Primed canvas
I usually mention that it’s very beneficial to paint with acrylic on a primed canvas. I personally do not use acrylic primer, but leftover acrylic paint for this reason. Pre-painted or primed canvas resolves a few issues: saturates canvas with the first layer, therefore, applying next layers is easier and makes the paint stick to canvas better which is sometimes problematic. It also can serve as a middle value for fairly complex paintings. It most often gets covered until the final stages, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Autumn lake, acrylic on canvas 20 x 24”
Autumn lake was inspired by memories from my homeland – Latvia and fall season around a lake. I experimented a lot because I didn’t have any photo of the scene, it’s just as I recall it. I think the final painting looks good, and, please, remember my photos taken with iPhone, are always worse than the actual thing.
Starting with mess
No first layers of acrylic painting need to be perfect. It’s better to create some mess and bring it to more defined shapes as we go. The lake painting was simpler, except, since there was no real reference, but only imagination, it was difficult to figure out the sky reflection. We use also fan brush a lot. That allows moving on much faster, and any adjustment can be done in the next layer.
Check the dry canvas, not the wet one
Acrylic paint dries very fast, especially with large and very large paintings, it can become very annoying. The solution is to work in segments by separating the surface in spaces that we cover each one at a time. The other best practice is to work in layers building up the values and colors we prefer. It takes time because it’s excellent to let painting dry between painting sessions. Acrylic paint dries much darker, therefore, you see the true colors only on dry canvas.
The sunny road, acrylic on canvas 24 x 18”
The sunny road is also a product of imagination rather than a copy of reality or photo. Therefore, I had to figure out the placement of shadows and the values which were involved. It wasn’t easy, but the completed painting is very sunny indeed and adds a lot of light and pleasant cheer to my space.
Putting no pressure on our painting
It makes no sense to forcefully move wet acrylic paint around in hopes that it will become what you want. Take it easy, there’s always later. Acrylic painting isn’t difficult, it simply takes more work than, for instance, oil painting. I’m completely allergic to oil paint, therefore, I have worked out all kinds of approaches of acrylic paint application. Most people when they come to class, have not thought at all how important brushstroke is. Nobody learns it right away, but only over time. We have many ways of using brushes to create different effects.
Fantastic time to paint fall season nature
I am really in the fall colors and fall season landscapes at the moment. Just look outside, and that’s all reference we need. People ask how to paint trees. Look at them, look at color transitions, branch patterns and shapes. Every tree is different; it makes sense to observe the specific features of each one. We use fan brush in first layers, later defining them. We build up color in layers.
I hope I have inspired you to paint some fall season landscape.
Have a great fall season!