What's Bruin?

This is a 9x12 acrylic painting demo of an angry Grizzly Bear. The quick drying properties of acrylics allow me to build up many layers of paint in a very short timeframe. The first layers are mostly monochromatic and I concentrate on depicting the form with a full range of values, from white to black. Then I glaze on more color as I try to create variety, interest, and selected highlights. I use multiple references and I really observe the subtleties of color for authenticity and to avoid color cliches. Notice the gray pinks and purples in and around the bear's mouth.

Color Temperature

This is a recently completed in-class demonstration of acrylics. It is a continuation of my newer habit of leaving my paintings less refined or over-worked. When I start a piece like this, I am mostly aware of the color temperature of the underpainting. Usually the dominant color of the main subject will determine this for me. In the case of this young red fox; the oranges and yellows of it's fur dictated a warm underpainting. I built up washes of burnt sienna and burnt umber. Eventually the paint gets thicker as I fine tune and add more color. Later in the painting process, I added bits of cool colors to the shadows and background which gives the piece a bit more balance in color temperature.

Tastes Like Chicken

Chickens are a lot of fun to draw and paint. They come in a variety of shapes and colors and they are great subjects for depicting form and gesture. They are also difficult to capture due to their odd features, quirky movements, and unsettled nature. Try sitting to sketch, or even photograph, these birds and you will end up with pages of 5 second gesture scribbles and blurry photos. Because of this, chickens are one of those subjects where it is usually necessary to work from multiple references. In the case of the top image in this post, I was forced to look at several different chicken photos to "fill in the details" of areas that were not clear in my main reference. This included referring to an actual Wild Turkey leg/foot that my brother had given me (he's a hunter). I know that there are probably differences between the turkey leg and a chicken leg...but it helped! If this was for a technical or scientific illustration I would have had to do more research, but for a painting where EVERY detail is not meticulously rendered, it works. The top piece (13 x 13) was painted three weeks ago as an acrylic demo in my RIT class. The bottom piece (acrylic, 9 x 12) was painted about three years ago in another class from a friend's great photo reference.

Acrylic Critters

Here are a few more paintings from my vast collection of wildlife subjects. They were all completed with acrylics. I use Golden Brand acrylics with a fluid viscosity which I prefer since I create these paintings by using many thin layers of paint. The paint is loaded with pigment and the quick drying times allow for the layered build-up. In my last post I mentioned that I referred to my favorite acrylic artists when I wanted to learn how to use this medium. I always try to get my students to find examples of art that appeals to them so that they have a standard to aim for. I don't want them to copy these artists but I want them to be influenced by their methods. It always amazes me when I ask some students to name their favorite artists and I get a blank stare. Ask a major musician to name some influences and you will get a massive list of names and albums. Visual artists should be able to do the same thing.

Wild Wild Life

Here are a few acrylic paintings that I have completed over the past few years. I did not paint with acrylics until the early 90's. Up to that point I was using mostly oils, gouache, and mixed media techniques for all of my commercial and personal work. When I decided to teach myself how to use acrylics, I turned to other artists who worked with this medium. The acrylic painters that I admired the most, at that time, were wildlife artists. I loved the work of Robert Bateman and especially Bob Kuhn. They were internationally known and I was fascinated by the range of effects that they could achieve with acrylic paint. I bought books that reproduced their art and tried to visually dissect their methods. I went out of my way to visit museums and galleries that collected their work. I spent hours studying these wildlife master's work. I also spent hours in my own studio practicing and experimenting with acrylics. It also helped me at that time to work with wildlife subjects as I had enjoyed drawing and painting animals since my childhood. I have quite a collection of these small paintings (8 x 10 to 12 x 16) , and I will post more of them over the next few weeks.

Acrylic Stages: Mandrill

This shows one of my in-class demos from under-painting to a near finish. I am using acrylic paints here and you can see that I start out applying it in a monochromatic fashion. I feel like I am "drawing" with the paint at the earliest stage. I establish my mid-tones and darkest darks with several thin layers of acrylic. The next stage shows how I begin to show the form by adding some lights and some color with a more opaque paint application. I really sneak up on things here as the painting progresses, the paint gets thicker and the color gets more saturated. I love the versatility of acrylics. They can be used transparently like watercolor or more opaquely like thick oils. They are ideal for glazing techniques due to the quick drying times.

In-Class Acrylic Demo

I painted this pelican in-class this past school year as I demonstrated how I use acrylics. I played around with acrylic paint, off and on, for probably ten years before I was pleased with the results.

I think that they're actually more difficult to use than oils. This piece was done 11 x 14 on cold press illustration board and I worked from my own photo reference (taken in Naples, Florida).

For the sake of design, I matched the color and stylistic marks of the bird's feathers with the weathered wood.