Here’s a few progress photos of the “Mother and Child” painting.
This is a shop bought canvas so it was already stretched and gessoed. I wanted a textured surface to work on so i applied a layer of modelling compound and worked it with an old metal comb giving it the appearance of heavy brush strokes.
This canvas will be rolled up and posted overseas so it was important that texture would not crack. I can highly recommend Atelier’s modelling compound . It’s flexible and can be used before or during painting.
Once i finalised the design i squared it up and transferred to the canvas. I usually use carbon paper or tracing paper to transfer designs but this is quite a large painting so the grid method worked fine. Now that the design is on the canvas i am all ready to paint.
Firstly, the canvas gets a wash of Burnt umber. Using my value roughs as a guide i block in the dark, mid and light values with a mix of Burnt umber and Payne’s grey. Then the main colours are sketched in. At this early stage i keep things very rough and don’t worry about losing the drawing underneath. I am also open about changing aspects of the design since you want to give the painting a chance to have a life of its own.
You can see some early sketches for this painting here.
For the past few months i have been wanting to buy some new acrylic paints. I fell in love with Golden heavy body acrylics when i bought a tube of Burnt Umber. They are arguably the best acrylics on the market and have a lovely rich buttery feel. Unfortunately they are pricey. I needed to chose my paints carefully so i would get the most out of a small selection of colours.
Another great advantage of having a few colours is that you learn so much by mixing them. For instance a huge range of greens can be mixed that are far more subtle and interesting than a green straight from the tube.
After some research on forums sites like Wet canvas and reading Stephen Quiller’s essential “The painter’s guide to color” I narrowed my selection to five colours.
My three primaries are: Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Yellow light, Phthalo blue Green Shade.
My secondary colours are: Phthalo Green Yellow Shade and Dioxazine Purple.
I didn’t bother with an orange since i can make a clean orange with Quinacridone Red and Cadmium Yellow light.
Out of these five colours I was able to mix the twelve colours of the wheel. It’s amazing how much you learn after doing a simple exercise like this. No amount of reading can substitute for actual practice with the paints. I now have a palette that allows me to mix a huge range of colours.
I don’t think the Golden brand is widely available in Australia but fortunately Melbourne Artist Supplies have the full range.
