My First Acrylic Painting

Ok…here we go.  My first acrylic painting…at least since Design School…or even High School.  Don’t ask me when that was…it’ll only depress me..

Wow…just dawned on me that I am posting my first painting after the Scott Robertson post.  Probably the WORST way to display my work since it only makes my painting look exponentially terrible in front of a master like Scott.

Before I show you the completed painting…I would like to start off saying one of my favorite painters in recent times is an artist named Tom Fritz.  Check out http://www.Fritzart.com. Tom specializes in Hot Rods and Vintage Race cars!    Truly amazing work.  Anyway…I will do a review of Tom’s work and save that for another post.  I basically used his actual painting to create this…so …if you are watching Tom(yeah…right)….THANKS for the inspiration!!!

So the reason why I decided to go back to some more traditional media is because I LOVE the process of mixing the paint, experimenting, and problem solving while painting.  Nothing like it really.

I had done quite a bit of Gouache paintings back in design school and sort of lost touch with “paints” after working with markers and prismacolor pencils.  However it is always good to step outside your comfort zone and learn something new.  The more you learn, the more perspective you have which results in more idea generation and substance to your work.   Remember…your work is a culmination of all your experiences and hard work.   So enough of that…

So I admit I am not a good painter, not even close, but I simply enjoyed the process of messing around and at the end of the day.. we are here to learn….including me.

Here are the brushes that I had started out with.

I have the 3/4 inch 1162 Wash, #14 228 Sablette, #6 800 Sablette, and #6 228 Sablette.  I original bought them specifically for my Gouache but decided to test it out on the Liquitex  Acrylic paints.  Underneath the brushes shown here are the cheap 9×12 Canvas plates.  I was going to mask off several rectangular areas to start off with some basic color comps but decided…what the heck..just start painting.

So then I brought this into photoshop to explore some warmer color options.  Here I used a gradient tool to add a warmer tone to the painting. I typically like to keep the same warmth in my color palette like my Photoshop 1957 Monaco Painting. Looking at it now, the front wheels ended up a way too small…..but hey…you live and learn.  Which is why I decided to create these acrylic comps on a cheap canvas plate.

The other problem that I had were the brushes.  I think I need some more flat, stiffer brushes to detail out the tires.  It was really difficult to use the round brushes since they basically buckle. I are ideally used for some thinner lines and foliage.

So I have bought some more canvases.

What I would like to know is what you all think would be the ideal brushes to work with?  Once…you make the suggestions, I’ll buy them and attempt to get to work…then post it up.  Largest size will be the 28X48, smallest is 16X20.

As usual…keep up the drawing….and continue that drive and determination!

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Tagged as: acrylic, basic steps, car design ideas, car design tutorials, drivenmavens, How to draw cars, painting, rendering