Light Boxes and LED light bulbs

I always plan to make up or buy a light box.  They're very handy when you need to trace a shape or image.  However I don't often need to trace things so lack the motivation to get one.

When I do need to trace something I tend to use the window on a bright or sunny day.  However this method has to be done standing up so it's not handy for complicated projects.

I am not recommending this but at night time I have used a sheet of glass over a table lamp.  This can get a bit hot depending on the bulb in the lamp. 

I recently changed the bulb to an LED one.  It is supposed to use less electricity and have a longer life.  Apparently it is the green alternative to the bulb that was replaced.

The definition from Wikipedia says -
“An LED lamp (or LED light bulb) is a solid-state lamp that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the source of light. LED lamps offer long service life and high energy efficiency, but initial costs are higher than those of fluorescent and incandescent lamps.”

It's nice to be good to the environment but another benefit is the lack of heat from the LED bulb.  Now when I am tracing over the top of the lamp the glass stays cool.  Much better!

If I ever get around to making a light box I think using LED bulbs will be a great idea.

Of course you can buy some very nice light boxes; you don't need to make your own.

Here's the sort of thing I mean

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Painting Technique - Texture Paste Tip

I've had a couple of queries about the use of texture paste.

The main question is whether you can use texture paste only in the foreground.  So I have a painting here that uses texture paste a bit further back in the picture.

As you can see it works just as well here.

This top photo shows the foreground stones.

Here are a couple of photos showing sections so that you can see how the paste has been applied and over-painted for the final effect.

(I adjusted the contrast in the lower photo so that the texture is more obvious.)

Top Tip – You can use texture paste ‘further back’ in a painting. 
Consider using a shallower texture in the further away section and then use a deeper texture in the foreground.  By using the paste more thickly in the foreground you will help to give the illusion of depth to your picture and it will provide a nice contrast to the other section of texture paste too.


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Using Texture Paste in a Seascape

I had a container of texture paste that's pretty old and starting to dry up a bit at the top. Rather than waste it I decided to use some for the foreground stone in a seascape.

I took a few photos of some of the stages so you could see how the final painting was achieved.

This seascape is painted on a canvas panel. I like canvas panels as they can be trimmed if you decide that a section of a painting isn’t working.



First I started with a rough sketch of where the stones and main wave would be. Using a palette knife the texture paste was applied. The local stone here has very definite layers in its structure. So it is fairly straight forward to apply the paste to give this effect.

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Once the paste was dry a strip of masking tape was positioned for the horizon. In a seascape it is important that this is level or the water looks like it could fall out of the picture. (Not what you’re trying for!)

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This area was painted with black acrylic and left to dry. The stone area can be painted quite roughly, with thin and thicker areas of paint to help with the stone shading.

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When the picture was painted in I didn’t like the section on the right so I added more texture paste to add some grassy texture to the top and some to improve the stone shape lower down. Once it was dry I carried on with the acrylic paints.

Adding white to the neutral colours gives good stone-like colours.

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This is the final painting. The paste made painting the stones a lot easier. Just darken the hollows and lighten the raised areas for an effective look. Adding some crack lines will make it look more interesting too.

Keep Your 'Test' Samples

I often shop at our local Lidl supermarket. It does a range of garden, hardware, clothing and craft items. They take in the different things, usually just for one week, depending on the time of year.

I like their stretched canvases; they are a good quality and a very good price. I’m not so keen on the paint brushes though.

They sometimes have acrylic paints and acrylic pastes. Recently they had some acrylic pastes that I hadn’t seen before so I bought a box to try.

Whenever I get new items I try them out on a piece of thick paper or thin card. Then I keep the card with the paint/paste, this helps when I consider using it at some time in the future. I just need to check how it looks to see if it will give me the effect I want.

Obviously once you’ve used an item a few times you know what to expect. However this is a handy tip for the times when you buy new items or for things you only use occasionally.

I have included a couple of photos of the samples I have with the paints and pastes.

As you can see I’m not too fussy about it being very neat!

The lower one is a box of acrylic pastes. It had gold satin, aluminium, crystal (clear), nacre (mother of pearl) and the standard white paste.

Looking for Inspiration?

These types of sample cards can be handy when you want to paint something but don’t know what. They can provide a starting point for a painting when you consider what you can use them for.

That’s what I did when painting this picture of Yoda, from Star Wars. I had bought some metallic paints and wanted to use them. The sheen from the gold and bronze paints made a good ‘alien world’ background.

(As I've mentioned in other posts it is a good idea to paint around the edge of the stretched canvas as it allows you to hang the picture unframed if you want, that is what I did with this one.)

How to Add Detail to the Foreground of your Picture

This posting is about one technique for adding detail to your painting. It is not something I use a lot, with acrylic paints you can easily paint over any details you want. However it is always good to be aware of painting options for achieving a particular result.


How to Add Detail to the Foreground of your Picture


Adding extra detail to the foreground of a painting helps to make the background look further away and can give depth to a picture.

The closer something is to the front of a picture the more detail you can see. So putting in extra details in this area is a good idea.

One painting technique to achieve this is to scrape out grassy things in a landscape. Or perhaps scratch out a texture in other subjects. For example, indicating the texture of the tablecloth in a still life.


Consider your painting surface

The amount of detail you can achieve will depend on the painting surface you are using. You will be able to add more detail when painting on a smooth surface than you can on a rough surface.


Damp is easier

When using acrylic paints I prefer to scrape out the shapes while the paint is still wet/damp. Although you can scratch the dried paint to make some shapes it is easy to dig too deeply and cut into the painting surface. This can be quite a problem on a paper surface.


What to use?

You can use a range of things to scrape out the shapes you want. With thicker paints it can be handy to use a palette knife. The palette knife can be used either flat or edge on depending on the effect you want.

I often use the end of a paint brush. This can be handy for thinner paints and smoother painting surfaces.

Of course you can always use a finger nail too!


Adding extra detail to the ‘detail’

Once the paint has dried you can also paint in further detail to the scraped out shapes for highlights and shadows. This can help to give the shapes extra definition too.

The amount of detail you put into a painting will depend on the subject matter and your style of painting.

As with any technique it is always worth experimenting on a spare piece of paper to make sure you like the effect before you use it on the final piece.

Packing Stretched Canvases for Sending

I thought it would be helpful to consider how to pack artwork that is painted onto a stretched canvas.

Holiday times are a good opportunity to look at this as chocolate boxes, especially the large flat ones are very handy packing materials. So if you receive any boxes of chocolates (particularly the ones with just one or two layers of chocolates as they tend to be a good size) you may want to save it for future packing material.

Materials

The way I package stretched canvases uses an appropriate size of box, lots of bubble wrap, a couple of sheets of cardboard with some extra cardboard to reinforce the edges and corners. Also some paper to wrap the box and parcel tape to keep it all secure.

My Method

I start by putting a couple of layers of bubble wrap in the gap at the rear of the stretched canvas. This will fill up the void at the back of the canvas. Then wrap the canvas in bubble wrap. It helps to both protect the painting and keeps any dampness away from the artwork too.

Next put a sheet of cardboard to the front and back of the stretched canvas. Cut these an inch or two larger than the size of the painting including the bubble wrap.

Roll up some lengths of bubble wrap strips to pack the edges around the canvas. Place in the gap between the 2 cardboard layers. Pack the bubble wrap strips out to approximately the edge of the cardboard layers. This will help to protect the edges.

Cut spacers of cardboard

Cut some lengths of cardboard wide enough for the gap between the two layers of cardboard (on the front and back of the canvas). Put these between the two layers. Be sure that the corners are well protected and put the lengths of cardboard the whole way around the artwork. Use the parcel tape or any wide tape to hold this in place.

If there is room add another layer of bubble wrap around all of this packaging, and then place it into the box.

If the box is not deep enough (the bubble wrap will make it quite a bit larger all around) you can add some more lengths of cardboard as a spacer between the top and bottom of the box.

Pack any spaces with more bubble wrap and tape the top and bottom of the box together. (The corners are the area most likely to get damaged. Be sure to check that they are well packed.)

To finish, wrap with paper and tape to secure.

I probably over-pack stretched canvases, but I‘d rather use too much packaging and have the artwork arrive in good condition.

Damaged stretched canvas?

If you are unlucky and the painting is damaged you may be able to repair it.

If the canvas and painting are intact it is possible to get some new stretchers and (having removed the canvas from the original damaged stretchers) re-stretch the canvas over them. However if the canvas or paint is damaged you will probably need to decide if it is worth the trouble of trying to get it repaired.

Should the paint be damaged you may find that you can repaint it successfully. However if the canvas is torn I wouldn’t bother trying to repair it. Perhaps you could cut it down to a good section and re-stretch it as a smaller picture.


Sending a few canvases?

If you have a few canvases to send and they are all about the same size you can buy boxes from sellers on eBay. There are some sellers on eBay that will sell boxes suitable for sending pictures. If you have a few to send this could be a good option for you.

But if you only have one picture to send it is probably easier to use the method described above.

How to Send an Artwork Gift

With Christmas fast approaching you may be thinking about making a personalised gift and sending it. If you decide to send some artwork you will need to package it fairly well so that it will arrive in good condition. This is even more important for a present.

If the artwork is painted onto paper or canvas panel it will be the more suitable for sending. Stretched canvases need a lot more packaging.

However if you are sending paper, canvas panel or even a picture with a mount the easiest way is to use a board backed envelope.

Board Backed Envelopes

These come in a range of sizes. My local newspaper shop sells them singly so I can buy just one.

Ideally you want the size of the envelope to be about one inch longer and one inch wider than your artwork. If it is too large the picture tends to move about too much and can be damaged.

A board backed envelope can be cut down to size and the cut edges sealed with tape, parcel tape works well for this.

There are different qualities of board backed envelopes. If the one you buy seems too thin and flexes a lot you can strength it with another piece of thin card. I find that a cereal box can be a good size and thickness for this.

Cut the cereal box to the size of the envelope and slide it in to make sure it fits well.

It is a good idea to put the picture into a plastic bag to keep it dry – just in case!

Put a piece of spare paper, then the picture (in its plastic bag), and then another piece of card in a stack. Next slide this stack into the envelope with the good side of the picture facing the board part of the envelope.


Tip

Place the artwork so that it is facing the board of the envelope, so the extra piece of card to the back of the picture. This ensures that if the rear of the envelope is written on it will not mark the painting.



No board backed envelope?

If you cannot get a board backed envelope you can use a large envelope and make up a sandwich of packing to protect your artwork.

In this case you need to have two pieces of strong card both slightly larger than the picture. The cardboard needs to be about one inch longer and one inch wider than the picture.

Place your artwork into a plastic bag to keep it dry and then sandwich the picture between the cardboard layers. Tape the two cardboard layers together to keep the artwork flat.

This can be placed into a normal large envelope for sending.


Tips

Check that the cardboard is both strong and not too heavy. If it is heavy it will really increase the price of sending the packet.

Mark the outside of the envelope as “Fragile Please Do Not Bend” in large letters, on the front and on the back too.

Tips on Painting from a Photograph – Part 3

In this last part I wanted to mention a few points that are important if you are painting the picture for someone else.


If you are given a photo and asked to paint it then be sure to check what the other person expects.


Expections

1. Perhaps they really want a painting of the photo just as it is, in which case you will have to try and keep the picture fairly true to the photo.


2. They may say that the photo is just a starting point but they want the final piece to be recognisable as the photo. In this case you have a bit more flexibility with the composition and colour of the painting.


3. Or they may say that they are happy for you to paint your version of the photo. This will give you the most freedom with the choices you make.


It is always best to discuss what they expect the final painting to look like. This will avoid disappointment for you both!


An Example


I painted a pet portrait from a very small photo (the head in the photo was about half an inch by half an inch) and felt that the final painting was a good likeness. Although the client was happy with the painting she said that it was her partner’s dog and she had never seen it when it was younger. The dog was going grey and this was not apparent due to the size of the photo.


For myself - I prefer to remember pets in their prime, looking healthy and alert. But I should have discussed the painting more than I had. Maybe a painting of the dog looking older would have been more appreciated by the owner.

Tips on Painting from a Photograph – Part 2

Here is Part 2 of Tips on Painting from a Photograph. It looks at the composition of your final painting and considers some of the options you have.

You don't need to paint a picture to exactly match the photograph. In Part 1 we talked about choosing just a section of the original photo and not the whole of it. The composition of the final painting is the main subject of this article.

Although you're using the photo for your inspiration it's still necessary to consider the composition of the final painting.


Here are a few points to think about.

What is the focal point?
Where is it placed? (It is better to avoid putting it in the centre.)
You can move it to a better area if you want.

Are there objects to lead the eye into the painting?
These could be paths, branches, or shapes to lead the eye in.

What about the colours? You could change a landscape to a different time of day or a different time of year?
Instead of mid-day you could have a sunset, instead of the bare branches of winter you could have green leaves or even autumnal leaves.

Consider the contrast between the tones used in the different areas too.
Again you do not need to follow those in the photo.
Perhaps you want to highlight a contrast between some light and dark areas of the picture.

You can use the photo as a starting point for your painting.
But if the final painting is for someone else they may want and expect it to look like the photo.

However you still have the option to change things to improve the composition of the final picture. For example missing out a power line in a landscape or changing the background in a portrait.

How to Make Your Own Rake or Comb Brushes

Rake or comb brushes are very handy when painting textured effects. These brushes have been cut with gaps between the bristles so that they produce grass like effects. They are really convenient when you want to paint rows of lines quickly and easily.

I find them useful for painting the fur in pet portraits.

However the rake brushes I have do have one problem. The spaces between the bristles are all the same size. This makes them excellent for parallel line areas, but not so good for grassy areas where you want some variety in the brush strokes.

I do have one rake brush that has irregular spaces but the majority of the rake brushes seem to have uniform spacing.






So I decided to experiment

I trimmed some old brushes to see how that would work. Don't use new brushes, but if you have some old brushes that are past their best this could be a good project.

As you can see from the photo I cut the bristles to give uneven spaces.


How to make your own

It is probably easier to do this with flat brushes rather than round brushes, although I tried both. Trim the brush across the width of the brush head. You are trying for a thin line of bristles across the width of the brush; this will avoid the final brush being overloaded with paint.

Then cut into the brush head to give the spaces between the bristles. This is a bit like when a hairdresser is making choppy layers in a hair style.

Test your newly trimmed brush to check that you are happy with the effect. If you aren't pleased with it then dry the brush on a piece of paper towel and re-cut it. Repeat this stage until you have a successful rake brush.


When to use them

If you're only painting a small area of texture it'll be easier to just paint it in using a small brush. However when you want to texture a large area it'll be quicker to use this type of brush and you can add several lines with just one brush stroke.

Having made your own brush you will have a more random look to the texture too.

Using Glow in the Dark Paint in a Painting

The last posting mentioned that the landscape painting had another secret. As you now know from the title of this post – it included some glow-in-the-dark paint.

I bought a small container from eBay and didn’t know quite what to expect.

However I like to experiment with new materials…


My first try

My first project was to use it on a lighthouse window in a picture I had previously painted. I thought that if the lighthouse window would glow in the dark it would add an interesting dimension to the picture.






The picture is displayed in quite a dark hallway and I was disappointed that there was no glow. I applied several layers of the paint but there wasn’t any improvement.


I have it so I will use it!

Seeing as I had most of the paint left I decided to give it another try. The hallway is fairly dark and maybe the paint wasn’t getting enough light in that position.

This time I applied the paint to the landscape so that the glow would look like a shimmer in the sky that was reflected on the watery section in the centre of the picture, indicated by the marked area in the photo.




As in my first attempt, I applied a few layers of the glow-in-the-dark paint. This is recommended in the instructions that came with it.


Display and Glow

I hung the painting and forgot about it. But this time it worked. :-)
As soon as the lights were out the areas that I used the glow in the dark paint on gave off a slight glow – enough for me to see even without my glasses on!

The picture is displayed on the wall on the same side of the bedroom as the digital clock. I don’t know if this gives enough light to make a difference or not, I only know that it works there.


Green Might be Better?

According to the website the brightest glow comes from the green paint. The one I have is white, which is second in their table.

I can imagine painting a sunset with over hanging trees and using the green on the leaves for an interesting glow look. I might get around to that some time.


For the Full Range

You don't need to look on eBay for this paint supplier. They have a website at www.kilabitzzz.co.uk with their full range.

They also sell some other interesting paints. There is one for UV lights and a temperature changing one too. If you're looking for something different it may be worth a look.

How You can Paint Your Own Colour Matched Artwork (Part 1)

Painting artwork that includes the colours used in your home furnishings is a popular project.

It is covered in the free report that I give away (the link is above). However it is always interesting to see some actual examples.

I'm going to show you a couple of examples of pictures I've painted to match the bed cover in our bedroom. This post looks at one style of painting and the next post, which will be in about a month, will show a different style of painting. Both will be using the same colours to paint the pictures. These colours have been chosen to match the fabric of the bed cover.







The Colours in the Furnishings

As you can see from the photo the bed cover is a checked design with stone and dark red in the pattern. Trying to buy artwork with these particular colours in it would be fairly difficult. Also I wanted to keep the colours in the bedroom limited as I find that more restful.

Rather than mix up the colours myself I decided to buy a couple of small pots of pre-mixed acrylic colour. There are a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly I was going to paint a couple of pictures, so mixing up exactly matching colours for both of the pictures was going to be a challenge. (I wasn’t going to be painting them at the same time.)

Secondly when I was looking at the range of stone colours I realised that some shades looked a lot better with the dark red than others. So it was easier to buy my favourite shade.

The Style of the Picture

When using more unusual colour combinations it is often easier to go for a more graphic style of painting rather than something that it too realistic looking. Therefore for the first picture I decided to do a simple sunset, or moon set :-) , picture with some palm trees. This was painted on a stretched canvas.


How to Paint It

I started with a rough sketch to place the sun and trees where I wanted them.

Then I drew around a large plate for a circle for the sun. The rest of the picture was lightly drawn on.

Top Tip - Remember that once you paint over the surface with acrylics you will not be able to erase the pencil marks. Remove any unwanted marks before you start to paint.

I painted in the sun with Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White. Once it had dried I painted in the sky with the stone colour, adding white to give some cloud effect areas.

The edge between the sun and sky can be repainted to tidy it up once both sections are completely dry.

I used the dark red to paint in the palm trees and foreground. This can be painted in several layers. Extra layers will make the colour look a bit darker too.

Adding additional details to the foreground area helps to add interest and depth to the picture.


Other Ideas

The contrast between the light area of the sky and the darker silhouette of the trees and foreground is handy for this type of colour matched artwork.

Of course you can use other subjects in a similar way. You could use the silhouette shape of anything you like. For example a bridge, city skyline, hills, and so on. Perhaps even a shape taken from the patterns in your furnishings.


Part 2

Next time I will be talking about the other painting which uses the same colours but with a different style and look.

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Painting on an Oval Stretched Canvas - Painting Tip

I've had an e-mail about painting on oval stretched canvases so I thought it would be a good subject for this blog post.

Painting on an Oval Stretched Canvas

Oval stretches canvases used to be quite rare but I see that they're a lot more common now.

They give a different look to your painting and many people prefer it.

I got one as a Christmas present last year. I painted a collie picture on it and I think it looks pretty good. :-) It would look pleasing in a traditional style of décor.


What about Framing?

However there may be a drawback if you want to have a framed picture. I spoke to my local picture framer and she said that framing oval pictures was a specialist job. Obviously the frame needs to be the same curved shape as the canvas.

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Side Note – An oval canvas could be framed into a rectangular picture. The oval shape would be put behind a mount or matt, so the final mounted picture would be a rectangle, and easy to frame.

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When framing a square or rectangular canvas the framing is sold in straight lengths. The lengths are cut to the correct size for the canvas. The corners are cut at 45 degrees for a tidy finish and the frame assembled.

For an oval canvas to be framed as an oval shape the framing has to match the curve of the canvas which is much more complicated.

This can make getting your oval artwork fairly expensive to frame. A few years ago I saw an oval canvas with a matching frame sold as a kit, but I haven't seen any of these recently.


Any Options?

If you decide to buy an oval canvas look for one with the canvas fixed on the back the picture. This means that the artwork can be displayed without the need for a frame.

I like to paint the background colour around and onto the sides to tidy them up. The photo shows how this looks on the collie painting.

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How to Paint a Textured Background

Painting in backgrounds in landscapes is fairly straightforward. However when painting still life or animal portraits the background area is often a cause for concern.

Painting in backgrounds is a common problem. This post is about a way to use cheesecloth to give a lightly textured background.

The following background techniques would usually be painted before the main part of the picture.


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How to Paint a Textured Background using Cheesecloth


I like the background of a picture to have some texture or subtle colour. This has two benefits.

Firstly, by breaking up a flat background the painting is more interesting.

Secondly, if you smudge the main area of the painting it is a lot easier to repair the background area. When the background is a flat colour, all the background would need to be over-painted. With a textured background you can (often!) touch up some areas without needing to repaint all the background.


Using Cheesecloth is Easy

For an interesting background texture you can use cheesecloth or muslin. This technique can also be effective with voile and lace fabrics too. Try to experiment with whatever loosely woven fabrics you have.


Use the Fabric like a Stencil

Start by spraying your painting surface with water and then place on your fabric.

Next, brush or use a sponge to apply a thinned paint over the fabric. Try not to use too watery paint or it will run underneath it and you won’t get a texture. If this happens just dry everything off with some paper towel and try again.

Let the paint dry for about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on conditions) and then remove the fabric before the paint is completely dry. The impression of the fabric will be left in the painted background.


Alternately use the Fabric for an Impression

Another way to use the fabric is to paint the background and then press the fabric into the painted surface for a different look.

In this case the fabric will soak up some of the paint giving thicker and thinner areas that will provide some texture.


When I Paint in the Background

When I paint pet portraits I have found the easiest thing is to lightly draw in the pet portrait shape and then paint in the background area. When using a stretched canvas I paint around the sides at this stage too.

This way I can leave the majority of the portrait area unpainted. A really textured background would need a thickly painted portrait to cover it otherwise.

Then towards the end of the picture I tidy up any background areas that need it and finally paint some of the fur over the background paint. This blends both areas a little and adds to the texture of the pet fur.

This would work equally well with flowers or other subjects that are the main focus of your picture.


Abstract Themes

These painting techniques will work well for abstract pictures too. However in abstract pictures these techniques could be used at any stage.

They would be handy to use after the whole picture has been painted to add some extra interest. Then you can just define a few of the areas to bring them forward.

That is, paint most of the picture, apply the texture, and then emphasis a few of the areas once the texture has dried.

These highlighted areas would be a good place to use some acrylic mediums to give either a gloss finish or perhaps metallic highlights.


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I hope you find this helpful.
There is no right way to paint, just different ideas for achieving the look you want. :-)

Painting in the Evening - Daylight Bulbs

I like to paint in the daylight, I think it makes it easier for mixing the colours and you can see if the dried paint is the colour you wanted. However you may have your painting time in the evening and painting by artificial light can make the colours look quite different.

I received a gift of a couple of daylight bulbs one birthday many years ago. They look very odd; I did wonder why I got a couple of blue light bulbs! They are unusual looking. But once I tried them I was very happy and found that I enjoyed painting in the evening as I could see the true colours of the paint I was using.



A Bit about Daylight Bulbs

The science part…


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia


‘Full-spectrum light is light that covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared through near-ultraviolet, or all wavelengths that are useful to plant or animal life; in particular, sunlight is considered full spectrum, even though the solar spectral distribution reaching Earth changes with time of day, latitude, and atmospheric conditions.

"Full-spectrum" is not a technical term when applied to an electrical light bulb but rather a marketing term implying that the product emulates natural light.

Products marketed as "full-spectrum" may produce light throughout the entire spectrum, but actually do not produce an even spectral distribution, and may not even differ substantially from lights not marketed as "full-spectrum”

(They are often said to appears similar to noon daylight)


Use in art and in color matching

Full-spectrum fluorescent lamps are used in the art studio by artists who paint pictures on canvas when they paint at night or inside (ideally, during the day the art studio should have north sunlight, but many artists don't have access to north sunlight so they use full-spectrum lamps instead) in order to make sure that the colors they are using appear in their natural hue as they will appear when the painting is displayed in a home or in an art gallery.

Full-spectrum lamps are also used by color scientists or color matchers in paint stores to match colors at night or inside when they don't have access to north sunlight.’


The daylight bulbs that I have are over 20 years old. They look like a normal light bulb that has been painted blue. They seem to last very well, but maybe I've been lucky!

As I looked online the newer versions appear to be clear. And come in a range of shapes and sizes.


Want to try one?

If you want to try one I would recommend buying a bulb that will fit a lamp that you have already. That way you will just be paying for a daylight bulb and can see if you like them.

If you find that they suit you there are a wide range of lights made especially for painting and crafts, from ones that clip onto your easel to desk and floor lamps.


Not just for painting

If you decide to get a daylight lamp be sure to use it for any other crafts or hobbies you have, they are not just for painting. So that will make it a better investment for you too.

Painting Tip for Artists – Dented Canvases

In this post I wanted to share a tip that I had to use recently. If you store your equipment better than I do you may not need this tip!

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How to Repair a Badly Stored Stretched Canvas

I have a range of different sizes of stretched canvases. This is very handy as I can choose the size I want for a particular painting. Usually I store them so that all the same sizes are together and resting on an edge (normally leaning up against a wall). This way they support each other and everything is fine.

However as I was looking for a particular size I discovered that I had mixed a small stretched canvas in between two large ones. It must have been there for a while as the small one had put dents into the larger canvases. What a nuisance!


How to Fix Dents in a Stretched Canvas

I find that if you get a bulge or dent in the canvas surface you can remove it by thoroughly spraying the entire back of the stretched canvas with clean water.

The canvas will usually dry smooth. However you need to let it dry naturally for the best result.


Another Use for this Spraying on the Back Technique

Another use for this technique is to slow the drying time of a painting.

If you want to slow down the drying time of your paint you can spray the back of a stretched canvas with a water spray before you start the painting. This will slow down the drying time without affecting the paints on the front of the canvas.

I like to spray the rear of the canvas before setting out the rest of the painting equipment so it gets time to soak into the canvas a bit.

Obviously the amount of extra time you will get depends on some other factors too. For example how much water you sprayed on the back of the canvas, how wet the paints are that you are using, room temperature and humidity, and so on.

However it is a handy thing to know. Be sure to try it sometime to see how it works for you.

Eagle Painting Using the Textured Background

Here is the final picture using the textured background from the previous blog posting.

I think these backgrounds work really well with strong graphic images.

The eagle is inspired by eagle tattoo designs and is painted using a mix of Prussian blue (the same blue used in the background) and Payne's grey.

I have just listed it in my eBay store, I hope it sells :-)

The Easy Way to Paint a River

This is an easy and effective technique for painting rivers. When you are painting a river it can be a bit daunting trying to get all the details in. This method paints the river in two stages so there is less to concentrate on in each stage.

The idea is that you paint the riverbed and some of the riverbank area first and let it dry. Next you over paint the area with some washes of colour then add details to enhance the final result.

Start with the underpainting

I like to use neutral tones for the stone, rocks and gravel that make up the bottom of the river or stream. It will depend on the stones natural colour whether you'll want to choose colours to the brown or grey tones for the main colour.

In either case it usually looks best if you include some of both colours. Once you have decided on the colour of the local stone you can add more of it to your base painting if necessary.

I like to underpaint some of the river banks as well. My favourite way is to include the middle and distant areas. (This can help to unify the look.) The main detailed area will be in the foreground sections which will be done later on.

At this stage you're just painting in the stony areas in the neutral tones and concentrating on getting the shapes and modelling of the rocks looking good.


Add some colour

Once the underpainting is fully dry add washes of colour to show the water and highlights on the river.

I think it is easier to start with pale washes first and then darken in the areas along the banks.

Then paint in any bank areas using thin washes of colour. There will probably be areas in the water that will reflect the grasses, so you can add them at this stage using the same wash as the riverbank.

If you are painting a sunset then the sky colours may be reflected in the water too.


Add some thick paints for definition

After you are happy with the washes use some thicker paints to give some of the areas a bit more detail. For example you may want to add ripples to the stream. The riverbank vegetation will look more interesting if you take the time to paint in some grassy shapes.


Don't forget the Highlights

I like to add the highlights in the water at the end of this process. They can be where the sunlight is hitting the water or perhaps where the water is disturbed by the rocks underneath.

The highlights may be short strokes for a sparkly look or long smooth lines for a calm ripple effect.

This will work for...

This will work for pictures where the water flows between the rocks too. Just use the same method but leave some of the rocks ‘out of the water’. You can add extra detail to these stones if you want.

Top Acrylic Painting Tips

If you only want to see a bit of the riverbank then add some white to the wash colours. As acrylic Titanium White is an opaque colour the wash will be less transparent.

Highlight with ripples of darker colours as well as lighter ones for lovely effect.

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This is a really effective technique that I hope you'll try. Remember you don't need to do a whole painting to test it out. You can try it on a spare piece of paper to see if you like the look of it.

This example is just a quick painting, if I was doing a proper painting I would probably add in some tall grasses to the foreground.

Acrylic Painting Technique – Make a Print Unique (Part 2)

The top photo is the black and white photograph I cropped from the original photo.

The lower image is my completed painting.

Using acrylic paints and mediums

In this second part I'm trying a mix of two painting techniques.

I'm still using the same photo of my parents that I used in last month's posting, but this time I printed it onto a thinner photographic paper. The photo paper is a matte General Use one of 120gsm, for using with inkjet printers. As before, if you want to try this you need to make sure that your printer ink is not affected by water once dry. My printer uses pigmented inks that are waterproof when dry.

This time I started with the same photo and cropped out the part I wanted to use. I didn't like the background in the photo so I cut it off. Last time I painted it out but this time I want to try to use the paint as thin washes.

I then printed out the cropped photo in black and white. I'll add the colour using the paints.

Seal the Back of the Paper – First Technique

As this is fairly thin paper I sealed the back of my (cropped) print with Acrylic Gesso. Once dry I'm hoping that it will stop the paper from buckling too much when I apply the washes. This technique is explained in the blog posting of the 20 January 2009.

I left this overnight to make sure that it was fully dry.

Use washes of colour

I used washes of colour to paint the print. This makes painting the faces a lot easier as the lines and shading are already in place. No worries about getting the faces looking good either. :-)

In this example I still wanted to change the black of my mother's top to something lighter and this had to be painted with thicker paints. However the rest of the painting was put in using thin washes of colour.

I used a light random wash for the background as the portraits are the main focus of the picture.

The Result

I didn't spend too long on this painting. The original print was very low resolution so the printed image is not too clear, which I really like. So when I added the colour I did not want to be too precise. I think that it makes the final result look more like a painting than a coloured photo.

Using the gesso on the back helped to stop the paper from stretching too much but it still buckled a little bit when wet, however on the whole it was fine.

I'm fairly pleased with the result.

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This example used a 'budget' weight of photographic paper compared to the one in last month's example. If I hadn't put the acrylic gesso on the back of it the paper would have stretched too much to get a good result. The paint would have puddle in the lower areas and looked terrible.

I prefer the painting from last month as it looks like a 'proper' painted portrait. However this example using washes gives a very good likeness and was painted in a fraction of the time too.

It really depends on the look you want and the photo you are using.

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Acrylic Painting Technique – Make a Print Unique Example

Example using acrylic paints and mediums


Here is an example of starting with a print and painting over the top of it. This is an easy way to paint an original picture without needing to draw! (This is an example to go with the article of the same name below.)

I don't paint a lot of portraits (human ones). I paint a lot of pet portraits and I must say I find painting fur a lot easier than skin. :-) Anyway I thought this would make a good example.

This is a photo of my parents. I don't have many photos of them together in their later years. This particular photo was taken on a holiday to Saudi Arabia. It's a fairly typical holiday ‘snap’.

There are a couple of things that are unfortunate. The top of the wall being in line with Dad’s head is the aspect that I think needs most attention. Also Mum never wore all black outfits; she wore it on this occasion due to the customs of the country they were visiting.

What I did

I printed out the photo on 190g/m² photographic paper; this is a thick quality paper. My printer uses pigmented inks that, once dry, don't run if they get wet.

Even though I made the print 9 by 7 inches (about 22 by 17 cm) I found it was quite small when painting some of the detail. So the picture needed to be done in a loosely painted style.

The Background

Titanium White is an opaque colour so I used a lot of it in the mix to paint the background and to get rid of the rear wall. I used the paints with the minimum of water so the paper wouldn’t buckle too much.

Keep a Copy of the Print for Reference

Once the background was dry I painted in my folks. I used the print to know where to paint the darker and lighter tones.

At this point I had to get a copy of the original print for reference and for fine tuning the picture. I couldn't see the original print once it was painted over as I had used the paint quite thickly.

Changing the Black

It took several layers of paint to change Mum’s outfit to a colour that she would normally wear.

Dad’s shirt was over-painted with a thin wash of colour and a little bit of shading.

I feel I got a reasonable likeness and I know that they would be happy that I made them look a little younger than the photo. ;-)

This technique can be used with any subject; it doesn't have to be a portrait. It would work really well with landscapes of local scene too.

You could also try it on any prints that you may have to make them more interesting and unique.