Paint a Picture – Olivia

_Elsa_

Wow it’s going much smoother than Rancid thought it would. Olivia is walking up the stars with her easel. Coming up quickly from behind is Arthur. He takes the easel and brings it to center stage. Rancid wishes her the best of luck.

One of the judges asks her to introduce herself by giving her name and where she lives.

“My name is Olivia and I am 54 years old. I live in the Candy Kingdom.” 

“And what are you going to do for us today,” the judge asks. 

“I love to paint,” Olivia says. “I’m going to offer some painting tips as I create this painting.”

‘The most important thing that I would like to share with you is how to work with acrylic paints. They are a great medium for beginners looking to get into painting. They are simple to use (once you get familiar with the quick drying times) and are much easier to clean up than oil paints. 

Be Decisive With Your Strokes - Unlike oil painting, you only have a limited amount of time that the paint will be wet and responsive on your canvas. Acrylic paint dries extremely fast, so you do not have much time to work with it. This has an upside though in that you can quickly paint layer on layer. The key here is to make sure each of your strokes is made with purpose and is decisive. You do not have as much flexibility as you do with oil painting, so each stroke must count.

Mixing Your Colors Is More Important Than You Think - Have you ever watched videos of professional artists painting? You will notice they appear to spend more time mixing colors on their palettes than actually painting. This is because color mixing is one of the most defining aspects of painting.  Before you place brush to canvas, be as certain as you can about the color. Use your palette for mixing and experimenting with colors, not your canvas. Unlike oil paints, you do not have the time to play around with the paint on the canvas as it will dry extremely fast.

Acrylic Paint Tends To Darken As It Dries - This is a common issue you will find with most acrylic paints - some colors will tend to darken as they dry. When mixing your colors, you should allow for a slight darkening. This effect seems to be more apparent in the lighter colors than the colors which are already dark.

Use Artist Quality Materials - Whilst you may be limited by a budget, if you invest in high-quality materials you will end up saving money over the long run. They will not deteriorate and your finished artworks will be of a much higher quality. If you are looking at selling your art, then this is a must.

Look After Your Painting Materials - Your paint brushes will deteriorate very fast if you do not clean them properly between sessions. Now I understand it is impracticable to spend half an hour delicately cleaning each brush after painting, especially if you paint regularly. An alternative would be to place the tips of your brushes in a bowl of water, laying as flat as possible without submerging the whole brush. You do not want the bristles to fold.

Stain Your Canvas - I find it much easier to paint on a stained canvas than a glaring white canvas. The stain should be a very toned color - you do not want a stain which is too strong and vibrant. In general, I will take some yellow ochre, dull it down by mixing it with some blue and then wash this over the canvas using lots of water. The stained canvas will help you judge the values and tones in your painting. It will also make it easier for you to paint your dark values on the canvas (it can be very difficult painting the dark areas in your painting directly on a white canvas). If you want to save time, you can stain a bunch of canvases at the same time.

Upsize Your Brush - Using large brushes does a few things - it increases your brushwork economy, makes you actually think about your strokes and makes it easier to cover a canvas. Many beginner artists are of the opinion smaller brushes will lead to more realistic and delicate painting. However, even the great master realism painters generally painted with brushes much larger than you would expect.’ (Info here) 

“And now you can see my finished painting,” Olivia says. “I love to create pictures using the Candy Crush Friends Saga’s game levels. Maybe one day I will become a graphic artist for King.” 

The judges are amazed at how quickly Olivia was able to put it all together. The audience applauds her. 

“Thank you,” says Olivia as she walks off the stage. 

Let’s continue here – Skateboarding with Misty

Start at the beginning – Welcome to the Friends’ Got Talent show!

If you haven’t read the first part of this 2-part story you can read it here – Friends’ Got Talent