Abstract Pumpkin



Abstract Pumpkin
Acrylic
8" x 10" Panel

In the acrylic painting above, I painted the pumpkin in an abstract manner with the “hint” of other pumpkins in the background.   This painting does not fully meet the definition of abstract art, but represents more of an Impressionistic style of acrylic painting.    My painting style is Impressionistic; however, this painting tends a little more toward an abstract painting – perhaps a mix of both styles. 

 

Definition of abstract art:  Abstract art seeks to break away from the traditional representation of physical objects and explores the relationship of form and shape often without recognizable images. 

 

Definition of Impressionistic art:  Impressionism was an art movement that started in France around 1870 which attempted to capture the fleeting “impressions” or “feelings” of a scene rather than detailed realism. 

 

Below are the instructions to capture the painting above:

 

Supplies Needed:

Painting panel – I used a painting panel which had been primed with yellow ochre paint to enhance the light and background in the painting. 

Flat brush and round brush - size of your choice

Palette or disposable palette paper

Acrylic Paint:

• Ultramarine Blue
• White
• Cadmium Red Pale (Lt.)
• Crimson
• Sepia
• Burnt Umber
• VanDyke Brown
• Sap Green
• Yellow Ochre

 

Painting Instructions:

Lightly sketch in shape of the pumpkin with very little detail. 

 

Background:

 The background was painted using Sap Green and Ultramarine Blue.  I painted from bottom to top working around the pumpkin shape sketched on the panel.  Use deep shades around the sides and bottom of the pumpkin. 

Add lighter shades of green, brown and orange in various locations in the background to imply the shapes of other pumpkins in a field behind the pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Body:

Starting with deep shades of orange mixes from Cadmium Red Pale, white and yellow ochre, paint the shapes of each the pumpkin sections.   After the pumpkin sections are painted, go back into each section and add lighter shades of orange, brown, green and white to indicate light and shadow.  Refer to the photo above.  However, deepen the area where the sections meet for shadows and around the outside edges adding bits of green as well.

 

Pumpkin Stem:

 The stem is painted with a deep shade of green mixed from Sap Green and Ultramarine.  Deepen with Sepia and Van Dyke Brown.  Add highlights of white for light areas. 

 

Details:

By the nature of this painting style, details are not desired.  However, check for areas of light and shadow and add those as needed. 

 

Review your painting – step back to see the overall painting and add any additional paint as needed.

 

Sign your painting!  Congratulations!

 

Happy Painting!

Karen

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Patch
16" x 20"
Watercolor Painting

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you enjoy a wonderful day with family and friends counting your blessings!

Happy Painting!
Karen

How to Paint Fall Leaves

Forest Floor
Watercolor painting
16" x 20"

The painting above titled “Forest Floor” is a watercolor painting of various colors and species of leaves.  My reference material for this painting was a photo of the leaves laying on a trail in the Great Smoky Mountains which was taken during a recent hike. 

 

Tip:  To paint successful leaves, go outside in your yard or a park and pick up several leaves to view when painting for assistance with the veins, stems, coloration, etc.

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (I used Arches 140 lb. paper – 9” x 12” size)

Watercolor board

Masking tape to anchor paper

Brushes:

• Round brush – your choice of size
• Liner brush or script brush

Paint:  colors of your choice.  I used the following in the painting above:

• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Umber
• Sepia
• Payne’s Gray
• Cadmium Red Pale (Light)
• Crimson
• Grumbacher Red
• VanDyke Brown
• Sap Green
• Hunter Green

Painting Instructions:
Lightly sketch in the leaves as well as any other items; i.e. sticks, acorns, etc.   that you would like to have as a part of your painting.   

Background:
Wet the area round the leaves.  Masking is not necessary for the stems as they will be darker than your background and can be painted on top of the dry background.  Notice the leaf shapes in the background?  These are painted last after the remainder of the painting has been completed.    Allow the background to dry.

Leaves:

Paint each leaf separately and do not paint leaves which are side by side until the wet leaf has dried completely or the paint will run into the unpainted leaf.

 

Wet the shape of the leaf with clean water.  Starting with the lightest color in the leaf, drop in the paint allowing the water to move the paint in the wet areas of your leaf.  While this paint is still wet, drop in darker shades of the same color as well as bits of green, brown, Sepia, etc.  Allow your leaves to determine the paint you need to use.  Allow to dry.

 

Stems, Stick, Acrons, etc:

Using a round brush, paint the stems and other forest items in your painting.  Stems are painted using light VanDyke Brown and then painting down one side with Sepia to allow the two colors to blend while wet. 

 

Details:

 Look at your leaves and using your liner brush and either Sepia or VanDyke Brown paint the veins with a light hand.  Do not paint every vein you see, only a few.   This painting is not intended to be a botanical rendering, but a representation of a forest scene. 

Background Leaves:

Using a wet round brush, lift some of the paint in the background in the shapes of various leaves.  While this area is still wet, use various shades of green, sepia, VanDyke brown, etc. to add the shapes of leaves using very little paint. These leaves are in the background and are very indistinct.  Allow to dry.

 

View your painting to see if any additional details need to be added in the painting.  When you are satisfied, sign you name.

 

 Congratulations!

Happy Painting!
Karen

 

What Color is White?

Dusty
9" x 12" watercolor

The watercolor above of our dog, Dusty, is an excellent example of painting white.  I am always asked how to paint "white" when "white" paint is typically not used in watercolor painting.




Have you ever wanted to paint a room in your home white?  I have.....and then I went to select the paint and wondered how may colors of white are there?!!  There are literally hundreds of shades of white paint. 




The same holds true with our white dog, Dusty, in the painting above.  Dusty is what one would consider a white dog.  We rescued Dusty as a 2 year old and his name was selected by his previous owner.  She did an excellent job of naming this fellow.  He is white, but he has a steak of "dust" down his back and around his muzzle.  Therefore, painting this white dog had to include some "dust." 




I painted Dusty from a photo as a camera does not pick up the slight differences in color that the human eye can.  Although I used the photo for basic shape, I looked at my subject in person (Dusty) to pick out the colors. 




Dusty's fur contains shades of yellow ocher, raw sienna, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, cadmium orange, sepia and Payne's gray; all of these colors are very diluted.  And, one can always use white paint.  It's your painting and you set the rules!




It is best to study your subject in real life to catch all the rich nuances of color hiding in fur or any object whether the color is white or another color.    Rarely are any colors simply one shade, but made up of various shades and values of a color with other colors in shadows or highlights.






I'll provide instructions on how to paint the picture above of Dusty; however, the process of painting white works for any subject.

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (I used Arches 140 lb. paper – 9” x 12” size)

Watercolor board

Masking tape to anchor paper

Brushes:

• Round brush – your choice of size
• Liner brush or script brush
• Fan brush

Paint:  colors of your choice.  I used the following on the fur in the painting above:

• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Umber
• Raw Sienna
• Burnt Sienna
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cadmium Orange
• Sepia
• Payne’s Gray
• Black
• White
• Rose Madder
  

Painting Instructions:
Lightly sketch in the shape of your subject.  If you are painting fur, drawn lightly in the locations where "clumps" of fur are located.   Prepare washes of the colors needed for your subject. 


Look - really look - at the colors in your subject.  What colors do you find in the white fur?  Mostly gray?  Mostly browns?  A mix?  This is the hardest part of the process of painting white....really looking at the subject and selecting the colors that are part of the white. 


1st Layer:
I painted the eyes, nose ears and tongue first as I wanted to define the subject and work the fur around these areas.  The eyes in this instance are a mix of Sepia and Black.  Be certain to leave a white highlight.  Wet the area and leave this highlight dry.  If your highlight becomes flooded with color, you can always scratch a bit of white in the eye using a utility knife after the paint has dried or touch in a bit of white paint.  Define the eye with black.    The nose is a mix of Sepia, Black and Rose Madder as Dusty has a bit of pink in his nose.  Define the nose with bits of white as well.  Wet the entire area of the tongue.  Drop in deeper shades of Rose Madder toward the outer edges and allow to mix with the clean water to the center. Add details if needed.  Deepen the shades of color around the muzzle area to define the mouth.    I used a light wash of Rose Madder for the ears and dropped in some Payne's Gray to deeper the shadows.  Allow the eyes, nose, ears and tongue to dry before starting to paint the fur. 


Start adding some of the darker shades of color as shadows between the clumps of fur.   Don't do every hair, just the most defining areas as a base for the fur you will be painting later.   Use some warmer colors and some cooler colors for light and shadows. 


2nd Layer:
Some areas will need to be darker and you can begin to add a few lines for fur.    As discussed in a previous blog with instructions for painting fur, use the brush method that you find successful and that works for the fur you have selected to paint.   In my painting above, I used a small fan brush to add the fur around the mouth, but a round brush to paint the remainder of the fur.   Let the individual bits of fur "stick out" around the ears, eyes and top of the head.  Do not overdo on adding fur.  Sometimes less is more; and in this case with fur, that is definitely the case.  Leave some fur areas unpainted, it is not necessary to paint every single piece of fur on the animal's body. 




3rd Layer:    Look over the painting to see if you need to add any additional shadows, fur lines etc.  I used acrylic white to paint a few stray hairs over the eyes and ears.  Don't overdo this part. 


Now you know - what color white is.  Well, it's white and gray and yellow and.......


Happy Painting!
Karen

 

Mrs. Huggles

Mrs. Huggles - a Teddy Bear
Watercolor
9" x 12" on Arches watercolor paper

Now that everyone is up to speed on painting fur from last week's blog, as promised, this blog will provide instruction on painting the teddy paint painting above. 

 

Supplies Needed:

Watercolor paper (I used Arches 140 lb. paper – 9” x 12” size)

Watercolor board

Masking tape to anchor paper

Brushes:

• Round brush – your choice of size
• Liner brush or script brush
• Fan brush

Paint:  colors of your choice.  I used the following on the fur in the painting above:

• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Umber
• Sepia
• Payne’s Gray
• Cerulean Blue
• Ultramarine Blue
• Rose Madder

Painting Instructions:
Lightly sketch in the shape of the bear. 

 

Background:
Wet the area round the bear on the right side up to the ear and head and under the bear.   I used a wash of Rose Madder to match the color used in the bow.  Apply the wash using a round brush and deepen the areas under the bear for shadows.  Let this paint flow freely.  Allow to dry.

 

Body of Bear:

Base Coat:

Use a round brush and various shades of fur color (Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Sepia, Payne’s Gray) and apply a wash of color on the bear.  Use darker colors to deepen the fur in areas around arms, legs, paws and around the bow.    Paint the pads of the paws with a light wash of Payne’s Gray and Yellow Ochre. 

 

Fur:

Using the same colors above and the method in the previous blog, paint the fur.  Be certain to vary the color and build from light to dark.  Refer to the photo above.  Allow to dry.    Caution:  Don’t get carried away….a light hand is often better when painting fur!

 

Eyes and Nose:

Nose:  Use a round brush and a wash of Payne’s Gray to paint the nose.  Leave some areas lighter than others and allow a little white to show through.

 

Eyes:  Outline the outer edge of the eye with Payne’s Gray and paint the pupil of the eye with Payne’s Gray as well.  Allow to dry.  Using Burnt Umber and Yellow Ocher, paint the iris of the eye.  Allow to dry.  Using a craft knife, scratch a white spot on each pupil. 

 

Bow:

I used Rose Madder and painted a plaid bow.  Allow the lines of the paint to follow the shape of the bow.  Deepen the area in the center for shadow.  Allow to dry.

 

Sign your painting!  Congratulations!

Happy Painting!
Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Paint Fur!

Mrs. Huggles - a Teddy Bear
Watercolor
9" x 12"Arches watercolor paper

 

The painting above is an example of painting fur.  Fur can be fun to paint, but very easy to overdo.  In this post, I will provide instructions on how to paint fur and the next post will provide instructions to paint the teddy bear shown above.

 

You will need the following materials:

Watercolor paper

Brushes:

• Round brush – your choice of size
• Flat brush – old and scraggly
• Liner brush or script brush
• Fan brush

Paint:  colors of your choice.  I used the following on the fur illustrated above:

• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Umber
• Sepia
• Paynes Gray

 

Steps involved in painting fur:

Step 1:  Base coat

Using a round brush, apply a light base coat of the colors in the body of your subject.  Using my example above, notice that deeper colors were used in the shadows around the arms, under the bow, around the feet and hands and areas of the face (ears, etc.)  Look at the subject and paint in a very light wash of these colors, even leaving some of the areas unpainted.  Remember this is the base only and other paint will be applied over this.  The base will show through the fur.  Allow the base to dry. 

 

Step 2: Painting the fur

Now for the fun part!  You can use several different brushes to paint fur.   I actually use a couple of different brushes depending on the location of the fur and the need to work around certain areas.   Since this is just practice, try all three brushes on a scrap piece of watercolor paper to see which brush will be the best one for you.

 

Technique for all brush styles:

Prepare several different shades of paint for the fur.  Start with the lightest shade and work into the darker shades.  Remember to work from light to dark.  Once the dark paint is applied it cannot be removed.  So paint with a light hand adding a little at a time until you achieve the desired result. Build layer upon layer, allowing previous, lighter layers to show through. 

Using a fan brush:

I use a dry brush and lightly dip the brush into the paint.  With a light touch, pull the brush in the direction the fur grows.    Fan brushes come in all sizes.   A small fan brush works for me; however, that is simply a personal preference.

 

Using a flat brush:

A flat brush that is old with scraggy bristles is the perfect brush to use for painting fur.  The bristles should be pulled apart so that each bristle will leave a mark rather than creating a smooth, solid line. 

 

Using a liner brush or script brush:

This style of brush will require one to paint each piece of fur separately.  If you need control of placement, this is the brush of choice. 

 

I use a combination of a fan brush and a liner brush.  I paint in the majority of the fur with the fan brush and fill in with the liner brush in locations that are harder to paint or that need more control.

 

Practice and see which brush works for you!

 

Fur painting tips:

• Don’t get carried away with the fur.  I know that painting fur is so much fun that it is easy to overdo.  So, paint a little at a time.
• Get the right amount of water in the paint.  Too little water and the brush will drag across the paper and leave inconsistent marks.  Too much water and the lines will blur when the water runs.  Again, practice until you achieve the right consistency of paint. 
• Keep your brush strokes light.  A heavy hand can make the fur look too bulky.
• Work from light to dark allowing all layers to show through. 
• Look at the subject and see what kind of fur you are painting and try to match that look.  Is the fur long and silky or short and thick, etc.?

Most important – have fun and practice!

 

Remember:  Don’t worry about messing up – it’s only paper.

 

Happy Painting!

Karen