Just like birds, I will take off tomorrow. I won’t go south; however, I will go east, to Latvia. Whether we like it or not, September is soon over, and October will come with its gold to soothe and comfort our aching souls because, oh well, we are heading towards the winter. Eventually, snow silver will cover the rusty golden sparkles, and our feet will be walking the icy and cold sidewalks of freezing town and city roads. I love the colors of autumn, just like we all do! It is such an injustice that this beauty disappears so fast. Nevertheless, it is a great time to capture and enjoy the fantastic colors. Regardless of personal preferences, nature’s cycles are inevitable.
Fall art projects
I kept working on some projects and I also tried to bring to finish the class project: the distant blue background and the lonely tree. Pumpkins are going to be uploaded to Fine Art America; maybe somebody will like them as greeting cards or other products: there are so many now that I cannot even list them all.
Looking forward to my time in Latvia
I will try to report about my adventures in Latvia since I have a new laptop. Laptop is fine, I would not say I’m very excited about Windows 10, it came with so much abusive stuff which I never intend to use that it takes me hours and hours to adjust my settings for my personal needs.
Alone: lonely tree; 20 x 24 in acrylic painting, it was sold to Brenda. Thanks, Brenda!
Pumpkin for Thanksgiving, 20 x 24, in acrylic painting
High above, acrylic painting, 20 x 24 in by Inese Poga, sold
House under big sky, it’s a very large acrylic painting, 30 x 40″
Painting tip for students
If you would like to paint some fall scenery, put the color you want to use exactly on a spot where you want it. Do not keep brushing the paint around for so long that everything becomes the same color. This is easy using a feather-like, light brushstroke. It is like running on a spot: you just use the flat and wide side of the brush with light motion, so that it mostly is parallel to canvas surface.
Enjoy the sunny fall days and survive patiently the dullness of rains and chills of winds!
Some painting tips, especially for beginners in acrylic painting can be always useful! Many people have time and opportunity to do something about their creative intentions during the summer vacation. I will also answer some frequently asked questions. I have attached the demo art from a few recent art classes and workshops.
The favorite brush
Always use the brush which feels comfortable for the part of painting you are working on. It is difficult to draw fine lines with a huge brush and vice versa: it takes too long to cover large are with a tiny brush. Over time, every artist develops some kind of attraction to a certain brush whether flat, fan brush or round. It is very possible to paint the entire medium size acrylic painting with one medium size flat brush from start to finish.
No pressure
We should never try to put pressure on ourselves or canvas if some painting step doesn’t happen. As with all water-based mediums, timing is an important part of acrylic painting. We should always use large loose brushstrokes for the first layers and keep the textured impasto approach for the most important areas and for the end. exception is when you are using the texture medium or modelling paste at first, then the sequence will be slightly different.
Cleaning brush
Whenever we move from one color to another, we have to rinse the brush and swipe it on a paper towel. It is important not to have too much water on a brush before you get the paint. You need just a small bit of water. Acrylic paint darkens as it dries, therefore, the values might appear not as they are while the paint is wet.
Keeping acrylic paint workable
Extenders and flow medium can extend the working time, however, working with sticky paint may be not suitable for all areas. It is better to work on segments and use mix of medium and tiny bit of water for re-wetting large areas. Too much water can damage acrylic paint. Brushes must always stay submerged in water while we paint. We can rinse them under running warm water and wash with soap afterwards.
Create monochromatic base image
If the object or scene is very complex, it is great to paint the main parts just in one color: create a monochromatic base image. Changing and adding color is very easy, the most difficult part is achieving the right values, color intensity, proportion between light and dark colors.
Early spring was done entirely during art classes and served as a demo painting
Expectations and real painting
It can happen that participants have very high expectations when they come to the 3-hour painting workshop. In general, one has to be a realist to some extent. If the participant has never painted before or has done a little bit of painting 20 or more years ago, the first painting will be an interesting exercise. That helps understanding what it means to paint with a brush and to try mixing colors. I would not advise to expect it to be a perfection and best art ever created. Who gets better when just starting to paint? People, who are able to take risks, to experiment and who dare stepping out of their comfort zone.
Acrylic landscape with purple and yellow flowers, sold
You will have to learn and paint it
Signing up for a painting class does not mean that painting will paint itself. The art instructor is not a magician, but somebody who can explain, show, demonstrate and correct if something goes completely wrong. Live classes are much better than any online classes because I can see right away what is causing a problem: too much paint, too less paint, too dry or wet brush and so on. We are painting not only with brushstroke, palette knives and sponges, but also with hand pressure, heavy or light movement of the hand, arm or wrist. Application of paint is a big deal and that is something which is best done in the presence of an instructor. I usually explain why the particular image or composition is good or isn’t, why the particular choice of color works or doesn’t.
Road to spring was created during art class as a demo for group.
Some tips for beginning artists:
Whenever you have time and chance, pre-paint your canvas in light cardboard color using burnt sienna, yellow ocher and white. Instead of white, we can use gesso, as well. Acrylic gesso is acrylic primer, it seals the pores on canvas or any other material, that includes wood panels, plastic and similar materials. It allows using less paint and it is easier to apply it on previously primed surface.
Behind the ben: acrylic painting of spring road is 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm art on canvas
Think layers
Think in layers, separate in your imagination the part which is behind and underneath, in order to avoid working on small details right away. I’m often seeing how everybody tends to move to fine details way too fast and well before the entire scene is blocked in. We always start from the back and with the background. Unless there is a large very light part, we have to start with dark and medium dark colors. That seems to be the most difficult part for beginners. We do not use the final color at the beginning, but we build it up layer upon layer.
We were painting Birches and bluebells during the last adult acrylic painting classes, my painting is sold
Applying color or building it up
There is a big difference between applying color and building it up. The further we are in the painting the closer we move to the front part. That is a bit different with separate objects like in still life or floral painting. However, we always start with more general things and just afterwards move to particular parts and details. In oil or acrylic, we always go from dark to light and finish up with small areas of highlights. If we have lost the dark parts, we have to paint them back in.
Start over
If you think that some painting is not good enough and it is not worth trying to make it right, you can cover the entire canvas (previous painting) with a mix of gesso and some colors and start a new painting. The small imprints from old painting lines will add more texture, they most often look interesting, and you can build up a thicker layer above the basic layers.
Correct everything
It takes a lot of effort to damage an acrylic painting completely since you can paint it over for as many times as you wish and have time for (or patience). Being afraid to do something wrong in acrylic painting has no reason – you can correct practically anything. It will take more work, time and paint, that’s all.
Happy summer painting! I hope you enjoy the summer painting tips!
Did you know that it is possible to mix up quite a few thousands of colors just using ultramarine blue, primary magenta, cadmium yellow medium and titanium white? These color mixes are pretty much unlimited taking into account how slight change in proportion would alter the color. We don’t usually use only premixed colors or paints straight from the tube. Everybody is aware that yellow plus blue allows mixing up greens, and red plus blue creates purple shades.
The power of grey
Adding yellow to different shades of blue and red causes the graying effect and results in fantastic variations of neutrals. Why do we need grey shades and background neutrals? Well, they make other colors shine. We don’t have to always paint sunsets in order to observe how yellow shines on a grey-blue or purple, but we often need the fairly saturated neutrals to build up some scene or object. They also give all objects more substance.
Practice!
One can have color charts and theory books and check out all available information on color mixing, yet, not manage it when it comes to painting. How so? We know many things in theory. When it comes to applying the theoretical knowledge in practice, everything is completely different. Theoretical knowledge without decent practicing is worth zero. Therefore, practice!
Importance of experiment
I’m always encouraging students to experiment. Experimenting and exploring is the key to knowledge. There is never only one correct way of painting or drawing something. In fact, there are thousands of ways when we are trying to get similar results. Let’s take for example video tutorials.
Dos and don’ts
How to paint trees? How to paint clouds? How to paint forest? The answer is: whatever way you find it suitable for you because these tutorials will show how to paint trees according to artist X, or clouds as artist Y is seeing and painting them. Artist A might consider such trees incorrect, and B will tell you that nobody should paint clouds like artist Y.
Watching is not doing
While you watch somebody’s demo, it seems to be very easy. However, when you are one on one with brush and paints, things are not the same. The more colors you have, the more confused you might become. Many color mixes yield very close color tones, especially in acrylic when everything becomes much darker as it dries.
Having your own painting supplies
When somebody wants to start painting, they usually are not very excited about spending much money on materials. However, having your own paints, brushes and other tools is very beneficial. We just have to keep art supply list short and buy less.
Experimenting is very important for any artist. Mix colors, apply layers, see what your paints can do.
Keep discovery for yourself
Do not allow anybody to steal from you the pleasure of discovery! Some people are very insecure initially since they believe they don’t know enough about painting. There are artists who have more experience, but nobody knows everything about everything. The other thing is that we develop our mastery and build experience only when we take creative risks and dare to explore and experiment.
Early spring was done entirely during art classes and served as a demo painting
Learn through experiment
Therefore, experiment, experiment, experiment! It is good to ask a question when something is not happening the way you expected. However, there is no need to perform major search online just because you are not sure whether to use blue-green or yellow-green on some area. Do it your own way. It might take longer, but all efforts will pay off when you have painted exactly what you were trying to.
Your creation beats prints
It is much better to have your own painting on the wall than print. Print is a print. It will never have the energy of an original, therefore, it makes sense to frame also kids art because it has that special touch. Does our art have to be perfect? We can certainly try to get to that stage, but absolutely flawless and impressive art is extremely rare. It sometimes happens. Just working towards one great picture at a time brings us to the desired result. which will be the best ever.
Behind the ben: acrylic painting of spring road is 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm art on canvas
Some errors which need to be fixed
Beginners try to paint with hardly any paint, or with a tiny droplet of it. In acrylic that means, it dries almost instantly. Use generous amount of paint and clean brush every time you switch color.
Values are important
Beginning artists always pay attention to color and absolutely no attention to value. We can change color very quickly, but we need strong, medium and light values placed accordingly to our plans in any painting. Therefore: experiment! Good luck!
I’m probably getting old or older, but I am definitely having recently some nostalgia for these times which won’t ever return.
I believe, I am not taking too well the huge overload of commercials screaming at me from everywhere. Wherever I look, it’s just buy this and get this for free and hurry up because these discounts won’t last. Endlessly. It might be also because we never had a large family, and when I was young we were not that much about gifts.
My most memories are about preparations to celebrate Christmas or the New Year. This brings back some fantastic smells of pies and pastries in the oven, the fresh scent of fir-tree and aroma of candles. And real lights of real candles, so warm and so alive. We used to sing a lot, as well. These are sounds of old songs, partially forgotten, but I can still sing them in quite a few languages: my first foreign language was Russian, the next was German, I picked it up early and was able to use fluently by the time I was 12, the third was English quite a few years later. I am a native Latvian, and we have millions of folk songs, so many that every Latvian can call one his or her own. So, yes, we were following the very ancient Latvian traditions which are actually more ancient than English or German traditions since Latvian along with Lithuanian belong to the most ancient still alive languages and can be traced back to the ages of Sanskrit.
I can also remember how we were walking through the deep snow to the nearby forest to get the most beautiful tree. I was told I was only 4 years old. That’s amazing, but I can recall the walk, the snow and the forest. That’s how I’m painting my fir trees, they look exactly as those ones which I saw 52 years ago.
However, my intention was to share the idea about how kids and teens should rather create and make their gifts than try to buy something for money which they probably haven’t even earned yet. We were a lot about creativity, and that was all we were doing when not reading or working: sewing, drawing, painting, making toys, household items, and jewelry, things for our house and for our living space. There were so many ways to bring beauty into our home, and nobody was really worried about expenses because these self-made things did not cost anything or just a little in materials.
I maintained this ability to create everything from practically nothing all my life. I find it exciting, way more exciting than going to the store and buying stuff made in China. I find some of the decorations they sell absolutely tasteless. How much of attraction can actually plastic things have? Fake trees are still somehow OK, even artificial berries and fir and pine cones, but if you ask me, I’d say nothing compares to self-made decorations. However, I love glass balls and ornaments. We used to have some from 1912 and 1938. I asked my mom how that was possible to keep these ornaments not broken through all wars and troubles, and she said they were so small and so lovely, and they were associated with so many memories that everybody was taking an extremely good care about them.
So, finalizing the previously said, I was asking quite a few people:
Instead of buying your gift this holiday season, you could paint one, couldn’t you?
It takes only 3 hours which is such a tiny moment compared to the huge amount of positive energy residing in such a gift. It stays with one forever.
The other day we were painting some birds.
This is one more of small paintings I did for demonstration, it’s 12 x 16 in
Red color is eye-catching and warm. Poppies is a much-loved subject in art classes, and since November is the month which many people in Canada associate with poppies and Remembrance day, we just couldn’t resist and painted some, too.
Red color must be fantastic for lifting up one’s mood because I cannot remember when else we were joking and laughing so much.
Flowers and easy flowers, such as poppies, are excellent painting subject for beginners. Also, while red color is supposed to be difficult to scale down and up, it still works very well as contrast. We have painted poppy fields, individual poppies, bunches and arrangements with poppies: every time these paintings come out nice and attractive.
The best part of being able to create is probably that we only depend on our intentions and goals. There are no limitations in subjects or ways to create something. It is almost an absolute freedom, and pretty much nothing but our personal situation can be a set-back. Freedom in creation means doing what one wants and prefers. If it is technique that doesn’t work for you yet, you will just have to practice more.
Work in progress adult painting class
Red is an attractive color. More so, if you want to explore all shades of red. Painting flowers is easier if you start on canvas which has already a layer of paint in medium dark color. It also saves time because you have to work on the dark and light colors without worrying white spots between some parts. Secondly, acrylic paint is applied easier also on a previous layer of paint.
