Friday Fun: Pick Up a Paint Brush

'Moody Marsh'         24x24      acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas
available $400

 I don't really know what got into me last weekend. I got an itch to paint with a brush! Like many artists I have an art store's collection of supplies so I didn't have to go far to find some paint and brushes. I have oil painting supplies, acrylic, gouache, watercolor....I am not lacking art supplies. I decided to take out my acrylic paints and paint something large with a brush!

on the easel

I am not experienced with acrylics but I thought it would be fun to experiment. I decided to keep it simple. I used an old pastel painting of mine as the reference. I chose a limited palette of Ultramarine blue, Alizarin crimson, Cadmium yellow and white. The paint I used was Golden Open Acrylics.
I used 2 one inch brushes and an old palette knife.

The start of the painting....toned canvas orange

As I painted I reminded myself to work the same way that I do with pastels....only with a brush. I started the painting the same as a pastel by toning the canvas and blocking in the dark shapes with an interesting dark. ( used red and blue) Thinking of how I painted a pastel helped me!

Mixing paint and making the brush strokes I wanted were the tricky parts. It is a learning curve and if I really want to be more confident and in control I will need to practice more often. Once a year with a paint brush is not enough!

close up of the edges....1.5  inch gallery wrapped canvas

Why Picking up a Paint Brush is a good idea

• Being comfortable with a brush and developing your own personal brushwork will help you create more successful UNDERPAINTINGS for pastels.

• Pushing yourself to MIX the colors you want rather than pick up a stick of pastel will give you a better understanding of color. This understanding will transfer into more effective color in your pastel paintings.

• It pushes you outside of your comfort zone. As long as you take the pressure off and decide to make it fun...being outside your comfort zone is always a good thing for growth.

detail shot