A Wisconsin Waterfall in Acrylic (4/4)
or, How to Paint an Oil-Like Acrylic Piece That Will Fool 'em All!
Author: Larry Seiler, Contributing Editor
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| Now I start having REAL fun, and I'm serious when I say this. Not a good time for my wife to let me know that supper is ready! I'm really into the painting at this point (image above) and nothing short of a major disaster could pull me away. Now, I mix up my thickest opaque white and carefully observing the movement of water (squint your eyes at the water and study it for a moment to pick it up), I very intentionally place my white spots to suggest light. It becomes the effect that pulls the whole thing off.
I do labor to add color into the water to intensify the drama. If the sun is high, sunlight will bleach out color in the water and shadows/reflections will appear lighter than that which it is reflecting. If the sun is low...shadows and reflections of the water will be darker than the objects along the shore such as the treeline. Shadows along a shore however, do allow for subtle colors of weeds beneath the surface of the water to be seen. |
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Now...finally we are back to the final image again.
I am yet to say comfortably the painting is finished. I have a hankering to go back and define the foliage a bit more yet and shape some of the foreground water's foam before a final varnish and frame. The spray varnish will add to that jewel-like appearance of oil paint to finish the effect. Though it has sat around my studio for quite awhile now waiting my ultimate decisions...what we do have here was completed in roughly 2 ½ hours, which I consider not bad for a picture of this size. I hope you will find this session useful. I count it as a privilege to share. I appreciate the number of posts that I received on my first plein air lesson here on WetCanvas!, and if my wife's prodding has anything to do with it I may actually put out a book down the road. Now...for THAT, I may need to take a few lessons! :-) Peace, and good painting to you all. |
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After 20 years experience as a musician and winning Midwest wildlife artist, Larry Seiler, (winner of Wisconsin's 1984 Wildlife Artist of the Year, and Wisconsin's 1998 Inland Trout Stamp) finds a reinvention of himself over the last 2-3 years with a passion for landscape painting. His pursuit of the contemplative and spiritual sanity in life finds a special connection with his love of direct on location painting often referred to as "Plein Air." |
| Larry is represented by Art International, and his work is in a number of Midwest galleries including Grassland Gallery in the Mall of America. His background includes teaching art education for the public schools, participation in artist's workshops, travels and seminar speaking. Larry's works are primarily oils and acrylics, with the practice often of doing plein air studies to produce larger in-studio images.
Larry is a contributing editor to WetCanvas! and can be reached via email at: lseiler@ez-net.com. He can also be found lurking in the WetCanvas! message boards. Larry's works are also available for sale at our sister site, www.art-agent.com. |
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