The Teacher

"The Teacher" began as an experiment using both acryla gouache and acrylic in the same painting. Holbein's acryla gouache wand Liquitex acrylics were used on a pre-stretched canvas.

STAGE 1:

The image was initially sketched on the canvas. This sketch was then covered with repeated thin washes of raw sienna acrylic as shown in the picture to the right.

STAGE 2:

The second stage consisted of applying the

acrylic paint for both the sky and the water. The first few layers of the acrylic application are shown to the left. The paint was applied in several layers, some of which were dry brush. Rubbing with my fingers was also used. Ultramarine, Parchment, Payne's Grey were mixed for most of the sky. Touches of Titanium White were also used.

The water has the same colors as the sky with the addition of Turquoise, Cobalt Turquoise, and Light Blue Violet.

STAGE 3:


The third stage consisted of using the acryla gouache to create the sand. many layers were used with colors varying from Olive, Dark Magenta, Beige, Cream, Raw Sienna, and various shades of blue.

STAGE 4:

The final stage was the completion of the two figures. Both acryla gouache and acrylic was used. The clothing was completed primarily with acryla gouache while the hair and skin tones were done in acrylic.

Past The Rocks

"Past The Rocks" was created using Holbein's acryla gouache, a flat acrylic paint, on a 30 inch by 24 inch canvas. The canvas was initially colored using Winsor and Newton's lower grade raw sienna acrylic paint. The brushes used was a selection of Winsor and Newton's Artisan line. Very little pencil sketching was then placed on top of the initial canvas color.

STAGE 1: Darks

The first stage was to block in the general pattern of the darkest darks. To create the look of black without using black paint, a combination of dark colors was used: deep violet, deep green, navy blue, prussian blue, sepia, and deep magenta. These colors were mixed directly on the canvas.

After the general darks were blocked in, the darker shades of green in the foliage were placed in the background. Deep green was used along with viridian, navy blue, and green.

STAGE 2: Main Color

Once the darks were down, blocks of the main color were painted. The initial rock shapes were painted using beige, flesh, misty blue, and misty green.

The initial foliage forms were created using pale mint, pale lime, and leaf green.

STAGE 3: The Rocks

As they are in the foreground, the rocks were focused on first. Using the same color selection that was used for the first set of darks, the dark areas around the rocks were further developed.

This was followed by developing the actual shapes of the rocks. Dry brush technique was used to drag darker colors over the initial very pale rock forms, as shown in the close-up picture on the right and the picture below. Acryla gouache worked exceptionally well with this technique; the bottom layers created significant "pull" against the newer layer. Touches of olive paint were used to add warmth to the rocky foreground.


STAGE 4: The Foliage

Working from darker colors to lighter ones, the foliage was completed quickly with wet paint mixed on the canvas. The mid-tone foliage was painted using leaf green, green, and ash yellow. The lighter colored foliage was created using lemon yellow, misty green, light lime, pale mint and ivory white.

Additional tree trunks were added using ash blue, with lighter tree trunks in misty blue. Areas of the trunks were highlighted suing warm colors such as cream and raw sienna. Darker areas were created using deep violet and deep magenta, along with ash blue on the lighter tree trunks.

STAGE 5: Final Touches

When most of the areas were completed, final touches were added to the entire painting. Raw sienna was used along with deep magenta to create warmer areas of the path. Many layers of darker color was added to the rocks, as shown in the close-up to the left, adding form and shadow to the rocky area. Deep magenta was also added in areas of the foliage.

Spots of yellow were added to the foliage with extra highlights coming from spots of luminous yellow and luminous green.

The two light colored trees rooted in the rocks and the "Y" shape small tree on the right side of the painting were the last items painted in this piece.

Coal Miner's Spring

Coal Miner's Spring is an acrylic painting on a 30" by 40" canvas. Liquitex acrylics were used throughout the piece; and a pre-stretched canvas was used.

During a pastel drawing class, I was informed that many oil painters begin a piece by placing the complimentary color on the canvas first. This is used as a base coat upon which the "natural" colors are placed. I love using this technique in pastel paintings as it seems to result in richer, more interesting colors through the final painting. My allergies prevent me from doing any oil painting so I decided to give this technique a try with acrylic.

Sketch and Comlimnetary Colors:

The first step was to do a pencil sketch on the canvas. A fairly detailed sketch was done. After the sketch, the complimentary colors were placed in large blocks on the canvas with interesting results.

"Natural Colors":

The "natural" colors were then placed over the initial layers. Care was taken not to completely cover the compliments so visual "blending" would occur. I feel that this technique worked well although the colors did not actually blend as they do with pastel and oil.

Below is a close-up of a section that shows the complimentary colors "peeking" through the natural colors. This makes the painting much more tintersting visually.

Hay Cow Resting

"Hay Cow Resting" is the first mixed media I have done combining gouache (applied in an opaque layer) and pastel. With the exception of only one color (Leaf Green which was Holbein) all of the gouache colors were Winsor and Newton Designer's Gouache. For the pastel overlay, I used Nupastels and Conte pastel pencils. The paper used was Arches cold press watercolor paper, 30" by 22".

Initial Transparent Complimentary Color Layer

I decided to try a transparent layer of gouache in colors complimentary to the colors in the photographic image. After completing this piece, I have decided to also do this technique in future paintings.

Second Thin Layer of Base Color

My next step was to apply a thin layer of the final color. The picture to the right displays part of the painting covered in the base paint and a portion still in the complimentary color wash. The picture below is the opaque layer of base color over the entire piece.

Third Opaque Layer of Gouache

A third layer of opaque gouache was applied just prior to the pastel. This layer highlights the contrast, increases pattern detail, and builds a base upon which the pastel can be applied.

I wanted to accentuate the swirls of the hay bale and the dark areas of the plants with the bright yellow sunlit tops going into the distance.

Pastel Final Layer

After having completed several paintings in thick layers of gouache, it occurred to me that pastel might work well with the paint. Some brief research told me that gouache is soft pastel in glycerin, with the chalk in the pastel making it opaque. Learning this increased my desire to try gouache and pastel together.

In the past, I have tried hard soft pastels such as Nupastel or Conte soft pastels (I do not believe these are made any more) and liked the results. The available colors are limited, and they do not blend as readily as softer brands; but they give a "graphic", sketchy quality that I like quite a bit. I have found that I can add a level of detail with these pastels that I can not do with the softer brands.

The Nupastels and the Conte pastel pencils worked beautifully with the gouache. This is a combination I will use over and over again.

Night Driving 2

Night Driving 2 was the first painting where I tried acryla gouache from Holbein. It is smoother and more flowing than regular gouache, which I actually did not like. However, I began this painting by doing an undercoat using the acryla gouache. Following the diagonal of the dashed line, I painted the left side yellow and the right side orange. I used the acryla gouache as regular gouache will stick to it but will not blend once it is dry. This allowed me to create small color stipples showing through the final surface.

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This painting was done on a 30" by 22" sheet of Arches rough watercolor paper. The undercoat was done in Holbein's acryla gouache, while the final layers of gouache were Winsor and Newton Designer's gouache.

Once the undercoat was dry, I began to apply the regular gouache colors. I started with thin coats, slowly adding and blending more coats. Typically gouache is used in water form similar to transparent watercolor, but I was enthralled by Thomas Paquette's gouache paintings. He uses rich thick layers of gouache.

The two enlargements here show the thickness and give an indication as to the texture of the finished painting. The gouache is thick enough to have a texture, yet, you can also still see the rough texture of the watercolor paper base.