Acrylics

Sunflowers: #PAINTCOACH Patreon

| cathmary1030

This 9×12 painting of a vase of sunflowers is from one of the PaintCoach Patreon lessons. I’m on a sunflower roll…

For the stems, I used my Liquitex BASICS Green Gray, my new Green Earth, and Phthalo Green (Yellow Shade) with Liquitex Cad-Free Yellow.

For the petals, I used Cad-Free Yellow, Yellow Ochre, and Cad-Free Orange desaturated with Ultramarine Blue.

The vase was done with Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue and Titanium White.

Dying Sunflowers — Painting #100

| cathmary1030

Wow! I’ve actually made 100 paintings. This one was my first from life rather than a photo. And, man, these sunflowers are in bad shape! I bought them specifically to paint them, but I’ve been drawing rather than painting for the last week or so. (I did take some photos of them right when I bought them, though, so I can try again.)

I decide to use my new Green Earth paint for the stems and leaves (mixed with my go-to Chromium Oxide Green. I used Diarylide Yellow for the petals, and a mix of Burnt Umber Light w/ Carbon Black for the faces of the flowers.

Testing New Paint Colors

| cathmary1030

The other day I bought some new acrylic paints from brands I haven’t used before. I needed some more yellow azo medium, so I tried Matisse Flow. I am perfectly happy with the color and the paint itself, but a negative for me is this brand has a foil covering once you take off the cap. I couldn’t pull it off by hand; had to use a knife — and found the whole thing unnecessary.

I got Green Earth and Payne’s Gray made by Old Holland. I like both colors — in particular the Payne’s Gray which would be great for a night sky. It surprised me that the Green Earth was so transparent. It would be good in a floral still life or a landscape.

The Cerulean Blue is made by Charvin. I think it’s a single pigment color. And I love the color!

Quick Study: December Evening Sky

| cathmary1030

For this study, I used another of my own photos — this one taken one evening in early December of 2021 from my backyard. The Moon was actually a crescent at the time, but I had a cheap smartphone at the time with a lousy camera, so it looks full, and I carried on with that in my painting. Jupiter is shining above the Moon, and Venus is near the silhouette of the chimney.

This was done on a 4×6 piece of 300 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper. The house silhouette is blue-black, and the sky was painted in tints of dioxazine purple. The Moon, Jupiter and Venus are painted in a yellow-white mix.

Quick Study: November Morning Sky

| cathmary1030

This painting was done in acrylic on a 4×6 piece of 300 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper. It’s based off of a photo I took of the waning crescent Moon one morning back in November 2021.

I felt the original image of the sky was too gray and blue, so I changed it up at bit. The sky was painted with Liquitex BASICS blue gray; the pink is Cadmium Red Medium Hue from Golden, and the Moon is Titanium White mixed with Hansa Yellow Light (PY 73).

Skies over home

| cathmary1030

This 4×6 painting in acrylic on 300 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper is based off a photo I took in Dec 2021 near sunset.

Colors used for the tree and roof silhouette: Chromium Oxide Green, Alizarin Crimson, and a touch of Cerulean Blue

Colors used for the sky: Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, Cad-free Orange, Cad-free Yellow, Titanium White, Blue Gray

Quick Study: Sea & Sky

| cathmary1030

This painting was a quickie, from imagination, after having browsed through images — photos and paintings — of the sea and sky.

My primary focus was the clouds.

This is 4×6 done on 300 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper, so I could wet my acrylics a bit.