Painting plough lines....

....or any lines that start in the foreground and meet at one point in the distance.

like this:

just put your finger on the painting at the point you want the lines to meet...

keeping your finger on the spot helps guide you...

I did this short video

- albeit trying to video around the camera tripod...not easy -

but hope you get the idea...

Drawing straight lines

How many times do you hear people say.... "I would love to draw but I can't even draw a straight line"!

Well here's something - NEITHER CAN I.   The simple solution is USE A RULER.

In other words, what ever means there is available to help you achieve a result, then jolly well use it!

The rules can be broken

Generally most landscape views are in

Landscape format

This painting is, in fact, in

PORTRAIT format

but I reckon it still works

SO WHAT THE HECK

BREAK THE RULES SOMETIMES!

Deciding on the composition....

.....not always easy, 

but there are some simple rules to follow.

The classic

L shape is one starting point, particularly noticeable in landscapes.

here I've overlaid an example....

This L shape can also be reversed,

 but basically it creates a stopping point for the viewer.

Simple but very effective.

Shapes

Worried about how to draw an object or scene.  Go back to basics.  Look for the SHAPE.  Some objects have more than one Shape, so if you can see them, then draw them. Overlapping, or whatever....give it a try.

If you look at the  picture you will start to see these shapes in various other places.


















Once you start to Look For Shapes, you will see them more readily.  Of course, some are obvious:

Although this next photo is a complicated scene, it can be broken down into simple Shapes.

 I bet you look at this picture and start finding those shapes!

If anyone would like to use this photo for a painting then please feel free to use it.

Lifting Paint

In this example I'll use a painting I've worked on recently.  There was an area I just wasn't happy with. 

This is the photo I used as reference, with thanks to an online friend for the use of ....

As you see from the photo, the chicken was actually sitting down fluffing it's feathers up...but in my painting it doesn't look like it is sitting.  

In simple terms: I had not added the foot properly and it bothered me.  So decided to 'lift' some paint out to create the foot, and hopefully it would then appear to be sitting.

METHOD:

1.  Wait for the paint to completely dry.  You can only do this technique successfully when the paint is totally dry.

2.  I used a small flat synthetic brush as it would give me more control and also enable the shape of the foot to be achieved.

3.  Using clear water on the brush I lightly scrubbed the area needed and then quickly used a kitchen towel to dry that area.   (If you don't dry it quickly, you will inadvertently find the water used will spread and create more problems, for example 'blooms').

An easy remedy - 

the chicken now looks like it is sitting.

Using a paint brush the correct size for your subject

Okay, it seems simple enough, but you wouldn't believe the number of people who forget to consider this.


Large brush for big paintings - Small brush for small paintings and detail.

I've seen people pick up a brush and think they need to use it for ALL of the painting they are working on.

START WITH THE CORRECT SIZED BRUSH....ONE THAT YOU ARE COMFORTABLE USING.

Remember to also CHANGE TO A DIFFERENT SIZED BRUSH AS YOU NEED IT
DURING YOUR PAINTING PROCESS.

A very valid comment has been made by Robin at Pink House Studio -
I'm adding it here as it needs to be kept in mind if you are
doing a loose painting....

~ thanks Robin ~


Great feed back in the Comments:

Here's what Judy over at   dedraadaquarellen  has to say:

~ thanks Judy~

Mirror Image

If you are unsure about a painting and ask yourself

if it looks a completely finished piece then

just hold up a mirror and look at the painting.

By viewing via a mirror it shows up any inconsistencies

which you can then correct.

Give it a try and let me know

what you think.

Looking at depth of colour in the sky and sea

Have you ever noticed.  When you paint the SKY the darkest area is at the Top, the weakest is towards the bottom...that's because the sky recedes into the distance and that is seen as a weaker colour.

The opposite happens with the SEA.... that is Darkest in the distance.  (I remember this by thinking  the further you look out to sea, that's where the sea is at its deepest...hence the Darkest colour).  The foreground (nearest the viewer) is a weaker colour.

Does that makes sence???  well, yes I think it does....look at my illustration...

Do you get it?

Hope this helps.

Ruined Brushes - Acrylic use

From time to time we all end up with a ruined brush, when the bristles dry solid and won't move. This often occurs when using Acrylic paints as they dry quick or when using masking fluid,
we forget to rinse the brush out properly.

Don't throw the brush away though, it can still have a use.

For example when you want to do some stippling...they are perfect for the job.  Just 'disturb' the bristles a little with your fingers, but don't worry if they won't move greatly, you can still use it.

Perfect for those distant tree lines and hedgerows in a painting.
The ruined brush is now a useful brush,
not only for using with acrylic paint but also for oils and watercolours.

Watercolour loose style painting in three steps

Keep in mind folks that this is my personal opinion on how I go about this particular style of painting.  Others no doubt might make the point that my technique is not for them, that's okay by me, but I just wanted to explain what I did to make this painting of a Lamb....

No pencil sketch just

 Starting with One brush full of paint
in three steps

ref. photo from PaintMyPhoto-ClareSmith

Note:  For this I used Khadi paper, and a Kolinsky Sable Brush.  Sable brushes are the best for holding a lot of paint, which was ideal for this particular technique of painting.   

Prepare your paint before you begin, so it is ready to go as you need it. 

If you look at the painting of the Lamb you will see where these Three Steps to the painting are
(I haven't shown the step-by-step in photos, I think it's better if you study the painting, that way you will be observing more) :

1. Start with the Palest tone.  (the pale tones were pre-mixes of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue)

With the Palest tone I started with an ear and worked my way down, leaving some gaps of paper here and there for highlights.  (You can leave this to completely dry), but for this painting I chose to continue to Step 2 whilst the paint here was still wet.......

2. Mid-tone.    (this is obviously going to be darker than Step 1)

Look for those Mid-tone areas now and drop this into the still wet paint of Step 1.  (This is why you need to pre-mix your paints).   Now leave it all to dry completely - very important.

3. Darkest tone.

With your Darkest tones paint the detailed areas.  This is the fun part of the whole painting as this step brings out all the detail and holds the painting together.

Now all you need do is add any extra bits and pieces to your art work, for me it was the grass.

So to recap:

One Brush

Pre-mixed paint

Steps 1, 2, 3.

**************

 

Ruined brushes when using Masking fluid

When using Masking fluid :

To save your brushes just put a little soap on your brush first.

Then use the masking fluid.  When you have finished wash your brush out with cold water.

I actually use specific Masking Fluid brushes, but any suitable brush will do.

(note: never use warm or hot water for cleaning your brushes - the bristles are held with some glue in the ferrule and that would melt in warm or hot water, guaranteed to ruin your brush)!

Watercolour paper that buckles and stretches

We've all been there.  Painting a watercolour and what happens, the paper buckles up and warps.  There are various ways to deal with this and okay, we can get pre-stretched paper and also stretch the paper ourselves, but that is a bit of a hassle don't you think.

One solution is to just buy watercolour Blocks.... the paper is glued on all sides.  This means that you paint without the paper buckling up on you.  Then when you have completed your painting you just remove it from the block.

Here's an example of one of my watercolour blocks.  There are plenty of makes out there, the one I'm using at the moment is a Matthew Palmer watercolour block with Fontaine paper.  Incidentally the Fontaine paper is quite tough and can take quite a bit of work on it

Easy!

Opening Tube Paints

Ever had trouble opening a Tube of paint where it has dried tight closed.  Like me, you have probably grabbed a cloth or tissue to get some grip on the tube.   Well, I headed for my husband's toolbox and grabbed the pliers....

and I kept them!  

They have proved to be so useful on so many occasions...

Double ended brush

I might have mentioned this before.....or did I only 'think' about doing this particular post item!?!

Anyway, bear with me  - Here's one of my cheap brushes (I wouldn't recommend doing this with expensive Sables)!, but this particular brush comes in handy for so many different areas of a painting...

I sharpened the other end of it with a pencil sharpener...

when I need to add some trees, fences, posts etc. to a landscape

just turn the brush round -

you don't have to go searching for 

the right tool, you have it there already

Depending on the effect you want ...

   If you go straight in on the wet paint (as with the example above) you get
a darker outline (basically the paint fills in the lines you have drawn)

 If I had waited a bit longer I could have got a whiter outline 

A useful brush to have if you are out and about painting and want to

keep your supplies to a minimum

**************

Painting the planets

A bit of fun, but this turned out to be an interesting experiment,

and you never know what design or pattern you will end up with.

So, this is what I did...

with some scrunched up paper (the glossy magazine kind is best)

or just use a tissue scrunched up...

either option is good, and just dab it quickly on the paint

then take something small like a bottle top and hold it on the painting....

and paint around the outside with some dark paint...

when you lift that off you have a planet...

then I just blended the edges a bit and

splattered white for more planets in the galaxy...

although I do wonder if 

I have a problem

when the Shape I see in one exercise

looked a bit like a

Lurcher!

Or am I becoming a bit

OBSESSIVE!

Portable Mixing Palette

Many of us take a small watercolour palette out with us, be it a homemade version or a manufactured one.   By virtue of having a small palette, it doesn't allow much room for actual 'Mixing' of paints, so I've come up with my version that I find quite handy.

 ~ I laminated a piece of pure white card stock ~

 ~ Makes for a great portable mixing palette ~

~ and is easily wiped clean ~

~ and can be slipped into the pocket of my moleskine sketchbook ~