Post YOUR artwork here, cmon !!

[El Gibbon]

Well, the effort is in the sucking pond water stage lolol..... What a heap of difference I got myself into. As the second acrylic painting its pretty obvious that I bit off a bit more than is reasonably swallowed... My first attempt at the medium was a still life using more the style of oil paints, scrubbing the color in and using it fairly thickly straight from the pallet.

The reversal of the mind set moving from watercolor to acrylics is a constant battle. Going from dark to light vs. light to dark in watercolor.

Some things I have learned thus far:

Do not use plain watercolor paper (ungessoed) Raw paper sucks the paint like a sponge.

Do not use 300lb rough watercolor paper... 140 Cp would have been better.

Now I understand the need for a neutral ground using acrylics. It gives a value scale that you can vary from a lot easier than the pure white. It also covers all the little specs of white that you take advantage of in watercolor but are a disaster using acrylics.

Using acrylics in a watercolor style is sooooooo much different

Blending is an absolute bitch even using retarder

Acrylics dry DARKER even using the latest artist quality paints with minimal color shift from W&N

Don't be a dumb ass and try something as complicated as my attempt.

Acrylics are OK for reworking somewhat

Am still having some fun with the medium, as one of my favorite artists says "The journey of learning how to paint is as much or more fun than the painting. The sense of accomplishment acquiring a new skill is paramount" (Sterling Edwards)

Will try and post a photo later today when camera battery is fully charged.

E. G.

PS. Your sketch is very reminiscent of Sterling Edwards style.

[El Gibbon]

Here is the "finished" version in acrylics.


Just way too much detail for the first attempt. The rock formation...... hmmm maybe could have cropped it out of the first image, but it seemed to be appropriate. Tis what it is... lol

So what do you do when you get frustrated????? Take a few minutes and throw some watercolor on paper to relax. lolol





this took about 15 minutes not counting drying time after the sky was splashed on. The photo looks washed out but better IRL.

This is from memory of my daughter's view from her deck that stretches the length of the house and overlooks Bear Brook State Park in NH. Her house is atop the first ridge at the edge of the ocean plain. Can basically see a bit of three states, including NH, VT and Maine.


therapy lol

EG

[El Gibbon]

Here is another watercolor I meant to load the other day... life got in the way and forgot about it.

140lb Fabriano Artistico and W & N artist paints.

[nigelandjan]

^^
555 your being very naughty Dill ,,

make a note in my head ,, ( use public toilet the night before I kip round yours ) Jeez I couldnt even reverse in there mate let alone do anything else !

[nigelandjan]

EG your a star mate ,,,,, I love your strong acrylic colours ,, they would stand out in a gallery for sure.

Love your bright little beach watercolour to ,, a right nice splash of light ,, you are making some very nice contributions to this thread , thankyou I do enjoy looking at other peoples work , more than looking at my own pics.

Hope we can meet up some time and paint together later in the year when I come over for 6 months,, I am guessing you are retired , unfortunately at the moment I am working nearly 6 days every week and also have to do my share of housework as the wifes working so many hours , so I am sorry I cannot put as much in here at the moment I would like to .

[kingwilly]

Well, I just bought a set a water colours, brushes and some paper....

Dunno what it's gonna be like though!

First time.

[nigelandjan]

Well done KW ,, hang loose mate , youll love it ..

Bit of a tip mate ,, just wet a single sheet of paper ,, load a brush up with some paint dab a bit on see how it reacts ,, then after the paper gets a bit drier dab some more on ,, and again when a bit drier etc dab a bit more on ,,,, its crazy mate good luck with it.

Another tip ,, you cannot really re- work watercolour , its really a one hit show

[ralphlsasser]

Needless to say I was very impressed when I saw it. I really like pencil drawings. It's a deal. I'll have Kak cook a good meal for you and Jan. Enjoy Florida this year on Vacation.

Thankyou kindly Ralph will look forward to it mate ,, Florida will be on hold for another year mate now as if all goes well we will be coming to Thailand for 6 months to oversee a small bungalow build on Jans land ,, as you can well imagine 6 months off work + the cost of everything is gonna eat into what little we have .

Well.....that's great that you're coming here. As a dear friend told me once, "It's only money. You'll make more." But, I know it goes fast when one isn't working. Building your house now will be less to build after you retire when money will be tighter. It'll be good to see you both mate.

[nigelandjan]

Here you are KW ,, if you are getting a bit stuck with that first watercolour mate ,, have a go at copying this one ,, its not too difficult to do ,one of the first I done .

[nigelandjan]

Good Friday ! great so a day off to enjoy a bit of hobby time ,, unfortunately the wife is working 2- 9 pm today so I spent the morning with her so after taking her to work I have managed to knock this out in 2 hours ,, it really shouldnt take that long , I have no idea where the time went , anyway its been a most enjoyable afternoon .

[nigelandjan]

All seems to have gone a bit quiet on here lately dunno if anyone has looked at the last pic I put up or not ,,,,,anyway its the end of the easter holiday and I have had a very busy day working outside in the garden so a little painting time had been set aside for the late afternoon ,, now the painting above which I did on Friday left behind on my paper pallet a bit of paint which really is useless anless you have something to go straight onto which I don't ,, so rather than just tear it off and throw it I thought I would put it to good use in the form of a bit of practise .

My leftover pallet







Now this little painting came outta my head using only the remains off that pallet ,, I have painted on some canvas book ,, very very cheap and highly recommended from Loxley ,, its the sort of thing you find in these big stationary outlets like W H Smith.

Now my dear old neighbour who is in her nineties was looking in at me from her garden and commented how much she liked it , so when it dries in about 3 weeks I will stick it in a frame for her .

[Marmite the Dog]

^ I think the reason it's appealing is because of it's soft colour palette. It's very easy on the eye. Nice job.

[Dillinger]

Probably reminded her that her incontinence pad needs a change :-)

I do like the previous painting

[nigelandjan]

^ I think the reason it's appealing is because of it's soft colour palette. It's very easy on the eye. Nice job.

Thanks for that MTD ,,, BTW what makes it easy on the eye is the fact the major players in there sit opposite on the colour wheel ,,,,, but you probably remember that from your college days

[kingwilly]

Good Friday ! great so a day off to enjoy a bit of hobby time ,, unfortunately the wife is working 2- 9 pm today so I spent the morning with her so after taking her to work I have managed to knock this out in 2 hours ,, it really shouldnt take that long , I have no idea where the time went , anyway its been a most enjoyable afternoon .

Wow, that looks stunning, the water looks almost black and the perspective of the snow really stands out, is it arcylic or oil? I like the detail in the tree in the fore/middle ground. You (well, certainly I) cannot do that with a watercolour.

I've tried 1 or 2 water colours now, but I've realised that it's a whole new set of techniques that I need to learn from scratch.

I appreciate your help in getting me to understand it better but with your talents I'm just falling flat. A bit of fun in trying, but just being realistic.

I reckon I'm better off buying a set of oils and getting back to them, at least one can rework (and cover up mistakes) with them.

[nigelandjan]

Cheers KW its oil mate ,, I have never used acrylic ,, yes you can see the depth of paint where I have dragged my knife through it ,, glad you like it .

I've tried 1 or 2 water colours now, but I've realised that it's a whole new set of techniques that I need to learn from scratch.

Cmon mate get em up if you let me see them I can most probably get you on track

[El Gibbon]

KW go here The Learning Zone - WetCanvas
There is enough info/examples/tutorials to keep you busy for weeks

Nice work Nigel.... You may want to try the second one in WC.... very nice

E. G.

[kingwilly]

There is enough info/examples/tutorials to keep you busy for weeks

and therein lies the reason I have not yet had time to upload any ....

[kingwilly]

Just to prove that I am not blowing smoke up yer asses...






I've bought me some oil paints, brushes and a couple of palette knives. Just the sheer joy spreading the first undercoat of paint over the canvas while smelling that linseed oil and paint small cannot be described. (I didnt feel it trying to mess around with watercolours.)


Mind you, it's been well over twenty years since I last painted anything, so we'll see how I go with it.

[kingwilly]

KW go here The Learning Zone - WetCanvas
There is enough info/examples/tutorials to keep you busy for weeks

Here you are KW ,, if you are getting a bit stuck with that first watercolour mate ,, have a go at copying this one ,, its not too difficult to do ,one of the first I done .

And I do appreciate your help and advice guys, but I just wasnt enjoying it, it felt like a chore.

[Dillinger]

It's a piece of cake Willy, here's one I made earlier

[El Gibbon]

KW congrats for at least getting a brush wet... No matter the medium..... its what feels "right" and fun to the individual... go for it.... some like it hot, some like it cool and some like it cold... all are part and parcel of the universe if " art "...

E. G.

[nigelandjan]

^ Echoes of EG ,,,,well done KW at least youve jumped in mate ,, now your gonna have to swim to reach the edge again

Good luck with it all mate , please post up the progress shots as you go along ,, do you have a photo we are working from we can see ? or is it from memory .

As for myself I am still doing my picture of the boats near to me here , TBH ,, I have been struggling a bit with it and has come close to turning the brush round and sticking it through the canvas BUT ,, I will beat the bugger , nearly there now .

[blue]

It's a piece of cake Willy, here's one I made earlier

That's a good effort Dillinger and also, as he looks very poor. it was a lovely gesture to give him the pen to hold after you drew him .

[kingwilly]

Good luck with it all mate , please post up the progress shots as you go along ,, do you have a photo we are working from we can see ? or is it from memory .

I'm sort of using three different pictures, because no one picture has exactly what I want. The background will be an imposing dormant volcano, the middle will be 1 or a couple of shacks or houses and the foreground a new planted padi.