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This is one of my most recent acrylic paintings. I apologize if the size is inconveniently large.
I am often frustrated by acrylic because it usually dries too fast to blend easily, but it is relatively easy to use. In this picture, I tested a new technique utilizing many small strokes to properly render the feathers, particularly on the macaw’s head. I also used a similar technique to paint the ripples on the water. Does anybody else here use acrylic?
OH MY GOODNESS!!! That is so amazing!!! Seriously. 😀 I have not used acrylic. (But I do know how hard it is to use due to fast drying.)
@david
THAT IS AWESOME!!! You rock!!! 🙂 🙂A dreamer who believes in the impossible...and dragons. (INFJ-T)
Wow, @david. That is a BEAUTIFUL painting!
I use acrylic— I actually prefer it to oil just because I work very fast and in many layers, which is difficult to do with a slow-drying paint like oils. Oils I like because they don’t change colors (whereas watercolors fade and acrylics deepen) but for quick paintings I prefer acrylics.
I love the colors in that painting, @David. I also like the transparency you managed with the sunlight in the background. That’s not easy to do! 😛
How did you post the painting here? Did you scan it in or something?
@Kate-Flournoy, we did scan the pictures and then Sarah posted them on our unfinished website, from whence we posted them on here. Painting this one was fun, especially since I was doing it for a close friend. You will, however, notice that the sky has several layers to to the short drying time and therefore relatively poor blending qualities of acrylic paint.
@david I actually like the sky the way it is. The sky is never one total colour (at least in my opinion) I think it is really good. 😀
@bluejay, thank you, praise God it turned out well.
The sky doesn’t look too terribly blended to me, @david. 🙂
My thing is, I can tend to stress too much about details, and my paintings end up looking kind of crowded. I tend to ignore the forest for the trees, you know what I mean? I think that also explains the tendency I have to over-describe things in my writing. 😉Here… I’m going to try and post one of my very earliest watercolors and see if it works. *crosses fingers* Here’s hoping. 😛
!!!!!!!! What do you know! It worked! 😛 😛 😛
That is outstanding! Those stones look three-dimensional. Watercolor can be tricky because it is so thin, so it takes a lot of skill to turn out such a beautiful piece. Good job, Kate!
Yes, that was one of the reasons I dropped watercolor for oils and acrylics. It took for-ev-er to get enough layers to make shadows and textures realistic. So glad you like the painting @David! 😀 Here, let’s see if I can get another one…
This one is a classic example of the difficulties of doing vibrant watercolors— notice how streaked and blocky the background is. Also, Mary looks a little stiff because I kept trying to retouch her, which is exceedingly difficult with such a light, transparent medium. I hadn’t learned at this point in my art ‘career’ that obsessing about details can actually be detrimental, and if I had been using acrylics or oils I could have fixed the obvious overkill very easily. So— beware, aspiring painters, of attempting complex paintings with watercolors! 😛 😉@bluejay you seem to be an animal lover— do you like my donkey? 😉 😉 😀
@kate-flournoy Of course I like your donkey. *so cute* and I love your sheep too. His wool looks really curly, which is great. And I love Joseph too, and the colours, and EVERYTHING!!! Great job Kate. 😀 😉
@Kate-Flournoy, great job! The faces are beautiful. Oils and watercolors are opposites when it comes to thickness. You mentioned having to use many layers to attain the desired look; however, when I did my oil painting of Simeon blessing Jesus at the temple, the paint on Mary’s face was so thick that I had to scrape it off several times in order to keep it from looking blotchy, crusty, and wrinkled. Smaller than a dime, her face took a very long time to perfect. I have observed that if you make your original work large, and then shrink the copies, it hides the mistakes.
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