How to paint a still life in acrylic

How to paint a still life in acrylic

The materials for this lesson can be found at a Gold or above Art Centre. Go to to find your nearest stockist. CMMD4050 Mont Marte Double Thick Canvas 40x50cm BMHS0030 Mont Marte Signiture Brush Set In Wallet MAPL0002 Mont Marte Easy Clean Wood Palette PMSA0010 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Titanium White PMSA0004 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Lemon Yellow PMSA0002 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Scarlet PMSA0006 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Phthalo Blue PMSA0007 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Ultramarine Blue PMSA0026 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Light Green PMSA0012 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Hookers Green PMSA0011 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Lamp Black PMSA0028 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Burnt Umber Also Required: Water, paper towels

Keep the sculpture damp by spraying it with a water spray bottle from time to time. Keep spinning the sculpture to view it from every angle. 1. Drawing up the canvas and tinting The first step is to transfer the outline onto the canvas. Refer to the image on page 7. Use a graphite pencil for this. You can do this directly or you might like the use the grid system and transfer it that way. Once the outline is drawn up, squeeze out some Lemon Yellow and paint the entire surface of the canvas and let this dry. 1

3 1 2 5 2 Check out our video tutorial to see the steps in action. 2. Painting the background Squeeze out some Cobalt Blue, Titanium White and some Phthalo Blue and lay this into the right hand side of the edge of the plate. Don’t overblend the colour on the palette. Instead mix the colour directly on the canvas. This way the colour will have more texture and interest. Cut this colour around the avacados and slightly darken the colour by using less Titanium White in the mix as you move to the right. The light source is emitting from the upper right. Keep this in mind as it will effect where the shadows will lie. Use straight Phthalo Blue for the shadows and roughly blend this into the existing colour. 2

Check out our video tutorial to see the steps in action. 3. Painting the avacados Create a green from Light Green, Lemon Yellow and Titanium White and paint in the avacadoes. Use a darker version of this green around the edge and blend it into the body colour. Let the coat dry and paint a thin layer of Lemon Yellow with a touch of Titanium White with a little water over the green coat. This will give the avacado a yellow tint. 3

3 1 2 5 4. Detailing In this step we need to paint the hollow of where the seed was and also the seed in the other half of the avacado. For the hollow lay some Raw Umber into the top part of the hollow. Lay Titanium White into the other side of the hollow and blend these 2 tones together so the colours transition into each other. In the other avacado the seed is still in the avacado half. First paint the seed with some Scarlet, whilst this is still wet paint some Raw Umber into it. Darken the mix with some Lamp Black and lay this colour into the backside. Next drag some white into the top of the seed and create a pink. Finish off with a white highlight. The final step is to create a dark green from Hookers Green and Scarlet and paint a thin line around the outside of each avacado to suggest the skin. 4

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