South Beach Painting Progression

Sharon Repple wrote

on 26 Jan 2010 1:52 PM

I thought I would show you the steps I took to paint South Beach.  I would appreciate any comments or suggestions about what to paint first, paint mixes to create water, sand, skin tones, etc.

Acrylic palette: Titanium white, yellow ochre, cad yellow pale, raw sienna, burnt sienna, cad red hue, permanent rose, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, permanent green deep, payne's gray, permanent magenta, brilliant purple.  I just added thalo yellow green. This may seem to be a large palette but I am trying to learn what color mixes I like.  A lot of experimenting going on.

I tone the sky area with permanent rose and sandy area with cad red and cad yellow pale.

For some reason my second step will not open, sorry

Sand was very hard for me since the sand on this beach was so white.  I used raw sienna, some burnt sienna, payne's gray, violet and white of course.  People were fun to do because I could just hint at shape and it reads as people.  Water is ultra, pemanent deep green and white.  Green on life guard station was yellow pale, cobalt blue, white and I touched it up later with thalo yellow green.

I read one book that had a great mix for skin that could be toned with white. Thalo yellow green, Alizarin Crimson and white.

finished painting notice I changed the arm on the sun bather.  I left the white lounger empty to invite the viewer to come into the painting.

Kisu wrote

on 26 Jan 2010 11:10 PM

Thank you for posting this, Sharon, too bad the second step wouldn't open!  I am particularly interested in the initial toning of the different areas of the canvas, especially the sky.  I have seen a few other websites where the artist uses similar colors at the start of each painting, and it's something I would never have thought of without having seen it.  I knew that people often use neutrals to do so, but this really provides an added dimension.  Do you tone with warm colors like this with most of your acrylic painting?  And what did you use to do the initial drawing?  With my one and only recent shaky foray into the water soluble oils I used a graphite pencil to sketch in the preliminary drawing, and I guess that worked OK but did smear slightly when I began to apply the paint.  Do acrylics smear pencil lines?

Sharon Repple wrote

on 27 Jan 2010 6:14 AM

Thanks Kisu, I have a friend that actually tones with craft paint in "Pumpkin Orange"  A number of artists like the "peek through effect"  and the ones I have seen usually use warm colors.  I have recently seen books where other artists tone there watercolors.  Have you ever tried that?  In watercolor, I always tried to save the white so toning areas seems odd.  Also some pastel artists are painting in watercolor first like toning  and then using their pastels. 

I did my initial drawing with pencil but I found the line to be too thick and actually messy on the canvas surface. Erasing just causes it to smudge.  I think next time I'm going to sketch in a watered down mixture.  When working in watercolors, I have a tendency to rely on my initial sketches more to eliminate errors and in acrylic I can just correct my mistakes with paints.  Another difference for me is that you should be able to see your initial drawing in watercolor through most of the painting but with acrylic's opaque qualities you lose your initial drawing quickly.   So much to learn but I'm having fun.  Another adjustment has been the thick paint on the brush.  Feels so different from watercolor.  In the future, I plan to try using some of the transparent acrylics in a watercolor style. 

I was able to open second step by clicking on the "X"  Thanks again for commenting.

valeriemalley wrote

on 27 Jan 2010 5:01 PM

Hi Sharon.  Pretty sky.  Nice scene, lovely colours.   Enjoyed seeing the progression of your painting.   Both the sand and the lounger are inviting.

Margo5 wrote

on 27 Jan 2010 9:19 PM

Sharon, thanks for sharing this with us. I really like what you have done here.

Kisu wrote

on 27 Jan 2010 10:06 PM

I really like the "peek through effect," although I saw one artist's website where it was a bit overdone.  I don't tone my watercolors, but I have used gouache on brown papers and that serves as sort of a starting middle range where much of the painting then goes higher and lower in values.  I talked to a pastel artist this past summer who uses watercolor first to cover large areas with an initial value/color and then uses the pastels on top of it.  I've never tried that, but I can see how it may be necessary for some things.  I experienced some of the same differences you describe above when I was trying the WS oils, and it was very hard to adjust to, especially the feel of the paint on the brush.  I am so accustomed to feeling like the watercolor brush is an extension of my brain, and with the WS oils I felt like I was painting with a floor broom!    

Margo5 wrote

on 28 Jan 2010 12:21 PM

Kisu,

You always make me laugh. I would probably feel the same way if I tried to paint with oils, but that would be because we were stepping outside our comfort zone. Someday just for fun, I would like to try playing a little with oil paints, but right now I am struggling enough to master watercolors.

Sharon Repple wrote

on 28 Jan 2010 7:53 PM

Kisu, were you able to open the second panel by clicking on the "X"? 

Love the broom example and I understand what you mean by the watercolor brush being an extension of your brain.  Reminds me of another difference that I enjoy about acrylics, though.  When you paint with watercolor, the paint dries lighter and I have struggled with getting the color right in the first application so that my watercolor paintings would look clean and crisp. In acrylics, the colors dry darker and if they are too dark I can repaint or tone them down. 

Margo5 wrote

on 28 Jan 2010 8:19 PM

Sharon, not only do the watercolors dry lighter, but not all of the colors dry lighter in the same way (same expected value range). You might put down one blue thinking it is really dark and it isn't as dark as you thought, but you might put down a different color expecting it to lighten at the same rate and it doesn't. You really have to get to a point where you learn what each pigment does as well as the combinations of pigments (as well as ratio of water).

Sharon Repple wrote

on 28 Jan 2010 8:42 PM

Margo, I agree with everything you wrote. Then you throw into that all the different brands and whether the colors are staining or not.  But I love watercolors and the layers that you can create.  It is so easy to go to mud in trying to get the right color intensity, though.  Watercolors are not so forgiving.  I mentioned the differences because I have switched to acrylics for the time being.  We'll see how I do.

Margo5 wrote

on 28 Jan 2010 9:11 PM

I don't have acrylic experience (other than on my walls), but I know what I like and I'm liking this. You seem happy with the acrylics so I would say go for it.