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Acrylics Anonymous, Issue #038 -- Mediums. Spiritual beings AND fun painting concoctions.
May 01, 2015

1st May 2015, issue 038



Passionate about painting with acrylics? Need a monthly fix chock full of inspiration? Need some help to take the pain out of your painting process? It's all here for you. Acrylics Anonymous. Zero elitism. Dive in.



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Subscribers only…..shhhhhh…sealed section just for you!

Tip of the month

News

Artist In Focus

Links we like

Works in progress…..show us your paintings!



Every month, we will produce a Subscribers Only "sealed section". It could be a painting technique, a short video tip, or anything we can think of that we reckon you might enjoy.

Please let us know what you think, we love your feedback! To leave comments, click here.



We love paint recipes!

Learn which colours to put where to create realistic shadows in your beachscapes with this brand new paint recipe.

Shadows On Sand

Enjoy!

Click here to access!






Impasto Rules Ok!


A great way of achieving luminosity and depth in your paintings is to brush impasto gel in between your paint layers.

This lets light travel through the layers of the painting & bounce back through the colour, to your eye. Lovely, lovely brightness.





More Impasto Fun!

Learn how using impasto gel will enliven and add even more dimension to your paintings!

Click here to read more…




USA only - Freebies!

Atelier Interactive have a free trial kit for you (while stocks last) - apply for yours now, ya lucky duck!

Click here for more info...




Workshops

We have workshops coming up in Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast, Fiji and Woolgoolga in the next 6 months. Make sure you’re signed up to our workshops mailing list for all the latest info!

Click here to join our workshops mailing list...


Welcome to our new segment! Every month, we will choose an Artist from our forum to showcase.

You can even nominate someone if you like. (Or yourself!). To do this, check out the forum and then send us an email! It’s that easy.

This month we’re focussing on artist Deborah Carrol from Amelia Island, Florida US; and her work “Artistic License?” Well done Deborah! This piece was challenging for a few reasons - congratulations on a top effort Deborah!

read more about Deborah’s “Artistic License?”




The lovely Thaneeya is back again.
I always enjoy this site, and thought you might like some extra info on mediums today, a great page to peruse at your leisure.

More info on mediums here.



And talking about different mediums! This page is worth a look just to have a sticky beak at what people are creating out of strange materials. Favourites of mine are the John Lennon made out of cassette tape, and the Pantone chip rainbow :)

For 20 unusually awesome artistic creations, click here.




If you have a link you like, please share it with us! You can contact us to let us know. Thank you!

This is the section where you can "get your name in lights!" (well at least out there in the internet world!).

If you have works in progress you would love to show off, or finished pieces you are particularly proud of, we would love to see them!

We especially like to hear about the story behind the creation.

This month’s painting is from our very own Mark, and he has been fairly comprehensive with this one (you might like to have a go at it yourself!)

From Mark:

“Vinnies (2nd hand shop) is next to the studio in Lennox, and someone threw out a pile of frames. With a little bit of tidying up, sanding and a coat of paint, they were easily re-usable. I also had a few offcuts of watercolour paper, so it seemed that I absolutely had to put the two together.

I wanted to paint something fun; bright, spontaneous and “loose”. I used the new Atelier Free Flow with this vibe in mind. Great colours that flow. They did well naming the product ;)

I prepped the paper by pinning it to some foam core and then giving it a coat of impasto gel to both “seal” the paper and “glue” it to the foam core. I then let the impasto gel dry, pull the pins out, then hopefully the paper is “glued” down nicely (slipping a butter knife in behind the picture when you’re finished, cuts the impasto gel and separates the painting from the foam core).

With some Dioxazine Purple I did a line drawing to make the shape of the head of the pandanus tree, and to get the structural composition right. I then left it to dry in the sun, which took about 10 minutes.

I then blocked in the shadow areas on the tree, just to get all my darks and lights worked out. This took about 11 minutes to dry. Two and a half hours later I remembered I left my painting in the sun, brought it in and blocked in all the water behind the tree.

I mixed up some softer greens to suggest the areas that were coming out of the shadows, and added some blues to the areas that were reflecting the sky.

I mixed up Forest Green and Cadmium Yellow Medium and applied it to the underside of the leaves that were lit from behind. This colour combo is great for suggesting leaves that are backlit.

I got my White Free Flow, and put the highlights strategically around the place to suggest direct sunlight. I then mixed a little bit of Cadmium Yellow Light and a touch of Forest Green, and softened the transition between the highlights and the shadows leaves as the leaves turn and twist.

I added some French Ultramarine Blue to some Burnt Umber and a tiny bit of White, and applied that to the branches that were facing upwards and would be reflecting the sky. I also mixed a combination of Burnt Umber, Cadmium Yellow Medium and a touch of Pthalo Blue, and placed it on the undersides of all the leaves and branches that would be reflecting the light bouncing back off the water. I didn’t want to get too carried away, so left it at that.

It was a fun little happy piece. Great for a warm up, and looked great in the frame.

Thanks Mark for the tutorial on this one! Awesome :)




Hope you enjoyed this issue of Acrylics Anonymous! If you have any suggestions, comments or feedback for the ezine or our site, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Until next time, make sure you chuck some paint around!

Cheers from Frankie & Mark :)


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