In the studio this week I started the next section of The Mastery Program, moving into mixed media, a technique I thought I was comfortable in. I completed (?) two paintings and decided to stay with a continuing theme of using horses as reference material. I completed week 18 of the Mastery Program. By the end of December, I should be on track to be one-third of the way to completion. Whew! I’m going to take a several days off and focus on family and friends over the Christmas holiday. I hope you can do the same.
Bay Horse
This lesson was an introduction to acrylic paints using different ways to lay the paint on canvas. I chose a dark pay horse as a subject matter as my previous horse paintings were painted primarily with light colors. This is the subject I chose:
I followed the lesson to tone the canvas with washes of acrylic paints. The purpose is to “kill the white” of the canvas as a white canvas is intimidating, like a blank sheet of paper to a writer.
<img decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-scaled.jpg" alt="Canvas covered in pastel wash of paint" class="wp-image-5990" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2992-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
Next, I used a pastel pencil to lightly sketch the horse. Then I started to fill in the drawing using acrylic paints and a glazing medium. My first pass was pretty ugly:
<img decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-scaled.jpg" alt="First layer of a acrylic painting of a horse head in profile." class="wp-image-5991" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2993-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
I added a couple layers and let it sit for a day.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-scaled.jpg" alt="Second layer of paint on a horse painting" class="wp-image-5992" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2994-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
I could see I made mistakes in the painting. The neck was too thick and the nose too short. You can see where I used the pastel pencil again to sketch where the neck should be.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-scaled.jpg" alt="Third layer of paint on the horse portrait" class="wp-image-5994" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2996-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
One thing emphasized in this lesson is that acrylic paint lacks the richness and depth of oil paint and that it’s a good idea to enhance the painting using oils. I thought my painting looked flat and decided to apply oils. I think the result is better, but I just couldn’t nail down the colors needed to capture the highlights and overall tone of the fur.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-scaled.jpg" alt="Completed horse portrait finished in oil paint" class="wp-image-5995" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2998-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
Dribble Grey Mare
This lesson called for using paper as the substrate rather than canvas. The paper size was big – 22” x 30.” I taped onto a large sheet of cardboard. I chose another horse as a reference:
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="540" height="960" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dabble-Horse-Head.jpg" alt="Photo of a dapple gray horse " class="wp-image-5997" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dabble-Horse-Head.jpg 540w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dabble-Horse-Head-169x300.jpg 169w" sizes="(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px" />
I sketched the horse initially in pencil and then used permanent ink to outline it.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-scaled.jpg" alt="Pen and ink sketch of a horse head" class="wp-image-5998" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2999-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
Then I used inks and fluid acrylic paint to dribble over the paper in a loose style. I think I overdid it as I nearly lost the drawing in the process. I began to pull out the darks using transparent acrylic paint mixed with the glazing medium.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-scaled.jpg" alt="Initial wash of inks over the horse painting" class="wp-image-5999" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3001-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
The final painting is interesting, but not my favorite.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-scaled.jpg" alt="Painting of a grey horse done in acrylics on an abstract background" class="wp-image-6000" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3002-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
Takeaways
I’m looking forward to the next section focusing on finding my voice and developing my style. I thought maybe horses would feel authentic and fire my passion for painting. Now I’m not so sure. What do you think?
My next post should arrive after Christmas, so I want to take the time to wish everyone a peaceful and creative season. I also want to thank you all for continuing to follow my progress.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-scaled.jpg" alt="Photo of the author's Christmas tree" class="wp-image-6002" style="width:600px" srcset="https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-225x300.jpg 225w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://create4today.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_2201-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
Yorumlar