Colorways: Acrylic Animals: Tips, techniques, and step-by-step lessons for learning to paint whimsical artwork in vibrant acrylic

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Colorways: Acrylic Animals

In Colorways: Acrylic Animals, you’ll find a variety of projects and easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions covering a range of animals and color schemes. As you work through each project, I encourage you to focus on using color in expressive and whimsical ways instead of trying to capture a

realistic image of each animal. There are no restrictions with color. As you work through each exercise, let go of any fear and just go for it!

At the beginning of this book, you’ll find helpful tips on sketching your subject matter, acrylic painting tools and techniques, and the basics of mixing color and color theory. We’ll talk about the importance of value and contrast, as well as using the intensity of each color to add depth and dimension.

The projects include gorgeous visual references, plus tips and tricks to use along the way. If you are not confident in your drawing skills, don’t worry; I’ll give you some helpful tips in “Getting Started” (see page 19).

Getting Started – JUST PLAY!

WORKING WITH REFERENCE PHOTOS

I encourage you to source your own images to work from as opposed to trying to emulate my art exactly. My approach to instructing is to instill as much creativity in you as I can. Let my examples inspire you, and avoid the temptation to copy exactly what I’ve done. For this reason, I’ve included only basic sketches of each animal with the step-by-step projects. I encourage you to research and discover what inspires you.

SKETCHING

If you are comfortable with your drawing skills, I encourage you to sketch each animal freehand. Some animals are easier to draw than others. We aren’t striving for “perfect” in this book; we want colorful, expressive animals. If your sketch isn’t an exact replica of your image, that’s OK! Instead, try to capture the essence of the animal in the image you are using.

ORDER OF OPERATIONS

When painting in acrylic, it’s best to work from general to specific. Think of painting as building a house. First, lay the foundation (the wash or underpainting). Next, build the frame of the house (blocking in broad areas of color). Finally, add the drywall, crown molding, and hardwood floors (the details). You wouldn’t build a house by constructing one wall at a time, from start to finish. In the same way, avoid painting tiny sections of details in your piece before building up each layer together.

Triadic Raccoon: Adding layers of fur

Build up the fur by layering colors. In the medium tones of the raccoon’s face, I use a dulled yellow-green and then paint blue-violet brushstrokes on top.

I use a very small round brush and work throughout my entire piece to paint very fine lines. Notice how the layers of color create dimension.

Pay attention to your values as you Areas with more darks and shadows will have less-visible hairs. paint.

Make sure your paint is nice and fluid. Use high-flow acrylics (see page 6) or water down your acrylic paint to ensure that you create smooth brushstrokes as you finish your piece.

A Few of the Step-by-Step Projects:

Split Complementary Cat

Say hello to a super-fun color scheme! A split complementary color scheme is similar to a complementary color scheme; however, instead of choosing a color and its opposite, you will select a color and the colors to the right and left of its opposite. This color scheme displays a strong visual contrast, but it’s less intense than a complementary color scheme, making it easier on the eyes.

Triadic Giraffe

This project will challenge you to use a triadic color scheme consisting of the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. This can be a tricky color scheme to pull together, but using the knowledge you now have about mixing intensities and values, I know you can make it work! The combination of these three vibrant colors can be a little jarring, so it’s important to balance your bright colors with duller ones.

Dimensional Pug

Our final project features a cute, wrinkly-faced Pug. Here, you will create a piece filled with dimension and, of course, bold color choices. To add dimension to this piece, you’ll use the impasto technique with modeling paste, so gather your supplies and images, and jump in! Once again, I follow my instincts and create a color palette as I work. However, if you like creating swatches and referencing those before getting started, go ahead and paint them. By now, you know how you like to work!

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walter Foster Publishing (January 8, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 163322614X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1633226142
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.8 x 0.5 x 11.7 inches