Friday, March 23, 2012

Painting Demo


This was an acrylic painting demo I did for my media tech class at UVU a few weeks ago. I still love to paint traditionally even though I don't do it for my freelance or personal project work any more. I don't think it's a any big secret that I have an extreme love affair with photoshop however working in acrylics is my first love - and I'll never forget her. The method I used on this piece is the same one that was taught to me by Rob Colvin 20 plus years ago in school. I painted this on a piece of 12x18 masonite - gessoed with lines from brush - pencil sketch - acrylic washes for under painting in burnt sienna - add value with ivory black and burnt sienna and then a series of acrylic paint layers that gradually get dryer and dryer as I work the lightest lights last. I actually even made a video tutorial of this process and you can check it out right here: http://folioacademy.com/samplec.html

14 comments:

  1. It looks gorgeous, you have mad skills! I only got my Wacom tablet a few months ago but I feel just the same. It was love at first scribble! I've used Photoshop for years but I didn't know what I was missing not having a tablet. The reason I guess is ease and freedom. It cut out my anxiety almost completley. I'm not scared to makes changes or mistakes anymore. It gives me freedom to experiment and I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get it into a digital format. You're right though, I'll always be grateful to my first love, which for me, was oil pastels.

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  2. Once again, your work is lovely. The lighting, the color are very dramatic. I envy your students.

    It's a great technique. Why alter what works?

    I kind of miss painting with acrylic. I turned to the friendlier medium after struggling with oils way back in college in the early 90s (totally giving away my age, here...)

    My daughter has recently resurrected my old brushes and stuff to use for her class work (she goes to an magnate arts high school) and showing her the ropes has given me the desire to pick up the brush again after about ten years working digitally. There's something beautifully analog and unexpected about painting in the real world...and I even find myself thinking "command + z" when I make an obvious mistake before I realize I have to go in and manually fix it. That is sad, but true.

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  3. Fantastic work with light and shading. The combination of colours is also great. I love it!

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  4. Thanks Will! Though, I think you taught yourself most of it through trial and error. That's how I learned.

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  5. Awesome colors and depth ! Speechless :)

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  6. Thanks a lot you guys - It was really fun to work on the simple shapes and values - so relaxing :)

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  7. Gorgeous color layering. I know it's not, but it reminds me of a technique my illustrator instructor in college taught us, involving gouache, colored pencil, and a little acrylic.

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  8. Will,

    This is gorgeous... you really are good! Seriously though, this is nice.

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  9. Really nice! Love how you used the color & shadow.

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  10. Wow! This is amazing! Love the blue highlights against the burnt sienna. Great to read the process involved and how you achieved such an amazing piece. I have just recently started painting in oils - big learning curve....

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  11. Thank you for sharing your process. Gorgeous!

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