Acrylic painting Archives - Page 10 of 16

October 2, 2018October 17, 2024

Acrylic painting supplies for art classes

Painting supplies for acrylic painting classes

We do not need a lot of acrylic painting supplies to start painting, so, keep the list short and get things you do not have yet as you go.

Brushes

1 flat brush, soft, synthetic for either watercolor or acrylic painting, ¾ inch wide; or about the same size Filbert brush (it is flat with rounded corners). 1 small soft watercolor or acrylic brush, size 4-6 round, fan brush for oil painting (rough bristles). If fan brush with rough bristles is not available, get simple wall/window painting brush, 1-1.5 inch wide. We will cut it out with scissors, so that it can do more. I will show how. We can use Filbert brushes (slightly rounded edges) in small to medium sizes also.

Canvas

We use 16 x 20” canvas for regular classes and 16 x 12″ canvas for 1 day workshops. If you believe you are rather slow with brushing paint, the smallest size is 12 x 16 in. However, painting larger is easier. You will need to paint your canvas in medium dark grey or brown color before you come to class. The edges of canvas need to be covered with one layer of paint as well. That helps creating better art much faster.

Acrylic paints

The best acrylic paints for beginners are AMSTERDAM students’ grade or Liquitex Basics students’ grade paints. Artist’s Loft (Michael’s brand) will work, as well, but it doesn’t mix well with paints of other brands (curdles).

The best is to get a professional grade Titanium white and two yellow colors: one lemon yellow and the other cadmium medium yellow or similar warm yellow. White and yellow are very weak colors in any students’ grade paints. I’d not advise to get a paint set, but rather separate tubes because we use white and yellow much more than other colors. You do not need any green color..

Short list of acrylic paint colors:

You will need 6 basic colors to get started:

White: Titanium white, required more than other colors

Black: Lamp black, Mars black

Red: 1 warm red (more orange red) and 1 cold red (more purple)

Cadmium medium red, Primary magenta, Crimson pyrrole, Carmine red, Crimson lake, Carmine lake, Naphthol red medium or similar, whatever red the brand you want to use has.

Yellow: 1 cold yellow (greenish shade), 1 warm yellow (more orange shade)

Hansa or Lemon yellow (cold yellow) and Cadmium yellow medium, Brilliant yellow, Azo yellow medium (warm yellow)., 2 yellow shades are important for color mixing. If you have just one, please, choose medium yellow (warmer).

Blue: Brilliant blue, Prussian blue and/or Cobalt blue, having at least 1 blue is very important

Artist grade paints have more pigment and less fillers and binders. If you would like to use artist’s grade paints, I would advise Liquitex heavy body, Graham (satisfactory quality, not that great tubes) or Golden (also tough to open tubes).

Additional acrylic paint colors:

You can get them gradually when you know what you need more.

Ocher: yellow ocher or golden ocher

Red-brown: Burnt sienna

Warm dark brown: Burnt umber

Blue: Ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue

Dark grey: Payne’s grey

Additional supplies: white plastic disposable plates (it is important plate is white). Do not use mixing papers or tiny palettes which are not suitable for mixing wet paint. I will not accept them for art classes. Mixing paper does not work with many acrylic paint applications, especially fan brush and sponge.

At least 10 sheets of paper towel per class. It is very important you use paper towel, it is not possible to paint without cleaning your brush frequently.

We use pre-painted canvas so that painting is much easier.

Additional supplies for easing the painting process

Plastic knife

Seaweed sponge or silk sponge

Slow-drying medium and blending medium, as well as modeling paste are useful, but we use them only for certain projects and get by with water. I have my own blending medium which I create from 3 components, I will show how.

It is better to have fewer acrylic painting supplies and better quality supplies. It is recommended to get paints at the art store. Artisan liquid paints from the Dollarama absolutely do not work.

Schedule: Art classes, schedule and registration

June 3, 2018October 17, 2024

Relocating art gallery, selling art and restructuring website

Moving my art gallery and showrooms

My art gallery is on the move: paintings are traveling to Ajax soon. There are numerous paintings, endless sheets of drawings, sketches, frames, framed and unframed paintings of all sizes.. Due to that, I am offering nice deals on my art at the moment. While I can give discounts to art that is purchased online, the expensive Canadian shipping services make it difficult. The winners are definitely art lovers and art collectors who can come to the gallery in person before the moving date. That is the end of July or close to it. I would like to have a well-organized move. You could help me move, you certainly could by purchasing some art.

Selling my art: getting people to see it

Due to oversupply which is based on art print sales, it is very tricky to make people aware that this is original art and you can touch and feel the brushstrokes and textures. You can feel the energy literally floating around the place. Original art of good quality actually sells quite well, especially in person, especially when price point is intentionally made very attractive. When people get to see it, many love my art and are very willing to spend their money for something that beautiful. My problem has always been to get people in here. The location is fine; however, it is a corner lot. Parking becomes confusing, and there is practically no foot traffic.

Good original art sells

I sold 5 paintings before the surgery. Well, way too less to make this gallery move lighter, but it’s still great. I work passionately and methodically completing a painting. I have paintings which took me more than a year to bring to a condition which I was satisfied with. Watercolors can take up to 3 or 4 weeks, full sheet watercolors. I have been painting mostly large and medium size art. If I could, I would only paint large and very large art because that gives me so much more freedom. I am naturally interested in large-scale paintings. Even when I started out as a kid, my drawings and paintings were large. In average, every acrylic painting has taken me between 2 weeks and a month, and for watercolors that would be 2-3 weeks.

Value and uniqueness

Lucky artists who get remunerated for their input in creation of art! Taking into account the numerous hours which go into my paintings, the selling price is a tiny fraction of the art value. Watercolors are very difficult to repeat, if at all possible, therefore, each painting is genuinely unique. Acrylic is a very slow medium. It takes layers and layers to take the painting where I want it to go. I will not sell sketches and drawings, I will use them on the learning page of my website which is getting developed.

Website’s facelift and new learning page

I intend to restructure and reorganize completely my website; however, it will have to wait for a while with all the intense packing and unpacking. Sooner or later, there will be videos available too, but the current hectic situation does not allow for that. That is the future: presentations, traceable drawings, video suggestions, and I will link this with a Facebook community page where everybody who wants to try the particular subject will be able to post their creations and ask questions. Live classes will also take place at the new location; however, the number of participants will be limited.

I will still have plants and garden

Plants will come with me, and I have a great deal of them. I intend to dig out my herbs and peonies, irises and similar, the small lilac I planted last year and even lily of the valley. This place is a very amazing one: I have numerous plant species all around. I will really miss some of them, especially apple tree.

Enjoy the gallery, share blog link or pictures if you can

These are the recent images of my art gallery. A few walls and a few displays are visible. These are mostly acrylic paintings, watercolors did not make into this photo session. It feels a bit sad because I had a great art gallery here. It is not easy to find buildings which suit this purpose. Well, just keep in touch! Much more to come!

My iPhone takes quite dark pictures, although, I have adjusted settings. The light was not perfect, as well. I find that iPhone tries to totally dramatize any picture, so regarding a painting, it becomes very sharp and it lacks the value balance which is present in my real art. While I’m not 100% happy with these pictures, I would love you to still enjoy them. I believe it is an excellent gallery. Well, my art will be displayed online for the most part in the future, but I will arrange a showroom.

More art Originals

Copyright notice: Copyrights of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. The use of painting and drawing images is prohibited if I have not issued a written permission.

Art products and art prints:

Art collections by Inese Poga

January 14, 2018August 31, 2024

Art instruction: online versus real, myths versus reality

Art instruction in abundance

Art instruction can be found in abundance everywhere: there are numerous online classes, numerous websites that will give an idea of creating art and also countless real life events. 100% of students who attend my art classes have been watching YouTube art instruction videos, demos and suggestions. One would think they have learned a lot. In fact, it isn’t the case.

What is the gain?

Most people after spending a lot of time with online art instruction videos haven’t learned anything. That sounds strange, but it is a fact. Most people who have been watching YouTube tutorials and demos do not know how to use the brush with acrylic, how to blend paint and how to mix the correct color they want. Most people who were learning drawing and watercolor painting using online video tutorials are afraid of water; they do not know how to apply watercolor paint, how much water to use, how to time the painting process and how to avoid muddy colors. Most people, who were learning how to draw online, cannot draw anything on their own or using real set-up compositions. They can only trace a photo or use an outline printout for their drawing.

Reasons and causes

Why would that be? Why haven’t they become skilled after spending numerous hours at the screen? The main reason might be the one-sidedness. If one has a lot of artistic experience and knowledge of painting techniques and understanding of paint properties, they will benefit from such online art instruction videos. These, who have zero experience, most likely will not. I believe these art instruction videos are good for inspiration and issue solving. If you do not have experience, you will rather get confused and disappointed.

Two-way communication

In real and live class, I can see how somebody understood the demo or painting tip. You’d be surprised seeing what levels of moisture are applied when I am saying: make your paper wet. That ranges from flooded paper with puddles of water to slightly seeing shine on it. Graded wash is understood in very different ways: from thick layer of paint to no paint at all. Not to mention a wet paint application on wet paper and a dry paint application on wet or dry paper.

Timing

Timing is a very important part of painting with either watercolor, or acrylic. By not observing timing and making good use of it, the potential artist will definitely get frustrated. There are things which are easy to do when the timing is right and impossible to do at all if the timing is wrong.

On your own and on one side of screen

When you are sitting on one side of screen, nobody can check or see how exactly you are applying advice or tip. In a live class, I can see right away whether the paint is too wet, too dry, if there is too little of it or way too much of it. I can see right away who understood the technique and who is struggling with it. I am able to notice the weaknesses and the strengths right away, as well, and do that for each particular student.

Brushing techniques

Brushing techniques are probably the most important part of acrylic painting. Most people have absolutely no idea about these techniques. It is understood that it does not matter how you put the acrylic paint on canvas. Well, that makes the painting experience either pleasant or results in frustration when one cannot achieve what they want to.

Art instruction can be found in abundance everywhere: there are numerous online classes, numerous websites that will give an idea of that and also countless real life events. 100% of students who attend my art classes have been watching YouTube art instruction videos, demos and suggestions. One would think they have learned a lot. In fact, it isn’t the case. Most people after spending a lot of time with online art instruction videos haven’t learned anything. That sounds strange, but it is a fact. Most people who have been watching YouTube tutorials and demos do not know how to use the brush with acrylic, how to blend paint and how to make the correct color they want. Most people who were learning drawing and watercolor painting using online video tutorials are afraid of water; they do not know how to apply watercolor paint, how much water to use, how to time the painting process and how to avoid muddy colors. Most people, who were learning how to draw online, cannot draw anything on their own or using real things and their set-up compositions. They can only trace a photo or use an outline printout for their drawing. Why would that be? Why haven’t they become skilled after spending numerous hours at the screen? The reason might be the one-sidedness. If one has a lot of artistic experience and knowledge of paint application techniques and understanding of paint properties, they will benefit from such online art instruction videos. These, who have zero experience, most likely will not. I believe these art instruction videos are good for inspiration and issue solving if you have plenty of painting and drawing experience. If you do not have such experience, you will rather get confused and disappointed. In real and live class, I can see how somebody understood the demo or painting tip. You’d be surprised seeing what levels of moisture are applied when I am saying: make your paper wet. That ranges from flooded paper with puddles of water to slightly seeing shine on it. Graded wash is understood in very different ways: from thick layer of paint to no paint at all. Not to mention a wet paint application on wet paper and a dry paint application on wet or dry paper. Timing is a very important part of painting with either watercolor, or acrylic. By not observing timing and making good use of it, the potential artist will definitely get frustrated. There are things which are easy to do when the timing is right and impossible to do at all if the timing is wrong. When you are sitting on one side of screen, nobody can check or see how exactly you are applying advice or tip. In a real life class, I can see right away whether the paint is too wet, too dry, there is too little of it or there is way too much of it. I can see right away who understood the technique and who is struggling with it. I am able to notice the weaknesses and the strengths right away, as well. Brushing techniques are probably the most important part of acrylic painting. Most people have absolutely no idea about these techniques. It is understood that it does not matter how you put the acrylic paint on canvas. Well, that makes the painting experience either pleasant, or results in frustration when one cannot achieve what they want to. Most people do not know how wet and how dry watercolor paint should be, and I have seen how some would try applying it without any water at all. Sounds crazy? Yes, it is weird because we call it watercolor since it can be used only with water. Pigment in watercolor paint is activated using water, otherwise it won’t work. Without doing this properly, there is no watercolor painting, but we create a streaky smear. There is a principle which is always true when it comes to art supplies: the better quality art supplies are, the easier it is to apply them; and vice versa: the worse quality art supplies are, the more skills one will need to use them properly and to achieve good results. While many art instruction demos and videos are called “How to paint ….” they should be called, in fact, “How I paint ….” because there are lots of ways to interpret one and the same subject and one and the same theme. Many of demos also instead of “How to paint …” fall in the category “How not to paint …”. That’s just how wrong the demo or art instruction advice can be. With the wide-spread accessibility of internet and opportunity to share and post anything, we cannot be always sure if the advice we are given is correct or if it will ever work for us in particular. We have to approach everything selectively. That refers not only to art instruction, but also to any advice for any situation in life. We have seen by now how art instruction is given by people who do not have the slightest teaching or art experience, as well. Art instruction has become an area where everybody is an expert. Would anybody teach and give music lessons? Piano or guitar lessons, for instance? No, they would not. Would anybody without any knowledge and skill teach foreign language, math or chemistry? No, they would not because that means misleading the student and pretending that one has what they do not. When it comes to drawing and painting, it is assumed that having no experience is not an issue. Just teach it and everything will be fine, which is profoundly wrong. I would say if you want to see fast results and create a decent and interesting art, you definitely have to start with real and live art instruction. Let the art instructor see how and what you are doing because that is the only way to find out why some things absolutely do not work and what you should be doing to make this experience rewarding and uplifting. Realistically, the things one needs to learn are the main principles of drawing and painting, not the style and techniques of artist X, Y or Z. The truth is that once you have learned the basics and have established the foundation you will be able to create anything, draw and paint anything in your personal style and to develop a personal approach to any subject. That won’t limit you to just being able to paint one particular scene and subject. It will feel like: I can draw and paint any scene, any still life and floral composition. I can draw and paint anything. That’s why starting with techniques, values, color theory and composition is important. Practically, that means finding out what your brush, paint and pencil can do once you know how to use them. Therefore, I would suggest, we start with basics and go from simple subjects to very complex ones. Along with becoming skilled in art, drawing and painting are the absolutely best things to devote our free time and leisure hours to. This means also exploring ourselves, becoming smarter, better with decision making and invisibly growing new brain cells, as well, extending the lifetime of the existing brain cells. That means a better memory and an improved cognitive function.

Using watercolor paint

Most people do not know how wet or how dry watercolor paint should be, and I have seen how some would try applying it without any water at all. Sounds crazy? Yes, it is weird because we call it watercolor because it is used with water. Pigment in watercolor paint is activated using water, otherwise it won’t work. Without doing this properly, there is no watercolor painting, but we create a streaky smear.

Quality of art supplies

There is a principle which is always true when it comes to art supplies: the better quality art supplies are, the easier it is to apply them; and vice versa: the worse quality art supplies are, the more skills one will need to use them properly and to achieve good results.

How to or how not to

While many art instruction demos and videos are called “How to paint ….” they should be called, in fact, “How I paint ….” because there are lots of ways to interpret one and the same subject and one and the same theme. Many of demos also instead of “How to paint …” fall in the category “How not to paint …”. That’s just how wrong the demo or art instruction advice can be. With the widespread accessibility of internet and opportunity to share and post anything, we cannot be always sure if the advice we are given is correct or if it will ever work for us in particular. We have to approach everything selectively. That refers not only to art instruction, but also to any advice for any situation in life.

Teaching without skills? That happens

We have seen by now how art instruction is given by people who do not have the slightest teaching or art experience, as well. Art instruction has become an area where everybody is an expert. Would anybody teach and give music lessons? Piano or guitar lessons, for instance? No, they would not. Would anybody without any knowledge and skill teach foreign language, math or chemistry? No, they would not because that means misleading the student and pretending that one has what they do not. When it comes to drawing and painting, it is assumed that having no experience is not an issue. Just teach it and everything will be fine. Isn’t that a bit absurd?

Learn faster

I would say if you want to see fast results and create decent and interesting art, you definitely have to start with real and live art instruction. Let the art instructor see how and what you are doing because that is the only way to find out why some things do not work and what you should be doing to make this experience rewarding and uplifting. Realistically, the things one needs to learn are the main principles of drawing and painting, not the style and techniques of artist X, Y or Z.

Finding out what you can do

Once you have learned the basics and have established the foundation, you will be able to create anything, draw and paint anything in your personal style and develop a personal approach to any subject. That won’t limit you to being able to only paint one particular scene and subject. It will feel like: I can draw and paint any scene, any still life and floral composition. I can draw and paint anything. That’s why starting with techniques, values, color theory and composition is important. Practically, that means finding out what your brush, paint and pencil can do once you know how to use them.

Winter birch painting by Inese Poga — Painting which we created during recent art class

From simple to complex

Therefore, I would suggest, we start with basics and go from simple subjects to very complex ones. Along with becoming skilled in art, drawing and painting are the absolutely best things to devote our free time and leisure hours to. This means also exploring ourselves, becoming smarter, better with decision-making and invisibly growing new brain cells, as well, extending the lifetime of the existing brain cells. That means a better memory and an improved cognitive function.

Suggestions on how to choose art classes: https://inesepogagallery.com/2017/10/09/choose-art-classes/

Registration for art classes: Art classes

And some of our previous experiences: https://inesepogagallery.com/2013/09/20/art-classes-a-worthwhile-activity/

December 10, 2017October 17, 2024

Shop for heartwarming and unique nature art

Shop, shop, buy, save: you have heard it a lot recently. Be grateful if you can do that and afford things not only for yourself, but also for somebody else.

The year is getting close to its finish line. Before we jump over to the next chapter in our life, we can still do something nice. For somebody who hasn’t had much luck.

I hope that I can still make some things happen and possibly sell some of my art. Art is all I have. There is nothing else because every day when I could make myself do something I was painting, drawing and creating. Even on these days when it felt almost impossible. The rest of time went by as if in fog. No energy, no desire to move. Big tiredness and exhaustion.

Life isn’t always easy. I have had 4 bad years in a row which really tested me. It would be great I could say the tough times are over, but I don’t know yet. I’m seeing the surgeon on December 22. I am not sure what he will schedule or decide. Therefore, I’m not very excited about the upcoming Christmas.

Everything else did not go right either. The city decided to do construction work around my place; they were taking off and changing sidewalks. My place became inaccessible for quite a few weeks. Before and after that I got sick and my main conditions worsened. The construction workers cut off our internet cable accidentally and it was not ok with me because I don’t see much on the phone screen and I cannot do posting from the phone screen. Neither do I read news and other stuff, it’s just too small and causes strong headache.

I feel like I am a bit better now, but, unfortunately, my resources have dried up. Well, 4 years of struggles without normally working can do that.

Therefore, I will be pursuing what I had intended about a month ago: featuring some creations and paintings.

I am aware that very few people read any posts. Most bloggers click on “like” from the Reader, and that’s it. However, if you do read this, please help spreading the word. Some art is for shipping and some sells locally. Sale would be the best gift for me, hence, that would allow me getting gifts for my family. Well, I might sound a bit upset, but I am not trying to paint the reality darker than it is. There are bad times and good times. It is amazing how fast time becomes past. Please help to fill the upcoming days with some hope and excitement.

I wanted this to be some kind of a promotional text. However, my hand was typing something else. Not the bright and glossy words which I was intending to put in this post, but rather the painful and sobering realization of the lost days and weeks. So, there is no promotion and advertising text, but the idea remains the same: I simply have to sell some beautiful, heartwarming pieces of art to make a few little wishes happen. I know it is going to be difficult, yet, we all hope for the best. Don’t we? Please let me know if you have ever seen on this website art that you liked so much you could buy it; for a gift or for pleasure, that definitely does not matter.

I placed the painted birds in their natural habitat. They come with a rustic frame, too. I didn’t get to take pictures of everything. It was quite dark here and daylight is over very rapidly.

I believe, this is a very unique and attractive art which also makes a great gift, as well as fantastic wall decoration. I have put in these artworks all my best thoughts. Nature has been always close to my heart and perception. I am not trying to copy it, but represent in a way I am feeling about it.

So, please shop for art. Shopping for art is rewarding to every involved party. I mean that refers to people, who have something left over from their spending budget.

Last minute gifts Christmas gifts Country style

I will keep posting more beautiful pictures on days when I can do that. Please share if you can, and please follow and share on Facebook or Twitter, too. Links are on the right side. Thanks!

November 20, 2017October 17, 2024

Celebrate in style: the best way to get into Christmas mood

Robins, cardinals, fun and Christmas mood

Christmas mood must be intentionally created. Original art has a special attraction, energy and flare to it, therefore, it really helps. I don’t think there can be too much art on any walls. I have usually some 200 works of art on display in my studio gallery, and it does not feel overwhelming or crowded. I rotate my art depending on demand and season. It feels very appropriate to have snow scenes and winter villages on display when Christmas is around the corner, and it is very obvious that spring flowers blossom around the gallery in spring.

Fantastic small bird paintings

I have a special love to small birds. I preferred them to any other creatures already as a kid. I assume that one should only paint what they know. I watch these birds during any season, and I have hundreds of sketches which I can turn into artworks later. I painted this particular painting “Robins, winter” last year. I painted 6 bird paintings. As it frequently happens, I felt I wanted to improve the color balance. So, I added a few more layers of paint to this painting. I believe it became better and birds are more bird-like, as well. The entire scene is lovely and welcoming and speaks for itself – it works very well for Christmas mood.

Bird painting for sale, holiday and Christmas art

Robins, winter, 16 x 20 in (41 cm x 51 cm) acrylic painting on canvas, sold

Festive gift painting workshop

I invite everybody to participate in a festive workshop at the beginning of December to try out how nice of an adventure it is to create something heart-warming and cheerful. We can choose the image, and some people usually prefer winter scenes, some illustration or wall decoration type of art, as well as some might go for birds. We also paint poinsettias almost every winter. I must admit, that is a subject which always works well on canvas and paper and looks great.

Christmas mood: Bird paintings in acrylic

Create the mood, create the gift

The best way to get into Christmas mood is to create art that suits the season. Let us celebrate in style with original art this year! Please let me know if you like “Robins, winter” painting and whether you’d love me to ship it to you!

Art prints and other artistic products are available from Fine Art America., just click on image.

My favorite from all products with this particular painting is the spiral notebook. It looks unbelievably good! Mugs also look impressive, so do actually lots of my art products and art prints.

Here is how you get to purchase many fantastic prints and similar artsy things at very attractive prices: Art collections by Inese Poga

Celebrate in style and have a wonderful Christmas mood!

Category: Acrylic painting

Acrylic painting supplies for art classes

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Relocating art gallery, selling art and restructuring website

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Art instruction: online versus real, myths versus reality

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Shop for heartwarming and unique nature art

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Celebrate in style: the best way to get into Christmas mood

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