first step- when you want to transfer the image onto a bigger canvas put the study in plastic and draw horizontal marks from corner to corner then take a t-square and draw a horizontal line that cuts right thru where the X is. then do the same vertically.this will make four squares with one line going diagonally thru it. then draw a horizontal from corner to corner of those squares. now that will be enough for most easy compositions but if there is a square that has lots more detail in it you can keep drawing more and more squares by drawing corner diagonals and taking the t-square going thru where the diagonals cross.
after this is done you do the same on your larger canvas. now remember that for this to work, you have to have the same ratio of heighth to width. easiest way is to double the size of the study. 9x12 can be done on a 12x16 because the heighth to width ratio is 3:4. or you can go buy one of those proportion wheels at the art supply store to figure it out.
then i paint on rose madder and yellow ochre acrylic washes on the white gessoed panel board i buy at Lowes and cut on my table saw. using a stray tube of charvin paint that looks like alizarin crimson and orange with a touch of green, i draw in the composition and lay in the shapes using varying amounts of Liquin to make the mixtures lighter and darker. if i want it really light i just wipe down to the original acrylic wash that is not affected in the least by the oil paint that was on top of it. cool thing is--this will dry in less than an hour, so i can start laying in my darks. i mix the paint in piles and paint it right on the plastic to make sure the value is right (most important) and the color is close (secondary importance).
here ive got all the shadows laid in. i didnt like the yellow in the sky and on the road in the foreground so i went back with my rose madder acrylic and cooled off those two shapes (not shown here)
i must say, this one's going very easily since ive already done it once before. i'll post the painting tomorrow when i finish it up.
8 comments:
Mike, thanks for the riches of information in the transferring of smaller to larger scale. This one's shaping up great already.
Clarify one thing if you would:
Did you go back over oil with rose madder acrylic there at the end when you said you didn't like it and went back in?
bonnie- while it was still all acrylic i noticed that i had done the sky and foreground in the sun too warm. so i went back over the yellow ochre with the rose madder (pink) to cool it down. its very important in my way of working (bastardized cape cod school technique) that the underpainted shape reflect the proper temperature as well as value. the color doesnt even matter as much as those two things.hope that helps
bonnie- my mistake. i had the darks down in oil before i noticed that the two shapes were too warm. but i didnt have any oil on the light shapes yet and went over the yellow acrylic with rose madder. made sure i stayed out of the oil in the purple shadow area.
Mike,
I have another question.
What do you do about varnishing a new painting before showing it or selling it. How do you keep from having dead spots when it's drying. I see so many daily paintings being sold immediately and wonder how they are finished without using varnish. I was taught that you should even wait 30 days before using retouch varnish and that liquin dries as part of your painting so it can't be cleaned years later unless it's varnished. I'd like your input.
Thanks,
Pat
Mike- thanks for the double clarification. My sense was that you couldn't put acrylic over oil but can do the opposite.
This gives me more insight into the thought that goes into every one of your paintings.
PS- I, too, am interested in your take on Pats' question.
Thanks Mike
Bonnie
pat- the dull spots are from the oil in the paint sinking into the ground. i have at times painted retouch varnish over a painting if it was splotchy in this way, but 8 times out of ten i'll leave it with the semi-matte finish i usually get when the painting is done. the only time i get dull spots is if i only apply one coat of paint on a passage of the underpainting and it had alot of thinner in it. then, if the passage next to it gets thicker paint one will look dull and one semi shiny. working a passage several times makes sure this doesnt happen, and making sure you dont use a lot of thinner will help prevent dull spots.
i love Liquin and have even used a thin coat of it (mixed with thinner) as a retouch varnish in a pinch. the Liquin thins the paint like i used to use the thinner for but doesnt leave those flat spots. try it i think you'll agree
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