Practice, Practice, Practice, #2: Week Four

I was able to get an easel this week! It is much nicer than the first one I got, the only problem is that I keep tripping over it... I decided to take Annie's suggestion and practice my new techniques by painting another piece. First I used a monochromatic background like my first piece. This acted as my background. There are some white spaces, but that is because the surface was not primed before I began painting. I am going to use gusso, which primes canvas, on my final product because I have learned that will remove the white spaces.

The darker part of the background is a wall, and the lighter part is the surface that the focus of the painting will be sitting on. Next I added a plate with apples on top. This is known as a still life, which many artists use as subjects for their paintings. In the book that I bought, Acrylic 1 by Ken Goldman, Goldman suggests that using a still life as a focus is a good way to practice the different techniques because of the light reflections and shadows that must be present. 

To make the plate I started out with a white base, and then added yellow and black to the white to make the shadows. For the apples, I started out with four red blobs, as the base for the apples. Then I added a little black to make the shaded spots on the apples. For the lighter spots I only used white. Since the apples were both red and yellow in the photograph I used, I used a basic yellow for the yellow parts of the apples. 

One of the problems that I faced was the amount of spaces on my palette. I had to mix a lot of colors, and use different colors so at one point all of the spaces on my palette were filled, which meant I couldn't use anymore colors or else the colors might mix. I also could not wash the palette since there were colors that I still had to use, and I did not want to waste the paint. I learned from a website suggested by O'Neill, 10 Acrylic Painting Tips for Beginners, that I should only use a little bit of paint at a time so I do not waste any. I tend to use a lot because I think that I am going to use it all and most of the time I don't. I also learned that when I blend paint I need to work with it fast because of how fast acrylic paint dries. 

I have started to draw my final piece! It looks good so far but I have not gotten to the faces yet. I am nervous about starting those because I am not the best at drawing faces. Does anyone know any good sources to learn how to draw different facial features? Have a happy Monday and check back soon for a vlog and a look at the final outline of my final painting!

Boddy-Evans, Marion. "10 Acrylic Painting Tips For Beginners." About.com Painting. N.p.,  n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. <http://painting.about.com/od/acrylicpainting/a/10tips_acrylics.htm>.

Goldman, Ken, and Ken Goldman. Acrylic/1: Learn the Basics of Acrylic Painting. Laguna Hills, CA: Walter Foster Pub., 2003. Print.