed with Titanium White so they would not compete with the brightness of the glass.

Step 14If you were to look directly and closely at a piece of Pinwheel crystal or any other piece of cut glass, you would be amazed at the kaleidoscope of colours that are reflecting off it. It will also splice the light into the colours of the rainbow if a strong light is shone directly through it. The lines, especially, of the crystal will pick up and reflect.. Look carefully at the painting. I have, no doubt, exaggerated the colours but I did not imagine them. It would be impossible to tell you every brush stroke I did here, however, try to duplicate by letting the colours that are in the stems, in the flowers and shades of the background follow the lines that are cut and formed in the glass. Much of this work is done with a liner brush, and there will be small dots of colours in random areas too. For the straight lines, use a liner brush and Titanium White mixed with just a hint of Sap Green, watered down so that it will be a very light streak on the glass.

Step 15In foreground, smudge some of the greens and yellows which were in the stems of the vase to form the reflections on the wooden surface. With Payne’s Grey and White mixed, use a round brush to put in the semi-rectangular forms directly under the vase.

“Reflections of Pink and Green” Acrylic, 16″x20″By Lorraine Vatcher

Congratulations if you did this painting; you do have lots of patience. If this is a new method for you, you will now know the satisfaction of learning something you will be able to apply to many of your future paintings.

This tutorial is copyright Lorraine Vatcher.

Step By Step Acrylic Painting Demonstration by Lorraine Vatcher

The following acrylic painting demonstration is by the very talented Lorraine Vatcher. Be sure to visit her website to view more of her work.

Lorraine invites you to paint along with this demonstration and send her images of your progress. Drop her a line if you plan on giving this a try. She would love to hear from you.

She also invites you to contact her if you have any comments regarding her work. Click here to contact her.

Nature’s Decorations - Painting Demonstration by Lorraine Vatcher

The picture I am using for a reference was one I took on a beautiful sunny day after a white blanket had covered our world and made it into a Winter Wonderland. Even though it was still cold, the sun had enough strength to start melting the snow on the branches of the spruce trees. As the water fell off the twigs, it froze into solid icicles which glinted in the sun; then the sun split the light into colours of the rainbow when you looked directly into the sun through the icicles.

I truly hope you enjoy this lesson. It really is more of a still life than scenery. I wanted to do something which isn’t a normal lesson. You can change placement of anything if you wish to make it more your own.

For those who attempt it, I would enjoy seeing the finished product so if you don’t mind, I would really appreciate an image of your finished product.

First, we will block in shapes of the background which will resemble branches of a spruce tree with snow on them. Mix Windsor Blue with Titanium White in varying dark tones. Do not make them bright because we want the icicle to shine, not the background.With a 1” blending brush, block in these colours in general shapes, fairly linear to resemble the look of snow gathered on branches.Then do the same with Payne’s Grey mixed with Titanium White in varying tones. The medium tones should be minimal. A light coat of Chrome Oxide Green in a few places gives the illusion of the under branches barely showing. Keep it muted with no real shapes and no light colours; nothing in this entire layer should pop out at you. Remember that the icicles are the focal point.They have to be much brighter than the background.

Block in the shapes of the snow on the foreground branches with Titanium White. Keep composition in mind. Too much white will detract; we want this snow and the icicle to sparkle over the top of the background. Think about where the icicles will hang and how long. Paint them in. Keep the amount of icicles in odd numbers. Block them in.

Use Windsor Blue mixed with white to give shadows in the snow on the branches. In the darkest areas, add just a hint of Payne’s Grey mixed in with the blue. Tops of the snow are always pure white with the bright sun shining on them.

Change to a liner brush to stoke in the buds at the end of the twigs with Burnt Sienna mixed with Cadmium red. Also, with the liner brush, stroke in the needles from the branches which hang down into the dark background area with titanium white. This will give you a place to paint your green needles. It would be of no use to just stroke them in greens because the colour would be drowned out by the dark background.Many colours are transparent or semi-transparent so the surface has to be prepared to accept another colour, otherwise it will have no impact.

Use three shades of green (Sap Green, Hooker’s Green and Chrome Oxide Green) and a liner brush to put in the needles of the branches. For the darkest green, mix Hooker’s Green with Cadmium Red in small amounts. This will make a much darker green. Stroke the needles in different colors. Keeping them the one colour would be boring, also sometimes vary the direction because Nature does not always make them go in the same direction. Don’t forget to stroke over most but not all of the white needles hanging off the twigs into the dark background. There will be white highlight in some of the needles because that is where the sun will be hitting and reflecting. Stroke in the needles which are on the areas of white snow. You have already prepared for these because the background of white will readily accept the green colours and show very well..

With a small round brush, very lightly place a small amount of Cadmium yellow mixed with Titanium White in places on the snow to give a sparkle to the snow as if the sun is bouncing off the surface. In the areas close to the needles, add a small amount of Chrome Oxide Green mixed with white. The green simulates the green from the twigs under the snow as showing through. Although the snow is newly fallen, the hot sun is melting it and turning it to icy pellets in areas close to the twigs. This ice will reflect what is underneath it, namely the green of the twigs.

Ensure that your icicles are pure white before you start to colour them in. Then with a small round brush, brush Payne’s Grey in areas down the length of the icicle. Do the same thing again with a mixture of Payne’s Grey mixed with Titanium White. And repeat it in small spots with Windsor Blue with Titanium White. The outside edges down the length should be bright white. Next, very sparingly, spot Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and Diazinon Purple. These colours will give the same idea as when a light hits a piece of glass or crystal; the light splits into differing colours. A very little bit of paint will convey the idea.

The sparkles are created in two stages. The first is with a wash of Titanium White. The washes should be with very little colour and a number 4 round brush. A number of washes is much better than one solid. Start in the center of the sparkle and pull the brush out to a point. Next, use Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and Diazinon Purple in the same way, although sparingly. After the washes, hit very lightly with a hint of pure colour.The small red buds which are hanging at the end of the twigs now get a bit of water hanging from them. Use a liner brush with a little Titanium white to outline the drop. Then fill it in with Payne’s Grey and just touch them with a colour in the background which is around them. Water reflects its surroundings.With a liner brush dot the snow in lines where the needles will be peeking out of the snow. In real life, as the snow melts, more will be visible.

Nature’s Decorations 16×20 Acrylic on CanvasBy Lorraine Vatcher

This tutorial is copyright Lorraine Vatcher.

Acrylic painting tutorial By Harmony Steel

This tutorial is an instructive walkthrough of how I created “Alien Landscape” including details about paints, brushes, palettes and acrylic painting techniques. The painting was created with Atelier acrylics on a 20″x30″ gallery-wrapped canvas. There’s a few images here so you may need to give them a minute to load. This is the finished painting, I’m unusually attached to this one and it remains part of my personal collection. Scroll down to see how it was made.

First a quick look at my workspace… it’s a little crowded I know but it does the trick. I always try and work with my canvas facing natural light, and I have the overhead light switched on too to get a realistic idea of how my painting will look when it’s hung on a wall.

Here’s most of the materials I use - a water container for my brushes, an old tea towel to wipe the brushes, white gesso to prime the canvas, my home-made palette, and some very useful disposable palette’s which are real time-savers when it comes to cleaning up.

I’ve tried a few different palette’s and this one works the best by far. I’m just using the lid from a glass casserole dish and I’ve folded six sheets of paper-towel (Handi ultra-absorbent works well), run them under water (squeeze out any excess) and pushed them into the contours of the dish. Then I get one of my disposable palette’s (cut in half) and press that onto the paper towel. The wet paper towel keeps the palette cool so that your paints won’t dry out too quickly, and the best bit is that when you’re finished you can just throw everything but the dish straight in the bin, which is much easier than scrubbing off paint. I also use an egg cup to keep my painting medium (right) separate from my paints.

This is the brush I used for most of the painting. It’s my favorite brush, a Windsor & Newton size 18 Galeria (bright shape, sable bristles).

Onto the paints. I use Atelier acrylics which are professional artists acrylics produced in Australia. They have a beautiful, thick, oil-like consistency and produce fantastic vibrant colors.

Now to the canvas. I’m using a 20″x30″ gallery-wrapped canvas (no staples on the side) and it’s already been primed; however for good measure I paint another two coats of gesso onto it as I’d rather the canvas absorb the cheaper-to-replace gesso than my acrylics (learn how to apply gesso). I sketch a light outline directly onto the canvas using a 4B pencil.

I then seal the sketch with a coat of fixative. You will still find you get a little bit of smudging if you’re painting over pencil, but the fixative will minimize that.

Then it’s time to start painting! I’ve mixed up my base color with a bit of acrylic medium to make the paint go further - the important thing to do at this stage is to make sure all the white canvas fibres are covered by the paint. The actual base coat doesn’t have to be really thick as you’re going to paint over the top of it anyway. Using this method I paint the sky, and the highlights on the building and hills.

Before adding more color I wave a hair dryer over the base coat for a few minutes until it’s touch-dry. I do this because if acrylics are half-dry when you start to paint over them you’ll get all sorts of sticking and flaking problems. I build up the base colors by adding more yellow, red and orange and blending them together with a large round sponge brush. Then I start adding clouds using my normal brush and a lighter shade of yellow.

I add vermillion shadows to the clouds and finish painting the sun.

Here’s a close-up of the clouds.

My next step is to create the base for the desert.

Like the sky I add highlights and shadows and blend them together using the sponge brush. Also, like the sky, I’m using a bit of medium with my paint so that it doesn’t dry out too quickly, and I work fast with the sponge brush to make the colors blend into each other. When that’s done I take a little brush and mark out where the highlights will appear.

Since acrylics tend to dry quickly I mix up the colors I’ll be using for the desert before I start painting it. I paint the desert hills by starting with the lightest color, cleaning my brush on a rag, and then moving to the next lightest color, etc.

By working fast you can get a nice gradient effect.

The desert still looks a bit flat and unrefined so I continue to add highlights and shadows until I’m happy with it.

Then it’s time to start on the building. I begin by laying down my base colors (the building is metal reflecting the sun and sky so the colors will match), and adding a few shadows and highlights to one side.

I do the same on the lighter side and paint in the windows. I want them to look like little jewels so I add a bit of grey and green to my reds and yellows.

I double-check the sides to make sure they match up with the front of the painting. I think painting around the sides adds an extra element of refinement to your canvas, and it means you or your customer can bypass framing if you like.

And finally… it’s finished! I sign the piece, attach hanging wire to the back of the canvas, and it’s ready to go on a wall.

This tutorial is Copyright of Harmony Steel Visit Harmony’s Website

Beginners Acrylic Painting - What Palette and Brushes to Buy?

Beginners Acrylic Painting - What Palette and Brushes to Buy?
By Catherine Calder

Starting a new hobby can be a bit daunting, don’t you think? There’s everything to buy and no previous knowledge about what to get. You go into a store and the range is huge.

“I’m just beginning with acrylic paints and I only want to buy a paint brush!”

Well, when you’re beginning with acrylic paints there are a few things you need to know before you get as far as the store.

The key thing with acrylic paint is that it dries very quickly which can a blessing when you are ready to tidy away. Or a curse if you don’t know how quickly it dries and it ruins your brush!

When the paint dries it is impossible to remove it from clothing, surfaces and brushes. So cover yourself with ‘painting clothes’ and be sure to clean your brushes before the paint dries on them. Once you have the right equipment this isn’t a problem.

Acrylic Paint Palette

Beginners to acrylic painting should either buy or make a reservoir palette. This is a palette with a damp reservoir with a disposable paper on top of it. You mix the colors on the paper. This means that the paint on the paper remains damp and ready to use.

A ’shop-bought’ reservoir palette often has a separate section for brushes. Usually the brushes will be placed on their sides with the tips of the brushes in some water to stop the paint drying on the brush. There is a cover for the palette that keeps the moisture in and makes sure that the paint doesn’t dry out. It’s all laid out in a nice tidy container.

If you feel that you don’t want to spend money on something when you’re just beginning with acrylic paints there is another choice. Make your own. You can make up your own version of this using a flat dish or tray with a low edge. Place a few layers of blotting paper or a layer of capillary matting (often used in greenhouses to keep the plants damp) in the bottom for the reservoir.

Cover this reservoir with tracing or greaseproof paper. This paper is used as your palette. This is where you will place the paints when you’re using them and mix them on top of this paper too.

Keep the reservoir moist - not too wet - and the paints will not dry out. It is important that in between painting sessions you cover your palette to keep the moisture in. A large plastic bag that is large enough to hold the whole palette is ideal.

The brushes will need their own reservoir too. This will stop them drying with paint on them. If the paint dries on the brush it will stick and the brush will be ruined. Use a long narrow container like an ice cube tray for the brushes. They rest on their sides in the water. If you just put the brushes in a jar of water then the tips will eventually get bent out of shape and the brushes will need to be replaced.

When beginning with acrylic paints it is best to buy nylon brushes as nylon brushes can be left soaking in the water. If you tried that with a sable brush it would be ruined.

OK now you have a reservoir palette and some nylon artist brushes what else do you need to complete your beginners acrylic paint set?

Well there are only two other things - paints and something to paint on. We’ll need to discuss that in other Beginners Acrylic Painting articles.

Catherine Calder is the author of the step-by-step Acrylic Painting Course, the beginners guide to acrylic painting - with a free preview to completing your first painting. Visit http://www.learnanddo.com/acrylic.asp

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Catherine_Calder
http://EzineArticles.com/?Beginners-Acrylic-Painting—What-Palette-and-Brushes-to-Buy?&id=117299

Next Page »