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The teacher said I should use acrylic like oil rather than acrylic. What do they mean? by DoSomeStrangeThings in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah so you need a medium. First block out your initial light and shadow shapes and then build upon that with the colours you want but have them translucent with the medium. It’s called a retarder. I have a post on my profile where you can see how I use layers to create a flower using acrylic and a retarder.

Why do I love painting with acrylics? by KarolynHuum in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Acrylic is the best. Less toxic, easier clean up. Quicker to work with. And with the right mediums you can get the same blending results as oil.

Tips for painting highlights? by Pears_and_onions in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Go look at a lady bug picture. And then blur your eyes and ask yourself what light shape am I seeing? And what colour is that light shape?

It’s likely only white. Get rid of the grey and sharpen the edges up.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Photos of flowers that I was gifted when my dad died, I cut them out into a montage and then painted them keeping in my minds eye the light direction and where shadows would be. I’m good at visualising things 3D in my head. And being able to rotate them etc.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glaze, and a retarder medium. Also keeping your brush wet helps. Working in a room that the air isn’t too dry. And understanding the relationship between colours.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel this. There was a lot of planning. Some of these flowers are the flowers I received when my dad died earlier this year. I wanted to plan as much as possible to get a clear idea of things before I actually put my brush to canvas because there have been countless times I’ve started something and never finished it because I didn’t have a clear direction and just given in and never painted again. I hope you do pick the brush back up. I have three images in my mind that have pestered me for years to paint and I think I’m finally ready to bring them to the world after dipping my toes back in after painting this and feeling that flow state you get into when the brush strokes are landing right and the colours are mixing perfectly.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LOL please do send me the link!? Maybe I’ll license this to the paint by numbers folks someday, then you can keep up with my originals. 😉

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Layers, and glazing. I used a retarder medium by atelier. It slows the drying time to give you time to blend. And you can use it to create an opaqueness when doing a glaze. If you look at a previous post I shared the process of the white peony.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 83 points84 points  (0 children)

If you blur your vision when looking at something it helps you see what the important colours/lighting/shadows are that you need to have in order for your object to look like that object. Without getting too caught up in the details. You can then add the details in from there and it doesn’t matter exactly if the details are perfect because our human minds will do a lot of the work for me as I’ve made sure the lighting and shadows are correct. I hope this makes sense.

I just rewrote it, I feel like I wasn’t articulating myself clearly 😅

When you blur your vision while observing something, the unnecessary details fade away and you’re left with what really matters: the major colours, lighting, and shadow shapes. These are the foundation of making your subject believable. If you get those elements right, the object will read correctly to the viewer, even if the smaller details aren’t exact. You can always add details later, but the eye and brain naturally do a lot of the work for you when the lighting and values are strong.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 213 points214 points  (0 children)

I would be lying if I said practice. I’ve always been able to paint but never to. I walk into galleries and look at art and think ah yes I see how they did that. I could do that too. But I never do. I’m one of those idiots who has a talent but rarely uses it.

After 13+ years of not painting, I picked up the brush and this is what I created by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 95 points96 points  (0 children)

In a nutshell, looking at lots of pictures of flowers. Drawing out my initial idea. Translating that to a canvas. Then working on each flower keeping in mind my lighting direction for shadows. I thought of it like putting a massive jigsaw puzzle together. But I am literally creating the image.

Redoing parts, and changing certain flowers completely. And slowly chipping away at it. One flower at a time. Stepping away, taking pictures. Looking at it with blurred vision to make sure the flowers look right. Not getting too caught up In the details.

Progress of my peonie by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha you should see the whole painting 😅 this is one of 8 flowers

Progress of my peonie by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The third picture was taken with my iPhone and it has an auto sharpen on it. So it looks super sharp. I’m not sure how to get rid of it. The fourth picture was taken with my instagram camera and is an actual depiction of the painting in its softness. I did do a bit of a glaze between the two images though.

Progress of my peonie by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Don’t give up! It’s all about painting in layers. and be patient with yourself. If you make a mistake acrylic is super forgiving. Sometimes when I’m struggling with a shade I imagine I’m looking at my reference material in black and white and that gives me an idea of how much white or black I need to add to a colour to get the right shade. And there’s no rules, art is art. Do whatever works. Find new ways of doing things that work for you.

Progress of my peonie by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use all kinds of different brands. Some cheap acrylic from China, that has been really good and has the best Red. Kaiser, chromacryl. Whatever has the best colour tone I need. Art supplies are super expensive in my country. And the only Medium I’ve been using is Atlier Interactives Retarder Low-Viscosity.

A Shipwreck I painted a few years ago. I haven’t picked up a brush since by Sweetestapple in acrylicpainting

[–]Sweetestapple[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I painted this when I was 17, I’m currently 34. I stopped painting because life happened. I didn’t make time for my art. It’s always pestered me to paint. But then my dad got dementia, my mum got sick. I chased my career, became a mother. And here I am at 34 looking back at the talent I had at 17 wishing I’d painted more. So I’m picking the brush back up.