Day Five- More Complex Painting

Learn how to paint perspective, distance, composition and more.

Distance
When creating distance, there are very few rules, and they are easily remembered. An object that is farther away is smaller in size than the objects that are closer to the viewer. And second, the farther away an object, the blue it appears because of the atmosphere. If you have a Red object, make it a bit more gray as you go back, not darker, just grayer, like add a touch of Green and a touch of White.

Another way to create distance is to keep only the focus of the painting in focus. In other words, if you have a person seated in a landscape, and you want the person to be the star of the painting, then give them more detail than you would the chair, the mountains, the sky, et cetera. And the farther away something is from the person, the fuzzier it gets. And still another way to create distance is to create atmosphere, think fog and paint accordingly. In other words, fade the objects into a hazy background.

Composition
The large shapes in your picture will dominate your painting. There is a harmony with odd numbers that even numbers rarely provide. The magic combination contains three shapes. The three shapes can be as simple as a sea, sky and a ship; land sky and tree line (group the trees) or eggs on a table with a cup. Of course, there might be other little shapes, but the three main shapes will hold your smaller shapes together.

Tic-Tac-Toe
The Rule of Thirds is easy to understand and to use. It is to aid in creating compositions. To use this tool, create a tic-tac-toe board in your rectangle, and place your three largest objects out of the squares. In other words, center the objects on the crosses instead of the middle of the boxes. It is a simple concept, all it means is keep the focus of the objects out of the dead center, extreme corners and sides unless you are making a profound statement with that object. If it looks cramped to you, it is.

Breathing Room
Give your objects breathing room. Make your objects comfortable. Give them space to breathe in your painting. If you have a man in your picture and there is a tree directly behind him, it will look as though the tree is coming out of his head! Similarly, if you have a person standing facing you with arms at the sides, up straight, knees locked- is that a comfortable pose? Make your subjects relax and let them be themselves.

Posing Your Objects
Posing your objects adds character, a personality and a story to your picture. Posing objects includes anything like trees, dogs, fish, rocks, building landscapes, cityscapes, interiors, and anything else you can think of. OK, lets say you need to paint a tall corporate building. Seems like a boring technical architectural painting and you cant get it to pose naturally, right? Well, if you look closely at the building, what or who is on the other side of those windows, a plant, cubicles, a woman? What or who is reflecting on those windows, or casting shadows on the building, any birds, a beautiful sunset, coffee shop, a musician? Could a woman be enjoying watching from the window enjoying the sunset and listening to the musician? What color is the building? Is it weathered? Freshly painted? All bricks? All these elements of subtle detail give the building a personality and a story.

And there are stories in everything you can think of.

Painting Your First Masterpiece

Think of a pretty scene in your mind and freeze it.
Hold that scene for one minute.
Relax.
Remember the scene and hold it there for three minutes.
Relax.
Remember the scene and enjoy it for five more minutes.
Try to look at everything in the image.

Do this exercise until you can hold the picture in your mind for ten minutes.

Now place your rectangle around the image in your mind. Hold it there and repeat the above steps until you can see it clearly in your mind.

See the image clearly in your mind, you can paint the picture. Repeat the above process until you can see the image in your mind perfectly.

An extremely detailed or technical painting may take several hours, days, months and even years to create. The above exercise will help you recollect your images, whether they are in your head or from real life.

Here now is the time to apply your thumbnail sketches. Think of the scene and draw in shapes that most resembles the object. Go for simplicity of these objects, you will write an explanation with arrows. This is only a first illustration, which makes your scene real, it brings it to the front of your mind. Now look at the thumbnail sketch and then think of the scene. What do you like about it? What do you not like about it? Since this is your scene, you can change it in your brain at will. Draw another simple sketch and repeat the steps until you are satisfied with the image.

The next series of thumbnail sketches are for you to draw in a bit more detail. Draw almost as large as your notebook (turn the book to its side if necessary). Draw in pen because pencils smudge, which is more annoying than the need to erase. You do not need to worry about erasing because it is a sketch in your private journal. Write about the objects, the colors, and anything else that will help you paint the picture accurately. Continue and redo as many times as you want.

Get your art materials ready for use.

Remember the basic steps from the bunny slopes, and how you accomplished the last piece. Now it's going to be a bit more difficult, because there is nothing in front of you but your canvas. Close your eyes and recall the image. Zoom in to the main object and see what is there. Zoom out in your mind to view the entire scene. Use your journal for reference.

Step One: Place dots to indicate the top, bottom, left and right of where you want the main object.
Step Two: Find the angles of each object and draw them in with a lightly colored neutral color. You can still measure the objects by closing your eyes and holding the brush and measuring the object in your mind. Think of how the object is in relation to the sides of your rectangle. Begin swinging your brush in the angle and open your eyes while still thinking of the object. Keep doing this until you get the angle correct on the canvas.
Step Three: Continue step one and two until all the objects are drawn to satisfaction on the canvas.
Step Four: Mix the over all color of the background and tone in the background on the canvas.
Step Five: Mix the paints and tone in each object with its overall color.
Step Six: Add a bit more detail to the background.
Step Seven: Add a bit more shading to the objects
Step Eight: Repeat seven and eight until satisfied with the picture
Step Nine: Add in final details and sign work.
Step Ten: Varnish your work, see varnishing section below.

Varnishing

Varnish is expensive and both spray can and brush on varnishes are a pain in fanny to apply. Save varnishing for only your best pieces. Practice applying varnish on your not-so-great pieces. Get a brush that is about 2 inches wide, and a removable varnish for acrylics and doesn't matter which you choose, there are only a few to choose from. Both can leave uneven surfaces if not applied properly. Applying a Brush On Varnish Wait 24 hours after you completed a painting before varnishing, add a day or two if the paint was thickly applied. Get two disposable containers for the varnish, like plastic dishes. Get a 2-inch brush, inexpensive. Pour varnish onto the dish and add 25 percent water to it. Wet brush and dip into varnish. Make sure the entire tip of the brush is covered in varnish and is loaded high enough to cover from side to side with one stroke! Do one stroke from left to right, starting on the top of the paper/canvas. Do another stroke just over lapping the previous stroke and continue until you have covered the entire surface. Wash out brush, throw away the dish. Wait 24 hours. Get another disposable dish and pour more varnish out. Pour varnish on dish and add 25 percent water. Rotate the canvas so it is on its side and you will repeat the same process you did yesterday. In other words, you will be making a cross shape + from yesterday's varnishing. Wait 24 hours and then it will be ready for a frame. Glass is not recommended. Varnishing with a Rattle Can Get a removable varnish spray can. Take your painting and easel outside. DO PRACTICE STROKES ON ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER! Spray from left to right, top to bottom in one stroke. Keep your arm at the same distance for the entire canvas. If you move in or move out, it will show on the surface! Layer slightly over the previous stroke until the entire canvas is completed. Wait 24 hours. Turn canvas on its side so you can make a cross from yesterday's strokes + and repeat the previous steps.

Trouble Shooting Guide

Problem: I'm stuck!
Solution: If you get stuck at all in the process of painting, take a break, and lay down. Close your eyes, and think of the scene and what you are painting. Zoom into the area that you are having difficulty with. Try to mix your colors and paint the picture in your mind. Use your journal in order to make it real in your mind and physical world, then go back to your canvas and try again. When you are satisfied, repeat the process on your canvas.

Problem: There are bumps and crumbs in my paint and they're getting into my picture!
Solution: Your paints have been thinned too much and they are drying up on the palette. Scrape off the palette and start fresh. To avoid this, do not apply fresh paint onto dried paint left on the palette, because over thinned paint has little binder and will always resurface and bead into your brush.

Problem: The paint dries too quickly!
Solution: There are various ways to deal with quick drying acrylics. Put more paint on the palette. Mist the palette first, then squeeze the paint and then mist the paint. And number three if you are trying to blend, mist the canvas before blending on the canvas.

Problem: I can't remove the paint!
Solution: First try running warm water on the surface and gently scrape the surface with a palette knife, add soap as needed. If that doesn't work, get a few cotton balls and moisten with rubbing alcohol and gently rub on the surface of whatever has the paint glued to it. Make sure it is a surface that can handle alcohol.

Problem: My palette knives are rusting!
Solution: Do not let your knives sit in water. If dumping the knives in the bucket is your habit, then get stainless steel knives, or purchase some butter knives. Liquitex makes the best stainless steel knives.