May Landscape Challenge

[Trier]

Another practice shot at the cloud effect.

Maureen- Thanks for the suggestion; another shot with a glassy sea coming soon.

18x24 acrylic/gessoed kraft paper, plus used some white latex ceiling paint for part of the cloud.

The red sails came out a little brighter than I intended -
Regards,
Trier

[SunFace]

I love Trier! And I actually like the pop of color on the vessel, I think otherwise it would rather get lost in the landscape. just my opinion though ... You do so great with acrylics! I do not know if it is because my learning have been in oils, but I find mighty hard to work with the acrylics.

[Trier]

Maria - Thank you. I went from oil to acrylic a while ago and the switch was not very hard at all. You would have very little trouble if you tried it, I bet.

In spite of popular demand, here is another one of the cloud.
18x25 acrylic&gouache&latex house paint/gessoed kraft paper

the reflection needs a lot more of something - next try
Regards,
Trier

[Trier]

Maria - Sorry I mistook what you said about trying acrylics. Maybe if you described specifically what difficulties you are having with them, I would be glad to try to help. I know it is almost impossible to describe a lot of little general problems and even more difficult to help without actually being with you.

The main problem for me was, and still is to a large degree, how and when to use the many mediums, gels and other substances in acrylics.

Regards,
Trier

[Trier]

Figures in the landscape are a challenge to me. I like these guys because I know what they are doing.

18x24 acrylic&latex/gessoed kraft paper

boy, the paper wrinkles really show on this one

Regards,
Trier

[SunFace]

Great pieces! I like the last one the best. Te colors sing like music!

Oh I do know what needs to be knows (mostly) about acrylics. My main beef with them was the fact that even though you put a retardant, they still dry too quickly and the colors are not as true to live as the oils ... I found myself mixing sienna with everything!

My guess is a matter of practice? What do you think?

[Trier]

Maria -

You just gave two great reasons for why you shouldn't switch to acrylics. Considering how well you paint with oil, it doesn't look to me that there is any good reason to do so.

Thanks for hosting this project.

Regards,
Trier

[meggs]

Hi Everyone, just popped in to take a gander at everyone work before bed. Sorry I cant join in this month, but work and other paintings are demanding my time... The posts are awesome....
Trier, love what your doing, your prolific mate, keep it up

Maria I paint in both Oils and Acrylics with Acyrilics my preference because they are so fast... Besides with Oils, keeping damn dog hair off the wet paint is a ruddy challenge.

Hardest things with A is the fast drying, so make yourself a wet palette.. (shallow plastic container, sponge in the bottom, couple of layers of paper towel and then a tear off palette paper on top) Pour water in it to saturate the sponge, keep in the fridge when not using misting occasionally... I find this works better than bought varieties here in Australia..
Get yourself a hair conditioner spray bottle, dump the conditioner and use it as a misting bottle when painting.
I also use a MOP brush... wet it squeeze it out and dab on paper towel and use it to blend your paint on the canvas... These work well in my climate which is sub tropical, high temps and humidity. I can keep a palette workable for a week like this.


Trier, with Acrylics you need a good quality gesso.... I often tint mine depending what Im painting. I have recently tried Impasto... the gel kind and the paste kind... Gel I think is better if you want to thicken your paints body and adds a slight gloss...... Paste is great for adding texture.. Just did a painting for my daughter of a jetty on a lake. The paste gave me a great texture on the jetty surface.

This is still WIP but heres the result of the paste on the jetty and upright posts. This is 4x2 foot Acrylic. PS This photo was taken at 2am, so not the best lighting.

[Trier]

Meggs - Nice WIP, at 4'x2' I would guess you are using a canvas support, rather than an old piece of cheap plywood that I would be using.

Thanks for the tips on acrylic; I guess I am doomed to buy more real acrylic gesso than to continue the struggle with the latex house paint.

Here is Wilson Creek. I was going to use zinc white to blur the tree trunks, but got to thinking about how I could make it into an abstract while painting and forgot and automatically used titanium.
18x24 acrylic&latex/gessoed kraft paper

the bottom edge of the paper support flipped up and caught the light glare while I was photographing.

Regards,
Trier

[meggs]

Trier I like this... yes a good gesso is important. I was using a cheap artist brand here and just switched to a better quality, cos the stuff I was using was pathetic. Would wipe off when you were blending if you were not careful.
I rarely use Titanium white, I find it to stark, but I soften it by using a mix of zinc and titanium.... try that next time. You might like it.

Yes sorry am using a double thickness stretched canvas panel. This one cost me $30.

[Trier]

Angel Falls 24x18 acrylic/gessoed kraft paper - poor choice of brushes


color next try

Regards,
Trier

[meggs]

Trier ... this I really like. Has the underpainting look... one I think sometimes has more impact than when colour is laid in. Good One
Love the cliff definition.

[SunFace]

Meggs Thank you so much for the information! I have a professor that insists of me working with acrylics ..... Maybe I will give them another try ...

Trier you are so rocking all these photos! I am so impressed with your work, actually the waterfall is my favorite! Why you say poor choice of brushes? I think the rock quality is really good!

Also great interpretation of the park. You paint with latex paints? Seriously? OMG Then your work is more amazing, because that must be really hard!

[meggs]

Maria, I hope it helps you, I started with acrylics and without tuition, needs be, forced me to adapt my techniques to suit my climate..

Trier .. latex paints..OMG... Hats off to you hon.

I have posted the completed "Jetty" in Acrylics plus another work if your interested.. There is a flaw in the painting due to my photographic skills suck.... please disregard.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/i....completed.jpg

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/i..._completed.jpg

[ArtsyMom]

Hi, would love to try one of these lovely photos for May. I love the first scene of Manzanillo beach, lovely. Lil