Post YOUR artwork here, cmon !!

[Marmite the Dog]

Well Nige. You are the leader of the pack, so it's down to you.

[Bettyboo]

we are about to have another of our group session,s anytime soon when someone nominates a subject

I could be up for that - got a new app:



https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hasketch&hl=en

[Dillinger]

F.A.O Betty

[El Gibbon]

Wanky Lighthouse



This was a lot more fun than the first one... W&N Artist paints.... much easier to blend and the coverage is excellent.

Guess everyone is right the quality of paint is significant, especially to those that are not really proficient

Same panel I used before just a coat of gesso and a ground of UB and varying degrees of Titanium White.

Much happier with this outcome.

E G

[Marmite the Dog]

^ Good job! A big improvement on the first go.

[El Gibbon]

Thanks.... I know it sounds like a cop-out for a shitty artist to blame the materials... but I'm not anywhere near good enough to deal with them... Maybe an accomplished artist with lots of experience can do it.... ala Nige.


E G

[nigelandjan]

EG you have some great ideas and an individual style mate ,, all you need is some basic help and you will be up and running .

I,m not being rude when I say this but I can see so many basic easilly corrected flaws you seem to be making on a fairly regular basis , honestly these can be so easily corrected , I should have some spare time to pop round soon and give you some help if you want . I would really like to help if I can .

BTW do you have the stock photo of your painting above you could put on here so I could have a go and show you a little of what I mean ?

My new acrylics have arrived and I have had to have a little dabble with them , they are like royal jelly compared to that other cheap cak I was using , I have been doing some green values in trees + bushes and its amazing to be able to go over each layer so quickly , really looking forward to having a crack at a painting with them.

[blue]

El Gibbon and everyone , do you use a stay wet palette for the acrylics paints?
I'm thinking of getting one to complete my equipment for when i start .
or can you make a decent one yourself?

[nigelandjan]

With my very limited experience I use the same as I use for oils ,, disposable tear off's.

The only tip I can give you is to use very little bits of paint , specifically the ones you need to use immediately .

Mostly I use a very limited pallet so its mabe 3 colours + some white ,, you really dont need anywhere near as much paint as you think , and you can allways add some fresh.

I'm only a beginner in this acrylic game ,, old EG will be in the land of nod now , but I,m sure he will help in the morn

[El Gibbon]

"Old EG" ??? LOL
Yes a stay wet pallet is great for a couple of reasons. When your starting out it keeps the paint somewhat moist so that your pile of paint stays viable for up to a week or more if your into a big project. I made one myself of a super large zip lock bag, a baking sheet, some phony chamois and a piece of baking paper.

Secondly it does reduce the amount of paint used overall by not wasting left over paint that you may be able to use in the future. Depending on your situation and the economics involved this is a major plus for some folks.

Also if your going to paint in the watercolor style the added moisture keeps you from adding too much water to get the paint to flow like watercolor.

There are some drawbacks: If left too long the moisture will tend to liquify the paints, OK if your doing the watercolor style but not good if painting like with oils.

You can develop mold which is never a good thing, odors and paint contamination are the big issues.

I've also tried using a tear-off pallet sheet in mine but didn't care for it. I now use just a piece of heavy plate glass over some neutral grey paper flat on the table as my pallet. It cleans up super easy with water and a pallet knife or a putty knife for the hardened stuff.

Later maybe I'll post a pic of the setup I use for my stay-wet and also a pic for Nigel to have a go at.

Nige I welcome any and all crits... the only way to learn

E G

[nigelandjan]

"Old EG" ??? LOL

Sorry mate ,, thats just a term of endearment where I come from .

BTW ,, you could allways simply paint the back of that glass grey ,, I used to have a piece like that untill my ex threw it at me

[kingwilly]

Looks good EG. I really like the blended tone of the sky and the rocks look much better than last time.

[El Gibbon]

I'll try and get ahead and answer the pallet questions or at least my view on acrylic pallets. First a general look at the studio area, since I had the camera out why not? Lots of water, paper towels and or rags.... acrylics can be messy... an apron isn't a bad idea...



This is my equipment used for Cedar Cove
This is the heavy glass plate I use as a pallet. Under it I have two overlapped sheets from a neutral grey tear off pallet, called oddly enough " Grey Matters Tear of Pallet". Larger tubes are W&N smaller are a mix of Daler Rowney and Reeves lower quality paints.



OK here is my stay-wet set up
A BIG zip lock bag. (2.5 gall or 7.6 liter) You may note there are a couple of plastic cups inside... Keeps the bag from collapsing on the paint--- most of the time anyway lol.




Pallet opened
here it is out of the bag. The paint rests on a siliconized paper used for baking. depending on the size of the pan your using there is adequate space for mixing.

some folks fold a paper towel into four thicknesses long way, wet it and place their paints on it. I just put mine right on the Bakewell sheet, works ok for me. I just put my paints down in the my preferred order. Note: it is wise to put your white and your darks on OPPOSITE areas of you pallet to prevent cross contamination.



vacant pallet
Bakewell sheet removed exposing the synthetic chamois cloth. This one has been in use for awhile and has been changed today lolol. you wet it and wring it out till its just damp, not wet an NO standing water in the pan.....



viable white paint
This pallet had not been opened in two to three weeks and the paint is still viable, a little watery or 'thin' but useable. Noet the plastic cups for holding the bag off the surface of the pallet.


viable UM Blue
Again same as previous still useable. I had thought I was going to use a lot more blue and white in the painting but didn't...


There are as many ways to use a stay-wet as artist nearly... check youtube for acrylic painting and you'll see a whole variety of uses.

Some use a tear off to do their mixing. anything left over gets scraped up with a pallet knife and laid on the Bakewell sheer in a stay-wet till next session.

In my view stay-wets are great for multi-session or lengthy paintings. Eventually I would like to get to a place where I can rationalize buying paint in 500 ml jars, then anything unused goes back in the jar. Uncontaminated of course.

Any questions fire away am no expert but know enough to get me in trouble lol

AND for Nigel the photo I used as reference.... cut cropped and generally diddled with... lol



Another note not related to pallets but crossed my mind.... acrylics are really intense.. you gotta grey them down or try to get them into the mid range of the grey scale.... another of my BIGGEST problems lolol The last painting is an example..... I wanted it to be more of a silhouette and got caught in between... always learning.


E G

[slackula]

Very interesting post EG. This thread just goes from strength to strength!

[El Gibbon]

just browsing through my favorite site and came up upon this... amazing what a good artist can do with acrylics.... WOW

See post below for correct link

[slackula]

^ Link failure!

10 points to Gryffindor.

[nigelandjan]

Well thankyou kindly EG for sharing that with us ,, you have a superb little studio going on there I am jealous ,, ( too tidy for this disorganised old git )

My only criticism would be to fit up some very good quality black-out curtains ,, you cant be too careful ,, especially with neighbours like you have lurking around peering through the nets to gain an advantage copying your work

Thanks once again for putting up the subject source , I'll have a crack at that Sunday ,, but I have to say what a lovely take you have made on which is essentially a washed out subject pic . Well done


BTW nice to see your still enjoying it QC allways appreciated to have some interest

[Marmite the Dog]

especially with neighbours like you have lurking around peering through the nets to gain an advantage copying your work

That side of his gaff doesn't have any neighbours, so he's safe.

[Bettyboo]

Very interesting post EG. This thread just goes from strength to strength!

Yes, it's an interesting thread.

[El Gibbon]

[quote=El Gibbon;2576056]just browsing through my favorite site and came up upon this... amazing what a good artist can do with acrylics.... WOW

Woman in a Satin Gown - WetCanvas

this link should work

E G

[kingwilly]

Wow, those folds in the dress are incredible.

[slackula]

BTW nice to see your still enjoying it QC allways appreciated to have some interest

As I have said before this thread is a "must click" over the morning coffee if I see it has been updated.

Seeing what you guys have created and reading your discussions of technique etc is so beyond the realms of anything I have encountered in life that it is very therapeutic.

[nigelandjan]

I think that deserves to be here ,, what a work of art .



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I think this very much shows the difference between us hobby artists and the professionals ,, it sets the bar high for sure and just makes me want to learn more and more and strive to get there .


BTW ,,,,,, EG ,,,, do you know if I can buy a product made by Golden out there called Glazing Medium ? I want to bring it with me but its heavy and weight space is getting at a premium in the old case

[El Gibbon]

Golden is not available here to my knowledge...I would recommend a tube of retarder gell from W&N... can water it to the consistency you like... works about the same as glazing from what I've seen. On the other hand I can provide a baby jar of the stuff for you... got a large tube of Liquitex (locally for some reason) and I use it about 20 parts water to 7/8 parts gell. OR I have a 125 ml bottle the stuff unopened ... W&N......take your choice....

Today is a great day! lolol got some paints and a set of nice flat brushes... size 1 thru 12. Friend just came back from the states and bagged them over for me. Also brought a 500 ml jar of Titanium White...yippeeeeeee

So its gonna be play time for a day or so, paint swatches, brush techniques etc.

I find it difficult to get hard edges with the hog hair bristles or to do any detail work at all. I use my water color flats to get some done. Now with these new synthetic nylon, which are stiffer than a water color brush, got me some testing to
do. lol

Also got some "mixing" white to try and figure out... supposed to be better for glazing and tinting since it is not as opaque as Titanium.. The other colors that arrived are Cobalt, B Sienna and raw Umber.... should be fun

E G

[El Gibbon]

Just a note on the painting of the lady in the satin dress.

The artist is Jack Cosway, Canadian. First acrylic painting done in 2008... and its also unbelievable. If you want more go to Wetcanvas.com and search for him....or go to the link provided above and click on his name and look for threads started by him..

What a talent.

There is hope for us old guys.... he did some oils 36 years previously... Not a professional that I could find.

Oh, by-the-by he is 81 yrs young!

E G