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What Youll Get From This E-Book


Quite simply, this book will help you to become a better
Acrylics painter and just as importantly, you will get a huge
amount of enjoyment from knowing how to use this vibrant
and forgiving paint medium.

Although aimed at those who have little or no experience
with acrylics, this e-book will also help if youve tried
Acrylics previously but, for whatever reason, havent
progressed with them as much as youd like to.

In my Watercolour Secrets e-book, I said;-

Im a great believer that anyone can be taught how to
paint... or draw... or be artistic. I know from many
years of first-hand experience that you dont have to be
blessed with a God-given talent.

Now that statement is just as true with Acrylics as it is with
Watercolours or any other paint or drawing medium you
care to mention.

In fact, as we go through this e-book, youll find many of the techniques Ive explained there are
exactly the same with many other paint media.

My wish is that with this little e-book, together we can open up a stunning world of acrylic
painting that will enable you to produce pictures that will amaze family and friends with your
new-found talent !

Have you ever been frustrated with art at school or in art classes where there seems to exist an
assumption that students already know the basics and youre expected to start off half-way
down the road, so to speak.

Youre thrown straight into terms like introducing concepts and energy and abstraction into
your work when all you want at that point is to find out how to mix a simple shadow colour or
create a believable-looking tree that doesnt look like a grotesque green lollipop ?

When you ask about how to avoid creating mud or painting water that looks wet, youre told -
dont worry, youll pick it up as you go along....

Well youll find that Acrylic Secrets tells you how to learn these basics and a lot more useful
stuff besides. This will get you going to the point where you can start to think about introducing
some of those concepts into your pictures.

Every lesson, whether its in this e-book or the main DVD course shows you HOW. I dont
assume, like some of my schoolteachers did, that youll just pick it up!


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Its amazing what you can achieve when youre shown step-by-step. Im convinced, having
seen the results complete beginners have achieved after following the Watercolour Secrets
DVD Course that, with practice, the necessary painting skills required for Acrylics can be
acquired by all of us.

I promise, that with a little bit of practice (not years of trial and error) youll see great results -
and quickly too.

Print this e-book out - fast draft or economy printing will do. Take it to your painting station (Ive
graduated from the dining room table to a studio in a spare bedroom) and follow along. Read
through a lesson and then have a go! Thats the most important thing... to have a go... and to
have fun!

Oh, and do look out for me in the free video lessons that accompany this e-book. Until then
enjoy your painting.

And if you like the e-book and sample videos then have a look at what you get in the full
Acrylics Secrets DVD Course which I honestly believe is the best of its type that you can find
anywhere.

Best wishes,















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Index of Lessons

Page 4 Section 1: What is Acrylic Paint?

Page 8 Section 2: What Other Equipment Do I Need?

Page 16 Section 3: Basic Sky and Clouds

Page 25 Section 4: Easy Middle Distance Trees

Page 33 Section 5: Basic Winter Tree

Page 36 Section 6: Simple Summer Trees

Page 42 Section 7: Creating Depth in Mountains and Hills

Page 47 Section 8: Cliffs

Page 51 Section 9: Rocks and Stones

Page 58 Section 10: Easy Water and Reflections

Page 68 Section 11: Basic Buildings

Page 76 Section 12: Simple Figures

Page 83 Section 13: Animal Magic

Page 91 Acrylic Painting Secrets on DVD












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Aciylics is a vibiant, opaque, watei-baseu paint
that offeis many of the benefits anu style of oil-
painting without the smell of tuipentine oi
quite as much mess of cleaning up. It is veiy
quick uiying (which can be both a blessing anu
a nuisance - we'll see why latei) anu as you can
paint light ovei uaik aieas, obscuiing them
completely as in /%2'2 ", it is veiy foigiving of
eiiois anu changes of minu.

"
Its foimula is veiy similai to the paint you use to
uecoiate the walls anu ceiling of youi home (/%2'2 3)
anu is a close cousin of PvA woouwoiking glue anu
items like wall & flooi tile cement.

Inueeu, many aitists use all of these mateiials, fieely
mixeu with theii aciylic paint, to cieate a whole
vaiiety of 2B anu SB effects. It's just as easy to cieate
bolu, vibiant in-youi-face SB (impasto) woiks as it is
to piouuce subtle anu muteu paintings offeiing a gieat
uelicacy of atmospheie.

3
Theie aie many excellent bianus, wiuely
available in any ait stoie, but you can also
get holu of veiy cheap 'staitei sets' of
paints like the set in /%2'2 4, as well as
biushes anu paint suifaces fiom vaiious
uiscount stoies anu the like, if you'ie not
suie whethei to uive in.

0ften you can finu a set with half a uozen
colouis, a couple of biushes anu a boaiu
oi canvas to paint youi fiist pictuie.

These typically only cost about the same
as one tube of the bettei quality paint
shown in the pictuie anu whilst the
quality may not be up to the stanuaius
available in ait stoies, they uo allow you a
tastei at veiy little outlay anu iisk to youi
pocket.

4
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Bowevei, theie's nothing to beat the auueu vibiancy anu flexibility of the bettei quality aciylic
bianus such as those shown in the laige tubes in the photo. Ceitainly if you intenu to paint with
aciylics on a iegulai basis, you'll want to giauuate to these as soon as possible.

Anu as you'll see on the next page, even with bettei quality mateiials, it won't cost you a foitune,
pioviueu you buy sensibly anu avoiu the temptation to fall foi eveiy 'must have' offei fiom the ait
manufactuieis!

5
0ne of the most piominent featuies of
aciylics is that it's available in uiffeient
viscosities.

All that means is that you can buy it as
thick as soft buttei; in a softei
foimulation like toothpaste; oi as a thin
ink that you coulu even use in an
aiibiush as well as using it painting in a
style veiy similai to wateicolouis.

You can see thiee examples in /%2'2 5
wheie the inuentations in the biown
paint left by the palette knife woulu uiy
without moving - iueal foi, say, cieating
SB iock textuies in the foiegiounu.

The ieu paint in the miuule is typical of
the way most aciylics aie solu - thick
enough to ietain biush stiokes but soft
anu malleable to allow it to be spieau
easily acioss the paint suiface.

The yellow aciylic ink is still pietty
uense when it comes neat out of the
bottle but thinneu fuithei with watei,
will pioviue an excellent alteinative to
wateicoloui paints.

6
Because aciylic paints aie watei-
baseu, theie's no neeu foi any special
fluius oi thinneis to clean up aftei a
painting session - just watei anu a
little soap as in /%2'2 6 to iemove any
iesiuual paint out of the metal feiiule
wheie it holus the biistles.
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7
You can buy aciylic paints in vaiious qualities. The
cheapest is via the economy sets fiom the
pieviously mentioneu uiscount stoies. They'ie
usually in much smallei tubes than the bettei
quality paints, as shown heie, fiont left.

Next is the 'stuuent' quality. The laige tub of
Titanium White shown in /%2'2 7 is fiom Winsoi
& Newton's ualeiia iange. These tenu to be the
same faiily affoiuable piice iegaiuless of coloui
anu ceitainly in this size, go a long way, though
you can of couise buy them in 'noimal' size tubes.
Foi many aitists, 'stuuent quality' is absolutely
fine foi most paintings - anu iueal if you'ie going
to piouuce laige woik such as a muial on a
beuioom wall, foi example.

At the top enu aie 'aitist's quality' paints such as
the uoluen '0pen' tube shown heie, wheie theie is
no compiomise on quality of pigment. As a iesult,
vaiious colouis aie put into uiffeient piice ianges
to ieflect the scaicity of uiffeient iaw mateiials.
Nany, but not all, paint manufactuieis offei both a
'stuuent' anu an 'aitists' quality iange.

Colouis tenu to be moie vibiant as less fillei is
useu in the paint manufactuie but they go a long
way anu if you iegulaily paint to commission, I'u
always iecommenu that youi customeis ueseive
the use of the best mateiials you can affoiu.
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You neeu only a few bits anu pieces to get going anu somewheie to paint. If you've nowheie else,
then the kitchen table is as goou as any place. }ust make suie you keep the table anu flooi aieas
coveieu in case of spillages.

Aciylic paint is non-toxic anu easily wipeu up when wet, but like all paints, ceitain colouis can stain
anu be veiy uifficult to iemove. Its biggest uiawback is that once uiieu, it can be uifficult to get off
poious suifaces anu fabiics (i.e. caipets!) - so take caie when you paint anu weai olu clothes...

Remembei, as I saiu eailiei, it's a close ielative of BIY paints anu auhesives (latex, emulsion, vinyl,
tile cement, PvA glue, fillei - oi whatevei you call it in youi pait of the woilu). So whatevei
piecautions you take when uecoiating, uo the same with youi aciylic paints anu you'll be fine.
"
/%2'2 " shows just how little
equipment you neeu to
actually get staiteu with
aciylics.

Apait fiom a few paints, all
you iequiie aie two oi thiee
biushes, a boaiu, canvas oi
papei to paint on, a little
watei, papei towels to clean
up as you go along anu a
simple palette to holu the
paints anu keep them moist.

You can buy these palettes in
any ait stoie but I'll show you
how easy it is to make one foi
next to nothing, a bit fuithei
on...

Baving staiteu off by looking at paints, ovei the next couple of
pages we'll obviously have a look at the othei items in the pictuie
to explain them in a little moie uetail so you can quickly get
comfoitable with them.

Theie aie also a few othei useful bits that I'll mention, but foi now,
this is ieally all you neeu as you heau towaius youi fiist minoi
masteipiece!

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3
/C8D8 3 E FGHIC:I J8G *KGLM@KI N.9O'
'2 ,(P%'Q
Nylon No.2 Rounu Biush
Nylon No. 1 Riggei
Nylon No. 2 Fan Biush
Nylon " Flat Biush
Bog No.S Filbeit
Nylon 1" Becoiating Biush
Rounu Rubbei-Tippeu Paint Shapei
Painting (Palette) Knife

Theie aie many othei sizes of these biushes
that may woik just as well foi you. !" $"%&'
(" )*+,-%( "*' '" .*/ ',0 .)*+,0+ ,0)0 1+
23*+' ,140+&5 0se any you have fiist to see
how you get on.
0il painting biushes - especially hogs-haii biushes - have long been useu foi aciylics, with wateicoloui
biushes foi moie uetaileu woik. Aciylic paint is veiy haiu on biush haiis anu the uelicate natuie of
wateicoloui biushes with natuial haiis means they get uamageu veiy quickly. So uon't use youi best sable
wateicoloui biushes with aciylic paints!

In the last few yeais, synthetic aciylic biushes have come on the maiket. These have nylon filaments oi
haiis, which aie cheapei anu moie haiu-weaiing than natuial haii. The fiist foui biushes fiom the left of
the pictuie aie all nylon.

The othei thiee items aie: fiist a nylon uecoiatoi's biush foi painting laige aieas, then a paint shapei (this
looks like a biush but has a tip of silicone iubbei that allows you to cieate uiffeient textuies in paint
alieauy on the canvas) anu finally, the painting knife - iueal foi auuing thick uollops of paint anu spieauing
it in a vaiiety of lovely juicy textuies. It's peifect foi cieating iocks anu stones, as we shall see latei!

4 Although the majoiity of aciylic paintings aie
cieateu with biushes, apait fiom the painting
knife, theie aie a vaiiety of othei items you
can use as well as in /%2'2 4.

The thick, butteiy natuie of aciylic paint lenus
itself to all soits of textuial oppoitunities anu
you can see in the pictuie heie just a few of
items you coulu use.

Foi example, a small piece of mount boaiu is a
gieat tool, useu as a squeegee to cieate
textuie, oi on euge to cieate thin stiaight lines
foi masts.

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The euges of a cut-up cieuit caiu - piobably the best thing you can uo with some of them ;-) - can
be tiimmeu to uiffeient lengths, as heie, so you can 'sciape' stiaight-eugeu blocks of coloui foi
uoois anu winuows etc. The blue glue spieauei can be useu in the same way, oi to cieate iock
textuies if the palette knife is too laige, while the natuial sponge, uippeu lightly into paint is a gieat
means of cieating instant leaf clusteis on tiees by piessing it gently onto youi paint suiface.

Nasking tape, though not a painting tool as such, is iueal foi cieating any long stiaight line such as
the hoiizon in a seascape, oi foi when you want to ietain a stiaight euge when butting two blocks
of coloui up to each othei. Always look out foi items like these that may otheiwise be uiscaiueu
but can pioviue a fiee anu invaluable painting implement.
The veisatility of Aciylics is such that you can paint on a wiue vaiiety of suifaces, poious anu non-
poious, haiu anu soft, thick anu thin. Foi instance, although I'll be concentiating on 'conventional'
painting suifaces in the e-book, you can paint on iocks, flooi-tiles, plasteieu walls, cloth (canvas is a
cloth, uon't foiget!), unglazeu potteiy, piimeu metal etc. Anu theie's a lot moie etc's if you look
aiounu......

}ust have a look at some of the ieauily available suifaces you can tiy out foi next to no cost. Nany of
these items aie lying iounu the house oi stoieu in a sheu taking up space. 0i you might have thought
they'u be no goou foi painting with aciylics.

M9O' '2 ,(P%' (0 /%2'2 5R
1 - Lining wallpapei useu foi smoothing minoi impeifections in walls. 0i the back of oiuinaiy
wallpapei.
2 - Biown wiapping oi paicel papei. Lightweight but tough enough to paint on.
S - Copiei oi piintei papei. 0nce tieateu, as below, absolutely fine foi aciylics.
4 - Newspapei. Yes newspapei. Bitto.
S - Coiiugateu caiu. An iueal way to ie-cycle something that's piobably heaueu foi the tip.
6 - Nateiial. Not a goou T-shiit like this one but viitually any olu cloth that can be stietcheu flat on a
boaiu.

5
I use a ioll of lining papei (1uuu giaue thickness is
goou anu stiong) foi many uemos, unwinuing as I
go along anu iewinuing it to iefei back to eailiei
lessons. 0se it on the ioll oi cut to youi piefeiieu
size.

vaiious thin papeis anu caiu can be consiueiably
stiengtheneu by painting a coat of white emulsion,
latex, vinyl, etc. on both siues anu letting it uiy.
Then stietch it out on a boaiu to paint. That way
you've got two suifaces fiont anu back to tiy out!

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In /%2'2 6, the 'stiipes' show thiough a
bit on some types of coiiugateu caiu
but this can auu to the textuial
possibilities. In the Aciylics Seciets
Couise, I paint a scene of the Toionto
wateifiont on coiiugateu caiu, using
nothing othei than sciaps of mount caiu
to paint with - just to show how easy it
is to paint this way without even using
biushes!

I once painteu an 8' x 4' Nativity play
back-scene foi a local school Chiistmas
piouuction on a uiscaiueu piece of
faulty cloth that was uestineu foi the
skip. Stietcheu ovei a 2" x 1" fiame, it's
suiviveu seveial Chiistmas plays so fai
anu still going stiong. Anu as I've saiu
alieauy, 61%41+ is a cloth!

6
7
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S
Beie aie some iathei moie
conventional painting suifaces
that you can use. Fiom left to
iight in /%2'2 SR

1 - Wateicoloui Papei
2 - Canvas Panel
S - Aciylic Papei Pau
4 - Nount Caiu
S - Plywoou
6 -NBF, Baiuboaiu oi Nasonite
7 - Stietcheu Canvas

Wateicoloui Papei, suitably piimeu is a gieat suiface to
paint with aciylics. Canvas boaius aie an economical
alteinative to stietcheu canvas anu I uiu most of the lessons
on these in the BvB Couise.

Aciylic papei has an embosseu canvas-like suiface, ieauy
piimeu, anu is available in convenient teai- off paus. Nount
Caiu, use foi suppoiting wateicolouis, is anothei excellent
stable suiface, once piimeu. If you'ie looking foi a use foi
the panels left spaie aftei you've cut out a wateicoloui
mount then heie's the answei!

Woou panels, such as Ply, NBF (Neuium Bensity
Fibieboaiu) Baiuboaiu, Nasonite oi Chipboaiu aie all
excellent suifaces to paint on anu self-suppoiting.

Finally, of couise we come to Canvas, piopeily stietcheu
ovei a fiame. Although a little moie expensive than the
othei items, theie's nothing quite like the gentle bounce of a
biush putting paint on a ieal canvas to make you feel like
you'ie a 'piopei' aitist!

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T
Although many canvas boaius anu stietcheu canvasses come ieauy piimeu so you can paint
stiaight away, you usually neeu to piime othei suifaces.

This is veiy easy, iequiiing no moie than a coat oi two of white uesso Piimei (a veiy uense aciylic
paint) to be painteu ovei the suiface anu left to uiy. It's best to biush one coat in one uiiection, let
it uiy, then the next coat lightly at 9uuegiees to simulate a canvas textuie with the biush maiks.

You can auu a touch of Yellow 0chie to the mix while you uo this. This has the auvantage of
cieating a subtle waim 'glow' that will shine thiough the pictuie. Noie impoitantly, it helps to
unify the painting anu also blots out any haish white bits of unpainteu suiface that you may miss as
you paint.

A cheapei alteinative is to use oiuinaiy matt emulsion oi latex paint anu one of the samplei
'Natchpots' fiom vaiious manufactuieis aie iueal foi this (See /%2'2 T). You uon't have to have
one with a yellow tint. Light beige oi biown, blue oi giey is fine, uepenuing on the atmospheie you
want to cieate.

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3
4
"
5
6
You can buy special palettes foi aciylic paints in any
ait stoie. They uo the job but aie quite expensive foi
what amounts usually to a vacuum-foimeu, thin plastic
well, sometimes with a uetachable liu. The so-calleu
special 'wateipioof membiane' anu 'unique ieseivoii
papei' is little moie than white baking paichment anu
blotting papei.

Beie's how to make youi own foi next to nothing:-

7,"'" 85 "## $%& '($&)*(#+ ,-. /&&0 ()& */ $%*+ 1%-$-2
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;(7*/5 1()8%'&/$: ( +'(## +%(##-9 $)(, -) 1#($& (/0 (
#*$$#& 9($&)2

7,"'" 95 3-#0 .1 ( 8-.1#& -4 1*&8&+ -4 7*$8%&/ $-9&#
+- *$ +*$+ 8-'4-)$(;#, */ $%& ;-$$-' -4 $%& $)(, -) -/ $%&
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*$ (+ ,-.=)& 1(*/$*/5 *4 $%& $-9&# +$()$+ $- 0), -.$2

7,"'" ;5 >.$ -) $&() ( 1*&8& -4 5)&(+&1)--4 1(1&) $- $%&
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7,"'" <5C#(8& $%& 5)&(+&1)--4 -/ $-1 -4 $%& 0('1 1(1&)
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+$(, */$(8$2 F, $%& 9(,: *4 ,-. 8(/ -/#, 5&$ ;)-9/
5)&(+&1)--4 -) ;(7*/5 1()8%'&/$: $%*+ 9-)7+ &?(8$#, $%&
+('&2 A$=+ G.+$ ( ;*$ &(+*&) $- +&& 9%($ 8-#-.)+ ,-.=)&
'*?*/5 9*$% $%& 9%*$& B&)+*-/2

When you've finisheu painting, caiefully wiap up the
gieasepioof papei with the iesiuue of useu paint
insiue anu uispose of it.

You can continue with a fiesh sheet if you neeu to oi, if
you want to caiiy on painting the next uay using the
colouis you've alieauy mixeu, stietch a piece of cling
film ovei the whole tiay to keep eveiything moist anu
stoie in a cool place.

So theie we aie, it ieally is inexpensive anu simple to
make youi own palette anu to get painting in less than
five minutes!

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4# F&)(+ IU- V
K.2<B)
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"
It's quite easy to cieate a basic sky using this technique.
You can leave it as it is once it's finisheu oi you can auu
clouus if you wish.

}ust by alteiing the colouis slightly, you can also change the
seasons oi time of uay.

But befoie we go any fuithei, I want to mention again
about the quick-uiying piopeities of aciylics being a
blessing anu a nuisance. The speeu of uiying means that it
can be a bit of a pioblem blenuing colouis to achieve the
soit of even, seamless giauation that you neeu in a sky.

This is maue woise by the fact that as you biush, fiiction is
geneiateu, which cieates a small amount of heat, which of
couise speeus up the uiying piocess even moie!

3
The solution is to mix an Aciylic Retaiuei
like this one shown in Photo 1 to slow
uown the uiying piocess anu make
blenuing easiei.

It's a cleai gel, which is auueu to youi
paints as you mix the colouis. A quick
touch on the enu of youi biush auueu to
the paint is fine.

You can just about see a blob of this gel, in
/%2'2 3, below anu to the iight of the
biush haiis. You only neeu a small
amount.

Nany paint manufactuieis aie also
impioving theii foimulas to make aciylics
stay 'open' longei but these tenu to be the
moie expensive aitists quality, so the gel
is a moie economical alteinative if you'ie
just staiting out.
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Beie's what you'll neeu:-

- Painting suiface - I useu canvas panels foi all
the uemonstiations in this e-book.
- Laige biushes - this one is a " (18mm) Flat
Nylon Biush plus I use No.8 Bogs-haii Filbeit
foi the clouus.
- 0ltiamaiine Blue
- Yellow 0chie
- Titanium White
- Peimanent Rose
- uel Retaiuei

Fiom /%2'2 3 above, I stait by uiagging a
small touch of blue into the white anu a little
gel ietaiuei. Keep auuing 0ltiamaiine until
you have a nice shaue of miu-blue anu then
paint a stiip at the top of the canvas as in
/%2'2 4, using small, ciiss-cioss biush stiokes.
Then uiag anu blenu fiom siue to siue. This
will ensuie you uon't leave any flecks of
unpainteu canvas.
4
5
6
Now in /%2'2 5, I've auueu some moie white
to the miu-blue mix anu iepeat as in Photo S
unueineath the fiist stiip of blue, blenuing
upwaius anu into this painteu aiea.
If you feel the paint staiting to uiy oi
'uiagging' slightly, auu a little moie gel
ietaiuei anuoi a touch of watei

As in /%2'2 6, auu a little moie white anu
iepeat the piocess, woiking youi way uown
the pictuie. You can see one of those ciiss-
cioss stiokes to the left of the biush that I
haven't yet blenueu.

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About , of the way uown, as in /%2'2 7,
youi boaiu shoulu look something like this,
with a miu-blue at the top giaueu to a much
lightei shaue fuithei uown. We'ie now going
to paint .19()0+ 4)-' $%& ;(+&: using Yellow
0chie anu White to captuie that lovely light
at the hoiizon.

Although much of the base will be coveieu
by youi lanuscape latei on, this pale cieamy
yellow will pioviue an iueal, waim unuei-
painting that will help to subtly unify the
whole pictuie.

The next task theiefoie, is to iinse youi
biush in watei (/%2'2 S) to clean out the
pale blue. Take off the excess watei on a
piece of kitchen towel (/%2'2 T)so the biush
is just uamp-uiy . Bon't take too long ovei
this though as youi paint is uiying all the
time on the canvas!

7
S
T
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/%2'2 W - now mix Titanium White with a
touch of Yellow 0chie anu a little gel ietaiuei.
Again you can see that it's iathei moie White
than Yellow.

Inciuentally, uiagging the uaikei coloui a little
at a time into the lightei coloui ensuies you
save paint. If you mixeu equal paits of each
coloui to stait with, then you'u use a lot moie
of the lightei coloui (in this case the white) to
get to the lightei coloui you ieally want. It
woiks the othei way iounu, of couise, if you
just want to slightly lighten off a uaik coloui.
Biing the lightei coloui into the uaik paint a
little at a time till you'ie happy with the mix.

W
"X
"3
""
In /%2'2 "X auu this cieamy coloui to the
base of youi canvas anu woik upwaius in
exactly the same way as you uiu when
biinging the blue coloui uownwaius. In
othei woius, auu a touch moie white to the
mix as you go up towaius the blue.

This will neeu to happen moie quickly as of
couise you only have one thiiu of the canvas
to covei this time.

Look at /%2'2) "" V "3. You neeu to blenu this
veiy pale (almost white) coloui with the veiy
pale blue coloui on the canvas now. If you finu
that the blue has uiieu off a bit, auu moie gel to
the cieam so it's almost tianslucent anu blenu
upwaius a bit moie. You may then neeu to put
in a touch of the veiy pale blue on youi biush to
achieve a smooth tiansition. Remembei those
ciiss-cioss stiokes!

Bon't woiiy you won't get a gieen sky by
mixing the veiy pale blue anu yellow.
0ltiamaiine anu Yellow 0chie mixeu with this
much white will piouuce a veiy subtle giey
coloui iathei than gieen.

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"4
In /%2'2 "4 this is how youi finisheu canvas shoulu look. You can see that even though we have a
smooth giauation fiom miu-blue at the top to a pale cieamy yellow at the base, theie aie subtle
vaiiations in coloui all ovei the sky.

This is fine. It auus inteiest anu in many so-calleu 'cleai' skies in ieal life, you'll finu this soit of
mottling if you obseive caiefully. Now you coulu leave this exactly as it is if you want a cleai sky anu
go on to auu a lanuscape. Bowevei, we'll now see how we can auu waim clouus to give an alteinative
atmospheie.

You can see in /%2'2) "5 V "6 that I'm
still using those thiee colouis plus white.
You can now see me mixing a mauve 'clouu
shauow' coloui. This is achieveu by auuing
a touch of the Peimanent Rose, &
0ltiamaiine to Titanium White. You can
also biing in a little Yellow 0chie to giey it
uown a bit if it looks too vibiant.

The ieason the Yellow will make it gieyei
is because you aie auuing all thiee
piimaiies (Reu, Yellow & Blue) togethei,
theiefoie cancelling out each othei's
colouis.

In /%2'2 "6 I'm auuing moie white to give
me seveial vaiiations in tint of the clouu
anu shauow colouis.

"5
"6
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"7
In /%2'2 "7 I'm using this palei mix foi
the basic clouu coloui. This way I can
ieseive the puie Titanium White foi
sunlit highlights.

By using the slightly iounueu tip of the
filbeit biush in a ciiculai motion, I
quickly cieate a whole seiies of clouu
shapes.

It helps to have a iough iuea of the
shape of the oveiall clouu mass in youi
heau, making suie that you have one
clouu biggei than the iest, iathei than
a seiies of sepaiate little balls of cotton
wool hanging in the sky.

/%2'2 "S shows that I'm also biinging in
some of that uaikei mauve coloui I mixeu
to cieate vaiiation in the clouu coloui on
the iight anu theiefoie auu moie inteiest.

Note fiom the biush maiks in this close-up
in /%2'2 "T that the paint is still ielatively
thick at this stage. Bon't woiiy about
tiying to 'feathei' it yet. Insteau,
concentiate on getting the main clouu
masses uown on youi canvas.

"S
"T
Bon't be afiaiu to auu some inuiviuual colouis
eithei. In /%2'2 "W I'm auuing a little touch of
Peimanent Rose, whilst neat 0ltiamaiine anu
Yellow 0chie can also be pickeu out if you look
closely.

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Keep in minu the
uiiection of the sun
when you'ie auuing
these subtle shauows.
In /%2'2 "W its
coming fiom top left
so all the shauow
aieas will tenu to be
towaius the bottom
left of each bit of
clouu.

"W
3X
Now's the time to gently blenu the colouis - not too much though as you want to ietain some
inuiviuual coloui.

In /%2'2 3X the biush has viitually no paint on it anu I'm featheiing the paint on the top clouu so
it cieates a slightly iaggeuy appeaiance. Featheiing is no moie than B&), gently sciaping anu
uiagging the paint that's alieauy theie anu it's an iuentical piocess when you cieate the euges of
uistant tiees, which we'll see latei on.

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In /%2'2 33 heie's the completeu sky. By selectively auuing those lightei highlights ovei the
uaikei shauows, it's helpeu to cieate an impiession of thiee-uimensional, oveilapping clouus.

Note also that less highlight anu uetail has been auueu lowei uown anu the colouis aie moie
muteu, giving an impiession of peispective anu uistance.

Neaily theie now. I've come back to the
shauow aieas in /%2'2 3" anu I'm staiting
to auu some lightei clouu coloui with neat
Titanium White. I'm going to uiag it out anu
blenu the bottom iight euge of the white
paint, leaving the top left euge to 'catch the
sunlight'.

I'll also uevelop some of the clouu
foimation with the main 'weight' of the
clouus towaius the top iight siue of the
pictuie anu auu a few moie highlights (but
not too many - less is moie in this case).

See also how I've left the bottom quaitei of
the canvas clouu-fiee so I can auu a
lanuscape latei on.

33
3"
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5# :&)- Y(BB.9
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In these next two lessons we'll look at how veiy simple it is to cieate the iight coloui mixes to put in
those essential backgiounu tiees that tiail off into the uistance. In fact we'ie going to look at tiees in
the summeiautumn anu some in a coluei anu moie wintiy atmospheie.

You'll see, by choosing vaiious colouis foi the sky, the giounu anu of couise the tiees themselves, how
you can vaiy the seasons at will in youi painting anu also cieate significant 'uepth' in youi pictuie by
the stiength of coloui you use.
"
If you look caiefully at /%2'2 " you can just
see a stiip of masking tape acioss the centie.
I've painteu a simple sky anu an even simplei
summei lanuscape in the top half anu latei on
I'll uo the same in the bottom half with a wintei
veision so you can compaie the two.

Foi this summei veision, heie's the colouis I'll
be using:-

0ltiamaiine Blue
Yellow 0chie
Caumium Yellow
Caumium Reu
Peimanent Rose
Titanium White

You can see the vaiious mixes I've useu in
/%2'2 3 foi the sky anu the giounu aieas.
White with a little blue foi the uppei sky anu
just a touch of Peimanent Rose; white with a
touch of yellow ochie foi the lowei sky;
caumium yellow with touches of ultiamaiine,
yellow ochie anu a little white foi the giounu.

3
In /%2'2) 4 V 5 the sky has been painteu exactly as in the pievious lesson, except that I've
lightly stieakeu in some wispy clouus at an angle while the blue paint was still wet, with the
cieamy coloui I useu in the lowei pait of the sky. This is ieally easy to uo anu gives a lovely
summeiy sky with an impiession of a waim, ielatively winu-fiee uay.

I useu the " (18mm) biush foi this but it's not vital what biush you use as long as it's big
enough to gently spieau the paint fiom siue to siue as in these two photos.

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5 4
/%2'2 6. These aie the two biushes I'm using foi this exeicise. The top one is a No.2 Nylon Filbeit
about " (6mm) wiue anu the bottom one a veiy cheap, iaggeuy hogs-haii flat biush about ,"
(9mm) wiue.

/%2'2 7. The colouis foi the most uistant summei tiees aie on the left. It's ieally just a mix of thiee
piimaiies which of couise will give a giey, once you've lighteneu it uown with white.

You can see that it is slightly biaseu towaius the blue, which being cool anu light, will help to keep the
tiees in the uistant backgiounu wheie we want them.
In /%2'2 S you can see that all that is
iequiieu is to gently sciub the biush
in ianuom-sizeu ciiculai motions.
Tiees this fai away will show only a
pale silhouette, hence the light
mauve-blue coloui.

You can see how effective this is with
the bank of tiees in /%2'2 T. All the
shapes aie ianuom anu uiffeient
sizes. Absolutely no uetail is neeueu
but in the iight hanu tiee, I've just
toucheu in a little yellow ochie to
give some auueu waimth as the tiees
get closei to us. Bon't oveiuo this
though - you only neeu the meiest
hint.
6 7
S
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T
/%2'2 W anu I'm now switching to the
cheap hogs-haii biush. Bowevei, I've just
put in a blob of gieengiey with the nylon
biush to iepiesent the tiees getting closei
anu theiefoie having slightly moie 'tiee'
coloui.

This coloui is the same as the oiiginal mix
but with moie blue anu yellow ochie anu
a little less white. Tiy out vaiious mixes
on sciap caiu befoie committing them to
youi pictuie.
In /%2'2 "X you can cleaily see
the uiffeient tiee piofile maue by
the hogs-haii biush. It's almost
painting the twigs anu bianches
foi you!

Insteau of sciubbing with a
ciiculai motion, you'ie bettei off
stabbing the paint on to cieate
the iaggeu outline.
W
"X
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In /%2'2 "", I've uippeu the biush
into a little neat 0ltiamaiine blue
anu stabbeu it on the iight of the
tiee. This gives a nice shauow
effect, with the sunlight coming
fiom the left.
To complete the impiession,
I've stabbeu anu blobbeu in
touches of blue anu yellow
ochie heie anu theie in
/%2'2 "3 to give uiffeient
shapes, stiengths of coloui
anu smooth anu iough
outlines - all uesigneu to auu
inteiest. Can you see how this
stiongei, uaikei paint has
alieauy pusheu those pale
tiees on the left fuithei
away.
""
"3
In /%2'2 "4 we've staiteu to auu some Caumium Yellow, mixeu with the 0ltiamaiine, to cieate
neaiei miuule uistance tiees. Compaie this to the pievious pictuie, wheie what weie the neaiei
tiees have themselves now been pusheu back by these biightei, waimei colouis.

In /%2'2 "5 I've staiteu to cieate those autumn colouis by mixing the Caumium Reu, Caumium
Yellow anu Yellow 0chie. We've also biought in a little 0ltiamaiine to uaiken things heie anu
theie anu get some biowns.
"4 "5
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In /%2'2 "6 we've
auueu the 'autumn'
colouis above with
the hog biush. See
how they lose some
of theii intensity on
the canvas,
compaieu to the
palette. This is
because it's a thinnei
layei of paint than
that on the palette.
To make suie we keep this stiength
of coloui anu biing these tiees
fuithei foiwaiu in the pictuie I've
auueu some 0ltiamaiine anu
Caumium Reu in /%2'2 "7, mixeu to
a uaik blue anu then stabbeu ovei
the top heie anu theie with
Caumium Yellow, a tiny touch of Blue
anu some White, to cieate sunny,
highlighteu leaf clusteis anu uaik
shauows.
To cieate the illusion of the
closest tiees, I've auueu a few
tiunks anu bianches, veiy
loosely, heie anu theie in /%2'2
"S. I'm using that iubbei coloui
shapei I mentioneu eailiei. It's
not easy to put paint on with it,
but it's iueal foi sciaping paint
out as heie. A few lines anu 'Y'
shapes is all you neeu foi a goou
impiession of light tiunks.
A stiong mix of any ieu, blue anu yellow will give you a
goou, uaik gieybiown foi tiee tiunks as in /%2'2 "T.
I've auueu watei to make it iun easily anu I'm biinging in
the Riggei Biush just to auu a few lines heie anu theie.
"S
"T
"7
"6
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Anu theie, in /%2'2 "W, is the completeu exeicise - a small foiest of miuule uistance tiees that will
give a gieat sense of uepth to youi pictuie. Notice also how you can fool the viewei by meie
suggestion. The iight hanu tiees cleaily belong in an autumn scene anu so the eye accepts that the
othei tiees fuithei back aie also autumn specimens. Bowevei, put youi hanu ovei the 'autumn'tiees
on the iight of the pictuie anu suuuenly the scene is one of miu-summei!

Anu on the same theme, we'll now go on to cieate the same view but, using seveial uiffeient colouis,
cieate a much coolei, wintiiei atmospheie....
Beie I've useu uiffeient 'coolei'
colouis Pthalo Blue, Raw 0mbei
anu Lemon Yellow, plus white, to
cieate the same scene, but with a
moie winteiy outlook. Then with
the same colouis I've changeu this
pictuie into a snow scene.

You can see fiom these thiee
uiffeient mixes that a much coluei
atmospheie is easily cieateu.

/%2'2 3X Wintei giass colouis

/%2'2 3" Wintei sky anu snow colouis

/%2'2 33 Wintei tiee colouis

33
3X 3"
"W
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Look at the waim atmospheie
cieateu in the
summeiautumn scene by
using 0ltiamaiine Blue in the
sky in Photo 2S. It has a
slightly ieupuiple cast to it,
giving a lovely waim effect.
This is enhanceu by touches of
'summeiy' colouis like Yellow
0chie anu Peimanent Rose.

By contiast, the Pthalo Blue in
/%2'2) 35 V 36 is iathei
gieenei anu geneiates the
coluei looking sky, which in
tuin cieates the oveiall moou
anu atmospheie of the pictuie.

The small baie tiee confiims
wintei is upon us anu is easily
woikeu in this size using just a
iiggei. I'll show you how to uo
that in the tutoiial on cieating
basic tiees next.

As an asiue, in the snow scene, see just how little puie white is useu. Nost of the 'snow'
coloui is cieateu with the mixes in /%2'2 3" at the top of the page.

Snow, like watei, tenus to ieflect the colouis of the sky so it's much moie inteiesting if
you ieseive youi puie white to ieally make just a few biight highlights stanu out.

34
35
36
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6# F&)(+ $(0'9,
D,99
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It's so easy foi beginneis to woiiy about painting
tiees, especially if they've only evei piouuceu the
pioveibial 'gieen lollipop'.

Anu uon't woiiy if youi hanu isn't too steauy eithei!
Wintei tiee bianches actually look bettei if they'ie a
bit iaggeuy anu all ovei the place.

Now, fiist things fiist - we'ie going to ieplicate this
wintei tiee in the pievious lesson (/%2'2 "). It's
typical of the soit of tiee you might want to put in the
miuule uistance. Not too much uetail as it's not in the
foiegiounu, but close enough to see the main tiunk
anu bianches.

"
Look at /%2'2 3. Notice how the biowngiey paint mix is
ielatively thin anu wateiy so it flows easily acioss the paint
suiface. We'ie also using a iiggei biush as that will help to
keep the bianches thin enough foi this size of tiee. 0bviously if
you'ie uoing a laigei veision, you neeu to use a laigei biush
initially foi the tiunk, saving the iiggei foi the thinnei
bianches anu twigs.

In /%2'2) 4 E T you can see the veiy stiaightfoiwaiu sequence
that gets you almost to the finisheu tiee. All you'ie painting
ieally is a seiies of 'Y' shapes at uiffeient angles anu sizes.

3
4
5
6
7 S T
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Notice that most tiee tiunks split anu then split
again a little fuithei up the limb. veiy few split into
seveial uiffeient bianches fiom exactly the same
point like the fingeis on youi hanu. Look at /%2'2
W foi claiification.

By the way, you may finu it moie uifficult to paint
bianches on the 'wiong' siue of the tiee. In othei
woius, if you'ie left hanueu like me, it'll be painting
bianches on the iight hanu siue with the biush
'pushing' away fiom the tiunk iathei than 'pulling'
the paint).

No pioblem. }ust tuin the pictuie upsiue uown anu
continue painting the bianches on the siue with
which you'ie comfoitable. This uoesn't just apply to
tiees of couise. It can be anything you wish to
paint.

W
In /%2'2 "X I've auueu a little Raw 0mbei, Lemon Yellow anu a touch of 0ltiamaiine to give a
colu, sciuffy giass effect.

I've also auueu a mix of Raw 0mbei anu Titanium White to paits of the iight siue of the tiee to
iepiesent the light falling on it.

I've put a blob of this coloui next to the tiee anu you can see that even though it's a miu-giey, it
looks veiy much lightei when auueu to the tiunk, against the uaikei paits of the tiunk anu the
giass.
"X
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7# I(>=.9
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Theie's many ways you can
piouuce authentic looking tiees.
Beie's a simple way to get you
staiteu with a goou looking
specimen like the one in /%2'2 "
that can be put into many
lanuscapes. Think it's beyonu you.
Well just follow the simple steps
anu amaze youiself!

Its shape can also be aujusteu -
wiuei anu flattei, longei anu tallei,
uiffeient gieens, etc. - to iepiesent
quite a few othei tiees as well.

You can actually paint it two ways.
You can sketch out the uiawing as
in /%2'2 3 anu then fill it in. It
uoesn't mattei if youi uiawing is a
little uiffeient fiom mine. It'll still
look like a tiee.

Alteinatively, you can go stiaight
into paint without the aiu of the
uiawing 'safety net', like /%2'2 4.
Again, the actual shapes uon't have
to be iuentical to mine to look iight.
Anu this is the example weie going
to follow.

"
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In /%2'2 5 you can see the colouis I've useu.
Fiom left to iight:
Titanium White
Caumium Yellow,
Yellow 0chie,
0ltiamaiine Blue
Raw 0mbei
Caumium Reu.

In the centie aie the colouis useu foi the leaf
clusteis, i.e. Caumium Yellow anu a touch of
0ltiamaiine foi the lightest gieen, a little moie
blue foi the miu gieen anu a little Raw 0mbei
auueu foi the uaikest gieen.

Foi the tiee tiunk anu bianches in /%2'2 6 it's
mostly 0ltiamaiine anu Raw 0mbei, with
White auueu foi the sunny siue. I've also auueu
a touch of yellow ochie anu caumium ieu to
show how you can fuithei vaiy the gieys of the
tiunk.

0K, let's look again at that fiist stage. As you
can see, in /%2'2 7 all I've uone is stabbeu
on some of the lightest gieen coloui in
vague banana shapes of uiffeient sizes,
making suie they oveilap slightly.

This gives the basic tiee shape, though it
can always be aujusteu slightly as you auu
othei colouis. I've useu a nylon iounu No.2
biush heie but any similai size oi shape
will uo fine.

5
6
7
T S
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Now we auu the tiunk (/%2'2 W). Remembei a tiee has to caiiy a lot of weight with summei
bianches anu foliage, so uon't give it a spinuly tiunk that coulun't holu it up. I've useu a miu-giey
heie to get the main outline.

Also notice how I've spieau the tiunk at the base so it appeais to be sitting */ the giounu iathei
than just on it.

In /%2'2 "X I've changeu to the iiggei biush to piouuce some nice fine bianches in between the
leaf clusteis. It helps if you thin the paint slightly with watei to get it iun easiei foi this
technique. If it still piouuces a 'hit anu miss' effect, uon't woiiy. This looks veiy authentic as light
plays on bianches like this in ieal life.

All I've uone, by anu laige, is to paint little 'Y' shapes in the open aieas to connect the main
bianches anu tiunk.
Now in /%2'2 "" I'm just
going back into one oi two
aieas at the top of the tiee
anu to the iight with a few
uabs of a light mix of
White anu Caumium
Yellow (inset).

This is to emphasise the
sunlight coming fiom the
top iight anu catching the
tiee on that siue.

By the way, the textuie
you can see on the
painting suiface is fiom
the aciylic piactice papei
pau I useu foi this
exeicise.

W "X
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Lowei iight anu inset aie the
mixes I useu foi putting a
lightei tone on the iight of the
tiunk anu into one oi two of
the bianches.

I've also blenueu the base of
the tiunk into the giounu by
uiagging some uaik gieen
siueways to iepiesent
shauow below the tiee. Notice
that even on the 'light' siue of
the tiee, theie's enough
oveihanging bianches to
cieate a shauow on the flooi,
as well as moie shauow on
the 'piopei' shauow siue on
the left.
Almost theie now! To finish off, I've
useu the iiggei to sciape some lightei
paint siueways below the tiee to give
some vaiiation anu textuie in the giounu
coloui (/%2'2 "4). I've also lighteneu the
giounu just above the shauow aiea to
uefine it a bit bettei fiom the miuule
uistance lanu behinu the tiee.

I've useu a mix of the ieu, blue anu
yellow ochie with white (inset) to cieate
some waim puiplegiey backgiounu
tiees. This is no moie than blobbing on
the coloui with the No.2 iounu biush,
but see how the eye 'sees' them as tiees
because that's what you've got in the
foiegiounu. The puiple coloui takes
them back anu gives gieat uepth to the
scene.

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So theie we aie in /%2'2 "5. We have a lovely, authentic-looking summei
tiee that you can piouuce veiy easily youiself - oi even a gioup of them of
slightly uiffeiing sizes anu shapes. Anu notice that even though this is a little
piactice exeicise, the auuition of those backgiounu tiees cieates a uelightful
little cameo scene that's almost a 'piopei' pictuie in itself!
"5
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S# K,9&'(0P ?9='% (0
Y2<0'&(0) &0B C(..)
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Let's look fiist at piouucing some uistant
hills anu mountains. This is uone, veiy
simply, by oveilapping one layei aftei
anothei.

In /%2'2 " heie aie the colouis I'm using
foi the fiist layei of uistant mountains -
0ltiamaiine Blue, Titanium White anu a
touch of Raw 0mbei.

In /%2'2 3 you can see I'm painting these
with a No.2 Filbeit - no uetail but allowing
the colouis to stay paitially unmixeu on
the canvas papei to give a subtle vaiiation
of tone anu imply that theie's moie uetail
theie than actually exists.

See in /%2'2 4 how the biush stiokes
have geneially followeu the line of the
hills iathei than the paint being slappeu
on in all uiiections.

This way, the changes in coloui stait to
take on the appeaiance of subtle changes
in light anu shaue, which coulu be valleys,
cievices, tiees etc.

Below, it looks as if light is falling on the
left siue of the laigei mountain - oi coulu
it be snow. You ueciue!

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Now we mix a slightly stiongei anu a little gieenei mix
using Yellow 0chie, 0ltiamaiine, White anu a little
Lemon Yellow as in /%2'2 5 - iight.

This will help to biing the next layei foiwaiu anu push
the blue mountains back into the uistance.


In /%2'2 6 on the left, I've vaiieu the stiength of
colouis to cieate moie obvious shauows but the
biush stiokes aie still helping to cieate the light
anu shaue in the hills.

/%2'2 7 iight, shows a
faiily flat, uull looking
hillsiue, but in Photo 7
I've stieakeu in some
white & lemon yellow
anu just touch of blue,
uelibeiately leaving it
not fully mixeu on the
pictuie.

Bo you see how this
'lifts' that aiea as if the
sun is catching it with
biight light. Note also
that I've been caieful
to ietain the countei-
change (light against
uaik) with the uistant
mountain. Bowevei,
in Photo 6 it's the
hillsiue that's uaikei,
whilst in /%2'2 S it's
now become the
mountain. Sciew youi
eyes up as you look at
the ciicles in the
Photos to see what I
mean...

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In /%2'2 T I've auueu Yellow 0chie to the gieen mix anu a
touch of Peimanent Rose. This gives us waimei colouis that will
now help to put those miuule uistance hills in theii place.

I've uelibeiately put $-- uaik a shaue of gieen on in places but
the usei-fiienuliness of aciylics mean it's an easy task then to
stieak ovei light coloui to biighten things up as I've staiteu to
uo on the left hanu siue in /%2'2 W.

/%2'2 "X shows the foiegiounu in a lightei waimei veision of
the colouis I've useu. See how much biightei anu moie cheeiful
things have become!


In Photos "" V "3, I've mixeu up a pale
pinkbeige coloui fiom White, Yellow 0chie
anu Peimanent Rose anu cieateu a tiack to
leau the eye into the pictuie.

A bit of uaikei gieen has been placeu along the
euges of the tiack to cieate shauows anu
uefine it a bit moie cleaily.
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Remembei, use palei colouis in the uistance, using blues, puiples anu gieys etc. As you
come closei, ease out the blues & gieys anu intiouuce moie gieens. Then in the foiegiounu,
biing in youi waimei colouis incluuing ieus, oianges, biowns anu waim yellows such as
Yellow 0chie anu Caumium Yellow. In /%2'2 "4 I'm auuing a veiy gentle touch of lightei
coloui in the backgiounu mountains to suggest a bit moie snow. Notice this is actually pale
blue as in /%2'2 "5 but looks white in the pictuie.

In /%2'2 "6 is the finisheu exeicise. Although only a simple little piactice piece, it gives you
a goou ueal of oppoitunity to cieate that essential 'uepth' in youi pictuie with the use of
layeis of hills. You've also leaineu to cieate 'aiiel peispective' by the piopei use of palei anu
coolei tones in the uistance anu stiongei, waimei colouis in the foiegiounu.

By the way, have you noticeu that I haven't painteu in any sky coloui foi this exeicise. It's
only the basic white gesso that was alieauy on the canvas panel yet it looks fine without
anything auueu at all....

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T# K.(OO)
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0k, we've lookeu at uistant hills anu mountain layeis. Now
let's come in a little closei to the miuule uistance anu
foiegiounu so we can see how to use the lovely, juicy
aciylic paint to cieate iock faces anu cievices.

/%2'2" (left) might look like a bit of a uog's bieakfast, but
it shows the colouis I'm using to cieate the cliffs which
have been paitially mixeu on the palette. These aie
0ltiamaiine, Yellow 0chie, Lemon Yellow, Titanium White
& Alizaiin Ciimson but you uon't neeu to use these exact
colouis. They just happen to be ones that weie hanuy on
the palette!

In /%2'2 3 you can see I've
uelibeiately pickeu up a touch of
blue, white anu yellow anu I'll stait
off by spieauing this in uownwaiu
stiokes on the canvas as in /%2'2 4.

See how the paint only paitially
blenus which cieates inteiesting
textuies anu light anu uaik shaues
without any effoit.

Keep uunking youi biush in the mix
on the palette, peihaps making suie
you pick up moie white one time,
then say, a little moie yellow oi blue
the next time.

You can apply the paint quite fieely
In /%2'2 5 I've
uevelopeu this into a
simple cliff face anu you
can see wheie I've
uiaggeu uownwaius in
vaiious shaues of blue,
yellow anu white to
give a nice vaiiety of
subtle coloui.

Theie's only the meiest
hint of Alizaiin in theie.
As it's such a stiong
coloui, I've been caieful
to keep it to just a
touch, otheiwise it will
uominate the whole
scene.
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I want to uevelop things a little fuithei by emphasising some
lightei outciops anu especially some uaik shauows anu
cievices.

In /%2'2 6 I've tuineu to the iiggei anu auueu a faii amount of
watei to the mix. 0sing piimaiily the blue, with a little yellow
anu a touch of alizaiin, I've cieateu a faiily iunny uaik giey.

/%2'2 7 shows the
iiggei alieauy
having an effect by
uiagging uown
uaik lines that
we'll uevelop into
gullies anu
cievices.

I've tiieu to make
suie that these
uownwaiu stieaks
aie kept ianuomly
spaceu anu shapeu
so they uon't look
like a set of
iailings.

If the paint is thin
enough, you can
also use the siue of
the iiggei's haiis
as well as the tip
to sciape in iock
textuie.
/%2'2) S V T show a much lightei giey mix, this time with much moie white auueu anu then
stieakeu uown the cliff face to cieate the highlights on the iocks.

In my minu I've got the light coming fiom the iight so you neeu to make suie that you apply the
light paint to the iight of any shauow aieas to maintain the illusion.

I've also stieakeu in some neat Yellow 0chie heie anu theie foi a bit of vaiiety. It also helps to
waim up the scene slightly.

If the colouis aie applieu wet, they will also blenu slightly so you'll automatically get fuithei
vaiiations of light, uaik anu miu-tones - anothei happy acciuent foi which you can claim the
cieuit!

S
7
T
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In /%2'2 W I've auueu uaik anu
then light mixes of lemon
yellow, blue anu a little white
to cieate some giassy aieas on
top of anu on the fiont euge of
the cliffs. This was uone in
exactly the same way as the
foliage on the summei tiee.

Notice in the inset Photo how
I've auueu two lightei gieen
patches which have been
placeu against the uaik aieas of
the cliff so they stanu out
bettei.
Finally in /%2'2 "X below I've auueu some tiees at the base of the cliff anu paiticulaily that
little figuie with his backpack anu walking stick, hiking upwaius towaius the cliff face.

It's always impoitant to give the viewei some iuea of scale anu to some extent the tiees on
theii own uo that. The cliffs coulu be about 1Su-2uu feet (4u-6u meties) high, assuming the
tiees weie aiounu Su-6u feet (1S-2u meties) tall. Bowevei, they coulu just as easily be shiubs
about 6-1u feet tall (2-S meties) which woulu mean that the 'cliffs' woulu be little moie than a
iocky outciop, peihaps Su feet (1u meties) high.

Bowevei, the inclusion of a tiny figuie in the foiegiounu, which we know will be aiounu 6 feet
(2 meties) tall, immeuiately allows us to gauge the tiue height of the cliffs.
"X
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Right, we've lookeu at uistant mountains anu miuule
uistance cliffs. Now let's have a look at foiegiounu
iocks anu stones - veiy easy to piouuce in aciylics anu
a ieal tieat as the textuies, shauows anu highlights
appeai almost like magic!

It's also a chance to use the palette knife as well as the
biushes so you can ieally make use of the piopeities
of the thick, butteiy paint.

In /%2'2 " I've laiu out all the colouis I coulu use, but
as with any soit of iocks, you can use viitually any
coloui you wish. It's almost impossible to go wiong!

}ust foi the iecoiu, fiom left to iight aie Lemon
Yellow, Titanium White, Raw 0mbei, Pthalo Blue,
moie White, Yellow 0chie, Caumium Reu,
0ltiamaiine anu Alizaiin Ciimson.

/%2'2 3 shows a simple, flat-
toppeu iock using the giey mix you
can see in Photo 1. I've useu the flat
biush heie so you can get a haiu-
eugeu iock shape. A uaikei mix of
the giey has been uabbeu on the
iight siue to give a bit moie
moueling.

In /%2'2 4 I've auueu a uaik mix of
Pthalo Blue anu a little Raw 0mbei
to cieate a shauow siue. No attempt
though has been maue to blenu this
coloui in so theie aie still lots of
light anu uaik aieas.
In /%2'2 5 we have the
finisheu iock. I've auueu
some of the coloui I useu
at the base of the cliffs in
the pievious lesson to
cieate some giass anu a
uaikei touch foi the cast
shauow.

A splash of light giey has
been uabbeu lightly on
the top anu left of the
iock to give some
highlights - anu that's
how easy it is!
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In /%2'2 7 I've cieateu seveial
iocks by sciubbing on the light
giey paint, then auuing the
shauow aieas (inset).

You can constantly altei the
shape anu even numbeis of
iocks to suit youiself as you go
along, uue to the opaque natuie
anu coveiing capacity of aciylic
paint.

/%2'2 S shows that by auuing
the shauows, I've cieateu ten
iocks fiom the oiiginal giey
blobs in Photo 6.
To piouuce softei, iounuei iocks then the
techniques aie pietty similai. The main uiffeience is
you neeu to blenu out the haiu euges slightly.

In /%2'2 6 I've maue two mixes. I've staiteu to
make a light giey on the left. I subsequently
uaikeneu it slightly with a little of the bluegiey mix
on the iight. The iemaining pait of the bluegiey
mix was useu foi the shauows.

Theie aie two things to look at
in /%2'2 T. Fiist, I've auueu a
light, cieamy mix to iepiesent
sanu between anu aiounu the
iocks.

Again, I've maue no attempt to
blenu it so as to cieate auueu
inteiest. Bowevei, notice that
by taking the sanu coloui up
anu beyonu the top of the iocks,
it looks as if you aie looking
uown on them.

Compaie this view with the
completeu angulai iock on the
pievious page wheie the top of
the iock piotiuues above the
giass anu gives a much lowei
viewpoint.
6
7
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/%2'2 W shows the mix
I've useu to cieate the
uaikei, cast shauows
unueineath the laige
iocks.

You can see fiom the
gieen inset fiom Photo
1u that we stait with
quite a stiong uaik blue
shauow, which can be
blenueu out at the euge.
I've also auueu a touch of
lightei coloui heie anu
theie on the sunlit siue.

In /%2'2 "X I've also staiteu to cieate some smallei stones.
This is uone quite simply by stieaking little blobs of light
paint, sometimes on top of a uaik aiea that's alieauy theie
such as the inset iingeu in ieu. In the blue inset, I've also
auueu some shauow coloui to the iight hanu siue of the
stone.

In /%2'2 "", I've finisheu off by auuing some cast shauow in
the sanu with a uaikei yellowgiey mix. Note how this
'melts' the iocks into the sanu iathei than having them just
sitting on the top suiface.

Below, in /%2'2 "3, is the completeu exeicise. When painting youi iocks anu stones, as evei with
natuie, keep things ianuom in size, shape anu positioning anu it will look fai moie believable.
W
"X
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"3
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These almost SB iocks aie piouuceu
much the same way anu with the same
colouis as the pievious ones. The big
uiffeience heie is that they aie laigely
piouuceu using the palette knife - a
gieat chance to ieally enjoy the butteiy
textuie of woiking with thick aciylic
paint!

In /%2'2 "4 you can see me mixing the
colouis veiy ioughly with the knife anu
in /%2'2 "5 I've staiteu cieating a iock
foimation. The value of keeping the
unblenueu colouis shows thiough as
subtle changes occui in light anu uaik in
the thick paint.

/%2'2 "6 below shows the outciop
uevelopeu fuithei with some lightei
paint being sciapeu on to foim some
veiy iough highlights. At this stage it
appeais as if theie is just one iock but
that will change!
/%2'2 "7 sees me using the same
techniques but this time using mixes of
Lemon Yellow, plus Yellow 0chie anu
0ltiamaiine to sciape in a giassy aiea in
anu aiounu the iocks.
"4
"5
"6
"7
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I've now useu a uaik
giey mix in /%2'2 "S
(again not fully
blenueu) to stait to
cieate thiee iocks fiom
the single mass by
putting in shauow
aieas on the iight of
each new iock.

See the iealism the
knife cieates in
piouucing all these
cievices anu bumps
anu hollows with no
moie skill than if you
weie butteiing toast!
In /%2'2 "T I've
piouuceu thiee iocks.
Bowevei, I'm not
happy with these as
they aie all too similai
in size anu shape.

No pioblem. As I go
along I can change
things to impiove
them.

In /%2'2 "W below I've
maue the iight hanu
iock biggei than the
miuule one by auuing
highlights ovei some of
the shauow aieas.
Compaie this to Photo
0nce the paint has uiieu I've mixeu a light gieen
coloui fiom Lemon Yellow anu White with a tiny
touch of 0ltiamaiine. This will pioviue a nice
mossy coloui on pait of the iocks.

You can see in /%2'2 3X how I'm taking most of the
paint off the biush with a papei towel. This is calleu
a 'uiy biush' effect.

"S
"T
"W
3X
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In /%2'2 3" I'm now just sliuing the flat
biush lightly acioss the haiueneu paint anu
you can see how even the small amount left
on the biush catches on the iaiseu aieas in a
veiy believable 'hit & miss' effect.
3"
I coulu leave it at that but I thought I'u
show you how to easily change the shape
anu numbei of the iocks by auuing a bit
moie paint.

In /%2'2 33 I'm using a No.1 iounu biush
(but you coulu use any othei type) with a
light giey mix to manufactuie some
uiffeient shapeu iocks. Neiely by going
ovei uaik aieas with light paint (oi vice
veisa) you can see in /%2'2 34 how
uiffeient things look compaieu to the stage
we'u ieacheu in Photo 7 (inset), especially
on the extieme iight hanu siue.

I've also taken the oppoitunity to auu some
small stones in the foiegiounu as we saw
when we cieateu the iounueu iocks in the
eailiei lesson.

33
34
35
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Watei is a lot easiei to paint than you
think, especially in aciylics.

Fiist, we'll see how to cieate some
simple ieflections in both still anu
slightly iippleu watei anu then we'll
have a look at some waves iunning up
on a beach.

To stait with in /%2'2 ", I've painteu a
light blue foi the watei, making suie
that my biush stiokes iun hoiizontally
anu flat, not in an aich. This is achieveu
by moving youi whole aim fiom siue to
siue anu not pivoting it at youi wiist.
/%2'2) 3 V 4 will claiify this.

This is impoitant. It's so easy to use
cuiveu oi ianuom stiokes that go in all
uiiections anu it ieally uoes kill the
illusion of watei, looking like it's going
to iun off the siue of youi pictuie.

In /%2'2 5 I've cieateu a iough,
biowngiey iivei bank. I've useu the
same flat biush to get the outline anu
then in /%2'2 6 uiaggeu ianuom
colouis uownwaius along the length of
the bank. You can see them, unmixeu,
on the biush.

This gives some lights anu uaiks anu
the sense of it cuiving in anu out along
the iivei, is easily achieveu by vaiying
the line of the bank in a seiies of thick,
oveilapping lines. You can see an
example of the effect you want,
immeuiately above the biush.

Painting stiaight & flat watei iipples is all but
impossible if you pivot the biush fiom youi wiist. This
natuially piouuces a cuiveu line. You must '-B& ,-.)
9%-#& ()' fiom left to iight to keep the watei flat &
level.
"
3
4
5
6
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7
Next, in /%2'2 S, I've auueu a ieflection in the aiea wheie the watei is absolutely still. This is a little
moie uifficult to achieve than when painting iippleu watei because you neeu to piouuce an upsiue
uown, miiioi image. Bowevei, this only neeus to be auueu ielatively ioughly.

By 'ioughly' I mean you uon't have to make it peifect. All I've uone to cieate the 'miiioi' image is to
make suie I've auueu some lightei oi uaikei paits in the ieflection immeuiately below wheie they
aie in the bank itself. I've also maue the ieflection the same uepth as the bank that it is ieflecting
fiom.

S
T
Noving on to the iippleu watei
in /%2'2 T, you can see I've
useu the flat biush to fiist paint
a little of the bank as if it was a
miiioi image, but then lowei
uown, to cieate some bioken
lines which immeuiately tell the
viewei that the watei is slightly
uistuibeu.

Two points to note heie. Fiist,
the ieflection is now slightly
longei (extenueu lowei)
because of the bioken watei
anu seconu, the biush stiokes
must be absolutely hoiizontal
foi it to look convincing.

In /%2'2 7 I've stiengtheneu the lights
anu uaiks to emphasise the contouis of
the bank then I've auueu some giass on
top. You can see that you coulu use this
technique just as effectively foi cliffs
hunuieus of feet high.

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W
In /%2'2 W, I've gone back in with the iiggei (oi you coulu use the flat biush) to auu some pale
blue hoiizontal lines. This is not absolutely necessaiy but it will help to emphasise the iipples anu
allow you to coiiect any uaik lines that have got themselves less than hoiizontal....
In /%2'2 "X I've stieakeu a slightly uaikei miu-blue (not too uaik) acioss the watei, this time
using a iounu biush. This gives an alteinative effect of iippling watei, useful wheie theie
aien't any immeuiate ieflections, but wheie you uon't want a completely flat calm suiface.
Bon't foiget - only hoiizontal stiokes!
"X
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In /%2'2 "" I've auueu a laige tuft of giass on the bank anu two posts - one a
bit shoitei than the othei but closei to the euge of the bank. Notice that I've
painteu them with light coming fiom the fiont iight so the shauows fall to the
left. The posts aie painteu exactly the same as the tiee tiunks in the eailiei
lesson. By the way, uon't get confuseu by ieflections anu shauows. Remembei,
ieflections always appeai veitically below the item ieflecteu in watei, while the
shauow will change with the uiiection of the sun.

Notice how the light anu uaikei blue stieaks of paint on the lowei iight sit
quite happily with the smallei iipples immeuiately below the posts.
""
Now we've auueu ieflections to the giass anu the posts in /%2'2) "3 V "4. Foi the giass, I haven't tiieu
to ieplicate the image 1uu% in the watei, meiely to make suie that the two long centie giasses aie
cuiving in the coiiect uiiection.

Also note that the light giasses aie ieflecteu a little uaikei in the watei. Conveisely, uaik items aie
always ieflecteu lightei. The tonal contiast of a ieflection is always less than the item it is ieflecting - i.e.
theie isn't quite as much uiffeience between the lights anu uaiks.

The posts' ieflections have been painteu with just simple shoit hoiizontal stieaks of coloui which,
impoitantly, maintain the 'line' of the posts. Notice paiticulaily how the iight hanu post leans to the left
anu the ieflection ieplicates this.

"3
"4
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Also, see how the )&4#&8$*-/ of the iight hanu post is shoitei than the left one, even though the
actual post is longei. This is because the iight hanu post is fuithei away fiom the bank anu
theiefoie its ieflection will, in theoiy, stait fiom wheie it touches the giounu. Bave a look at
/%2'2 "5 to see what I mean. The yellow uotteu lines aie the appioximate point wheie the
ieflections woulu stait fiom. Inciuentally, I've painteu these two ieflections slightly longei than
the actual posts because of the bioken watei, which often tenus to extenu a ieflection as it
bounces off the iipples. Bave a look at /%2'2 "6 with this shot of the Toionto wateifiont anu
you will see the builuings ieflecteu seveial times longei in the watei than theii actual height.

The uotteu lines
aie the theoietical
points wheie the
ieflections stait
"5 "6
In /%2'2 "7, using the same techniques to
cieate the posts, I've auueu a bianch giowing
out of the watei wheie the laigei iipples have
been painteu.

The iippleu ieflections have also been painteu
to follow the laigei iipples in the watei to keep
things consistent. Compaie the size of the
iippleu ieflections of the posts with those of
the bianch.

Again, I've gone back in with pale blue paint to
bieak up some of the ieflection of the bianch.

Anu see how (inset) the auuition of a small
stieak of pale blue with the iiggei wheie the
bianch comes out of the watei, not only
sepaiates it fiom its ieflection, but also gives a
subtle hint of movement in the watei.

"7
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Finally, in /%2'2 "S, you can see all thiee techniques togethei. In fact you coulu quite legitimately use
them in the same pictuie.

Caieful obseivation of any inlanu stietch of watei, whethei it is a lake, canal oi stieam - even a small
haiboui - will often show stietches of still watei piotecteu by a wall oi bank anu then iuffleu watei
catching the winu, within only a few yaius of each othei.
"S
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0k, let's move on to waves. The fiist thing I've uone is to stick a piece of masking tape acioss the
canvas as in /%2'2 "T. This lets me paint fieely ovei it anu will give me a nice stiaight, level hoiizon
line when it's iemoveu. I've useu a mix of Titanium White & a little 0ltiamaiine Blue to cieate the
watei.

Note how I'm making suie those uistant waves appeai level by painting fiom siue to siue as I showeu
you in the ieflections section pieviously....

In /%2'2 "W, I've auueu a little moie blue to the mix as I've come foiwaiu. This will make a nice
contiast with the white of the bieaking waves when I auu them.

By the way, if you look in the iight foiegiounu of /%2'2 "W, you will see I've cuiveu the watei
uownwaius -piecisely what I tolu you not to uo in the pievious section!

3X
"W "T
3"
In /%2'2) 3XZ33 I've staiteu auuing
these bieakeis anu as you can see, it
involves nothing moie than stabbing on
thick paint in ieasonably hoiizontal lines.
Although the paint looks white it is
actually a pale blue mix. I'm ieseiving the
puie white foi the highlighteu waves in
the foiegiounu.

In /%2'2 3" you can see that I've cieateu
peispective by making the moie uistant
waves flattei anu smallei.

33
In /%2'2 33 I've now painteu ovei some of these
waves with ieally thick, white paint as if they'ie
catching the sunlight.

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Now in /%2'2 34, with a mix
of yellow ochie anu white, I've
stieakeu in some sanu in the
foie giounu. Boiizontal
stiokes again give a nice
impiession of flat sanu which
is what we neeu to uepict
watei iunning up the beach.

In /%2'2 35 with the belly of
the biush I've sciapeu
siueways a mix of Yellow
0chie, White anu a tiny
amount of 0ltiamaiine paint
to stait to achieve the
tiansition between the ueepei
watei coloui anu the thinnei
film of watei on the sanu.

You uon't want this too thick -
just enough to uiffeientiate
between that aiea anu the uiy
sanu.

In /%2'2 36 I've uepositeu moie of this coloui in slightly thickei blobs heie anu theie to cieate
foam. Then I've uiaggeu them outwaiu towaius the sea to blenu them anu let the sanu coloui
show thiough - a bit like spieauing buttei, but away fiom you.

I've auueu a little moie 0ltiamaiine anu Yellow 0chie to the White anu the combination of
these colouis, which foim a pale gieygieen, is iueal foi this aiea.

36
35
34
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The iiggei helps us to stait cieating the
inuiviuual small waves as they spieau
out on the sanu, as in /%2'2 37.

I've useu white paint anu uevelopeu
some of the aieas I cieateu in /%2'2 36
by painting a moie obvious white line
anu featheiing the innei euge away
fiom me.

In /%2'2 3S I've now staiteu to auu a
miu-giey line heie anu theie (stiongei
mix of Yellow 0chie anu 0ltiamaiine)
unueineath the white foam to uefine
the shauow. I've also auueu a little of
this coloui as a shauow unueineath the
neaiest laigei waves as well as
touching it in veiy lightly on some of
the foiegiounu watei (inset).

/%2'2 3T shows the finisheu scene. I've iemoveu the
masking tape anu auueu a small yacht (a couple of ieu
tiiangles foi the sails anu a white anu blue line to suggest
the hull, with two uots of blue paint foi the ciew.

A stieak of white behinu the boat gives the impiession
that it is sliuing thiough the watei at a faii olu pace anu
you have a simple but effective beachsiue scene that you
can auapt to any numbei of situations. What a pity I left
that watei iunning uownhill on the iight hanu siue - you
won't, will you.

3T
3S
37
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In /%2'2 " I've uiawn the
cottages in blue felt pen so you
can still see the outlines when we
put the base coat of paint on. Note
how little uetail is iequiieu - foi
the most pait, the cottages aie
meiely a seiies of oblongs.

In this exeicise we won't put the
sea behinu them but keep to a
simple sky. In uoing so, note how
youi view immeuiately changes to
looking acioss at the cottages
iathei than looking uown on them
in the oval photo.

"
Beie in /%2'2 3 aie the colouis I'll be using but it
uoesn't ieally mattei which ones you use. They aie
Titanium White, 0ltiamaiine Blue, Yellow 0chie, Raw
0mbei, Caumium Reu anu Lemon Yellow.

You can see some of the gieybiown mixes I've alieauy
maue foi the ioofs. In anothei context these mixes
might be iegaiueu as 'muu' but useu at the iight time,
in the iight place, they become the peifect coloui
choice.

3
In one of the lessons in the Aciylics
Seciets Couise, we lookeu at how to
cieate toweiing white cliffs on the South
Coast of Englanu.

Bowevei, they weie the backuiop to a
couple of olu cottages which you can see
in the title photo anu I thought it woulu
be nice to use these to show you some
tips anu techniques in cieating builuings.

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In /%2'2) 4 V 5 I'm using a V" Flat biush to sliue the paint uown at the same
angle as the ioof. This will imply that theie aie ioof tiles theie without actually
putting in any uetail of them. The flat biush helps to keep a nice stiaight euge on
the top of the ioof anu will be useful foi uefining one stiaight euge against anothei
anu when we auu the uoois anu winuows, etc.
4 5
Bave a look at the uiffeience in
/%2'2) 6 V 7. In Photo S, I've
completeu the fiist ioof.
Bowevei, I think it is a bit too
uaik as the sun will be shining
on it, so once it has uiieu I've
gone ovei it with a slightly
lightei mix as in /%2'2 7.

See how the flat biush has
enableu me to ietain ciisp,
shaip euges.

6
7
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In /%2'2 S, I've uone the same with the giey ioof on the othei cottage. Beie I've stieakeu in
some auueu white to suggest highlights on the ioof. Bowevei, see how I've kept the left euge of
the giey ioof a little uaikei to make suie it stanus out fiom the biown ioof.

I've also gone back into the biown ioof to lighten the iight hanu euge so we have a nice countei-
change of light against uaik euges...

S
In /%2'2 T is the mix foi the
shauow siue of the white
cottage walls with the ioof
mixes peeping in on the left. Foi
'white' walls it's quite a ueep
puipleblue isn't it.

In /%2'2 W below you can see
I've auueu this as a base coloui
anu then, I'm stieaking in a
lightei veision of the mix ovei
the top with a tiny touch of
Yellow 0chie auueu to cieate
waimth anu inteiest. You can
uo this iight away if you want
because you will piobably finu
that the base coat is alieauy
staiting to uiy.

Note that the biush stiokes aie
veitical to enhance the
'flatness' of the wall.

T
W
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In /%2'2 "X below, I paiticulaily want you to note the way I've uaikeneu the )*5%$ siue of
the left hanu cottage anu lighteneu the #&4$ siue of the iight hanu cottage so that wheie they
meet it is easy to sepaiate one fiom the othei.

Latei on, we'll lighten up these shauows but the unueilying countei-change we've cieateu
will still show thiough in a subtle anu effective way.

"X
In /%2'2 "", I've staiteu to auu some
sky. I've useu basically the same mix I
useu foi the walls.

I shoulu have uone this fiist because
it's not easy to paint accuiately aiounu
all the inuentations at the top of the
ioof anu between the chimneys, whilst
keeping a ianuom fluffy appeaiance to
youi biush stiokes.
Bowevei, the beauty of aciylics is that
you can easily ietiieve any aieas you
acciuentally paint ovei.

""
In /%2'2 "3, I've let things uiy off a
little then painteu a uaik colouieu
biownieu foi the chimney pots. I've
also auueu some uiy biush effects
with B&), 1(#& stieaks of white auueu
to biown, yellow, ieu anu blue to the
ioofs. You neeu to keep this veiy
subtle anu it's easy to ovei-uo it.
Bowevei, if you uo, then as we've
saiu befoie, you can easily go ovei
things anu iectify the pioblem.

"3
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Biy-biushing is an iueal technique foi aciylics. It involves no moie than uipping the tips of the
biistles in youi chosen coloui, then wiping most of it off on a kitchen towel. Look at the 'befoie,
uuiing anu aftei' sequence in /%2'2) "4 Z "6. If you lightly paint with the iesiuue that's left on
the biush, you'u be amazeu at just how much coloui iemains aftei you think you've uepositeu it
all on the kitchen towel.

"4 "5 "6
In /%2'2 "7 I've mixeu a shauow coloui to go on
the ioofs, unuei the eaves anu also to paint the
winuows. It's no moie than a miu-giey cieateu by
mixing the 0ltiamaiine, Caumium Reu anu Yellow
0chie, togethei with a little Titanium White. The
blue pieuominates in the mix but if you vaiy the
piopoitions veiy slightly you can subtly change it
to a ieuuish oi yellow tinteu giey.
"7
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In /%2'2 "S, if you look closely, you will see I've gone ovei the walls with a lightei coloui of
pale blue, uiy-biusheu on as pieviously uesciibeu. Compaie this Photo with /%2'2 "X.
Bowevei the uefinition between the walls of the two cottages still shows thiough.

"S
In /%2'2) "T V "W, you can see how a " flat biush is useu to quite simply paint a stieak of coloui
uownwaius foi the winuows anu then the chisel euge is useu to cieate the winuow sill meiely by
placing a shauow line unueineath wheie it woulu be.

In /%2'2 3X I'm now painting a light giey on the 'sunny' siue of the chimney pots. You can see how
light the paint is on the biush but compaie it to how it looks on the chimney pot next to it, aftei it has
sunk in foi a few seconus.

"T "W 3X
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/%2'2 3" shows the winuows
completeu anu the chimney
shauows iunning fiom the base of
the chimneys, but also at the left
hanu siue of the chimneys stacks as
well. This tells the viewei that the
sun is shining slightly fiom the iight
iathei than fiom uiiectly behinu
the chimneys.

You can see in /%2'2 33 that I've staiteu
to put in the foiegiounu uetails that help
to take the eye thiough to the builuings.
I've sciubbeu in some uaik colouis - it
uoesn't ieally mattei which ones - to
cieate the shauow aieas foi the bushes.

In /%2'2 34 I've then stabbeu in miu anu
light gieens to biing the bushes to life. This
is veiy simple but make suie you leave
some uaik aieas!

In the finisheu exeicise, in /%2'2 36, I've sciapeu in a few lights anu uaiks in the fielu anu auueu the
gate. I've also uiy-biusheu some light blue into the winuows to auu a bit moie chaiactei.

Anu theie we have a whole seiies of techniques to cieate basic but veiy attiactive cottages that you
place in a whole vaiiety of situations in youi paintings.

In /%2'2 35, I've just
auueu a waim, pinkygiey
to cieate the path anu then
some uaik bluebiowns to
uefine the line of it uown to
the gateway.

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"3# I(>=.9
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Nany lanuscapes can be enhanceu by the auuition of
one oi two figuies. Bowevei, stuuents aie often put off
by assuming they'll eithei make a mess of the figuie anu
spoil theii painting when they intiouuce some
'humanity' into the scene.

In this section, we'll look at some veiy easy step by step
ways to piouuce basic figuies in vaiious positions. This
shoulu point you in the iight uiiection to piouuce youi
own, in viitually any pose you want.

To stait, have a look at the five basic colouis I've useu in
/%2'2 " - 0ltiamaiine, White, Caumium Reu, Yellow
0chie anu Raw 0mbei.

Bottom centie is a iange of basic 'skin tone' colouis I've
mixeu. Stait with about 1u paits white anu auu one pait
of ieu anu two paits yellow. That will give a basic white
Caucasian 'flesh' coloui. By auuing a touch oi two of iaw
umbei you can cieate a seiies of uaikei skin tones.
These uaikei colouis will also pioviue shauow colouis
foi lightei flesh colouis. By expeiimenting anu auuing a
small hint of blue, oi moie ieu anu yellow, you have an
infinite vaiiety of possibilities foi almost any skin
coloui, in any lighting conuitions.
"
In /%2'2 3 is the key to getting youi figuie
piopoitions coiiect. You can see that it's no
moie than an elongateu tiiangle foi the
bouy anu a small oval foi the heau. Bow
easy is that.

Typically, auults aie about 7 - 8 heaus tall.
That is, theii bouy is about 7 times the
height of theii heau. We'll see shoitly how,
by manipulating that tiiangle, how you can
easily cieate vaiious poses.

Notice that the heau has been uiawn
slightly above the tiiangle to allow foi the
neck to be suggesteu with the gap between
the two shapes.
3
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In /%2'2 4 you can see I've
auueu a light tone to the
figuie on the left anu a
uaikei skin tone to the iight
hanu one. I've also painteu
the legs in the iight hanu
figuie so alieauy it suggests
it is female.

The heau of the man on the
left appeais too laige but I
will aujust that when I paint
his haii, oi I can make his
bouy a little laigei to suit.
It's all veiy easy to achieve
with aciylics.
4
Noving on to /%2'2 5, I've auueu some
clothes to both figuies. In the male
figuie I've painteu ovei his aims anu
just left a touch of skin tone showing foi
his hanus.

Now notice in the inset how, by painting
his haii with a gap on the iight, it
automatically makes him look to %*+ left.

I've also lengtheneu his tiouseis slightly
anu that, plus painting in his haii, has
put his toiso back in piopoition as
against the heau that appeaieu too big
foi his bouy in /%2'2 4.
5
Now in /%2'2 6 you can see I've uone the same
with the woman's haii to make hei look left anu
walking away fiom us. I've auueu the obligatoiy
hanubag (on the woman!) anu on both figuies,
I've also toucheu in the meiest hint of theii othei
leg (compaie with Photo 4 to see what I mean).

Avoiu painting shoes oi feet if you can on figuies
this size (they'ie only about 1" oi 2 cm. tall) as
the eye is uiawn to them anu they will neaily
always appeai too piominent anu clumsy.

6
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Now in the snapshot sequence in /%2'2 TZ"X below, you can see I've
useu the techniques pieviously uesciibeu to uevelop the figuie to the
point wheie I've auueu a bench unueineath hei so she's not sitting in
miu-aii. Inciuentally, I'u always auu the seat (4$&) you've painteu the
figuie. You'll finu it's much easiei to position the chaii, bench, iock oi
whatevei unuei the completeu figuie than tiy to concentiate on
painting a believable figuie anu, at the same time, get it exactly in the
iight position on the chaii.

In /%2'2 7 we've anchoieu the figuies to the
giounu by stieaking in shauows. This is quite a
stiong puiple coloui which is iueal if you'ie
poitiaying a hot, sunny uay.

Notice that I've only painteu the shauow vaguely
matching the pose of the figuies. You uon't neeu to
get an exact ieplica of the figuie, especially if it's on
bioken oi giassy giounu oi somewheie that's less
than flat.

It's moie impoitant to have the shauow 'melteu
into the bottom of the figuie so it all looks as one.

Note also that theie is no uetail at all on the figuies
anu ceitainly not in the faces. Remembei, we'ie not
cieating a poitiait heie. Whoevei looks at youi
pictuie will mentally 'fill-in' these uetails anu to
paint them in will make the figuies look fussy anu
oveiwoikeu, especially being pait of a lanuscape
pictuie.

Finally, I've auueu a little touch of white paint to
the iight siue of the figuies to cieate a bit of
sunlight falling on them anu theie you have two
figuies that woulu fit into many lanuscape
scenaiios, meiely by changing the size, the colouis
oi by positioning them closei, fuithei apait oi even
on theii own.
7
Now let's look at a seateu figuie in /%2'2 S.
Exactly the same iueas apply iegaiuing the
tiiangle except this time I've stietcheu it into
an 'L' shape foi the bouy anu a thin tiiangle
below that foi the legs. Auu two lines foi the
aims anu the oval foi the heau anu you can see
it uoesn't even neeu a seat auuing to tell you
the figuie is sitting uown. Easy!

S
"X
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In the /%2'2 ""Z"4 snapshot sequence below we've painteu a man walking up some steps. The key
point to note heie is that in the fiist uiawing we've still useu the tiiangle foi the bouy but auueu an
angleu line foi his iight leg. Because it's bent, note how it finishes slightly highei making it easy to
position it on an uppei step.

This immeuiately conveys the impiession of movement anu the figuie climbing the steps. Beie
some lights anu uaiks to the clothes have been auueu to the clothes anu heau (see inset) to give an
impiession of stiong sunlight.
"4
"3
""
Now let's look at figuies in action. Again,
theie's nothing complicateu involveu.
All that we aie uoing as a staiting point
is benuing anu manipulating that
tiiangle foi the bouy anu aujusting the
position of the aims.

In /%2'2 "5Z"7 snapshot sequence, I've
bent the tiiangle foiwaius anu then
staiteu to auu a few lines to iepiesent
the aims anu legs of someone ieaching
uown to pick something up with theii
iight hanu.

To show you how easy it is to vaiy
things with moie oi less the same pose,
I've actually painteu the figuie slightly
uiffeiently by putting his left leg behinu
him anu with both hanus picking up a
sack. Again, note how the sack is
blenueu into the shauow to make it
appeai fiimly sitting on the giounu.

"5
"6
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In /%2'2 "S I wanteu to cieate an
impiession of a figuie ieally haiu at
woik anu stiaining to move something.

Points to note heie in the inset aie the
way the legs aie set at a wiue angle
with the fiont leg planteu veiy fiimly
on the giounu.

Note how I've positioneu the heau at
the fiont of the shoulueis, angleu
uownwaius anu iight ovei his fiont leg
to emphasise the effoit he's putting
into moving whatevei it is you'ie about
to paint.

In the main pictuie I've uiawn a iope
with a pencil which is taut behinu him
but uangling loosely beyonu his aims,
again giving a feeling that whatevei
he's uiagging is just a bit heavy!
The /%2'2 "TZ3X sequence shows a man
climbing a lauuei. The only vaiiation on the
basic tiiangle heie is to benu it slightly at the
base to iepiesent his legs stanuing on the
iungs.

As with the giil sitting uown eailiei, I've then
auueu the upiights of the lauuei once I'u
positioneu the figuie. Bowevei, having now
got eveiything in the iight place, I hau no
pioblem painting the lauuei fiist, confiuent
that the figuie 'fitteu' onto it.

Note also the angle of the shauow on the wall
which tells you the wall is veitical.

The one point you must iemembei about any
figuies in action, whethei they'ie lifting,
pulling, iunning oi climbing etc. is that they
will automatically uiaw attention to
themselves in youi pictuie.

So tiy to make suie that they aie, oi aie pait
of, the focal point, otheiwise you'll finu they
will fight against whatevei youi focal point is
intenueu to be.

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Anu finally with figuies, if you
evei thought it was ieally a
pioblem making them look
convincing appeaiing oi
uisappeaiing ovei a hill, have a
look at /%2'2) 3" &0B 33 anu
woiiy no moie.

Basically, it's the tiiangle shapes
with the bottom half cut off. In
fact you coulu uiaw the full
tiiangles anu then ueciue to
sketch in the line of youi hill
acioss them to see how much
you want actually showing of the
figuies.

In this case, it's a young couple,
with eyes only foi each othei anu
a tiee suggesteu in the
backgiounu by just sciubbing in
the blue anu yellow paint I hau
useu on his shiit anu hei haii.

It's anothei iiuiculously simple
way of cieating a little cameo
scene that woulu auu that final
little human touch to any numbei
of youi lanuscape paintings!
3"
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In the same way that one oi two human figuies can enhance a pictuie, then so can the auuition of a few
animals. It coulu be a uog wanueiing alongsiue a couple in a countiy lane, oi a cat lazing in the sun on top
of a gaiuen wall.

A gioup of cattle, hoises oi sheep can foim an iueal focal point in a iuial lanuscape, whilst foi a haishei
enviionment we can use any amount of wilu game such as ueei, beais, tigeis, elephants anu so on.

This quick look at animals will hopefully show you that they'ie just as stiaightfoiwaiu to cieate anu auu as
people. 0nce you've got the hang of uiawing the outline of one animal, then you will be able to piouuce
pietty well most othei species at will with only a little aujustment heie anu theie.
Let's take a simple figuie of a cat sitting upiight in /%2'2
"# It's the soit of thing you coulu auu alongsiue a paitly
open cottage uooi to emphasise a homely, uomestic scene.

As you look at this paiticulai pictuie, note how the cat can
be bioken uown into basic shapes. In /%2'2 3, I've
suggesteu a small squaie foi the heau anu two tiiangles -
one laige, one small - in which to fit the fiont legs. This
sketch is baiely 2" oi Scm tall. Bowevei, this woulu be a
pietty big cat in a lanuscape painting, even if it was in the
foiegiounu.

An oval foi the bouy anu one foi the tail immeuiately fixes
the sketch in the coiiect piopoitions. Bon't woiiy if you
uon't get it iight fiist time. I iaiely uo, especially when I'm
uiawing something I've not uiawn befoie. Look how
ioughly I've uone this sketch - these iough outlines can be
iubbeu out anu aujusteu till you'ie happy.

If you piefei, you can uo youi sketch on sciap papei anu
tiace it uown on to youi canvas once you'ie happy with it.
I'll show you how to uo this latei on.

In /%2'2 4 I've gone ovei the basic shapes with a moie
iealistic outline. Remembei, this isn't a cat poitiait anu
you uon't neeu uetail. The biushes you use foi aciylics
aien't going to peimit that anyway unless you use
something like a tiny uu size biush.

In /%2'2 5 I've eiaseu the guiue lines so you can see the
cat moie cleaily, ieauy foi tiacing uown. Bowevei, you
uon't neeu to bothei iubbing out the guiue lines as long as
you can see to tiace ovei the main outline.
3
"
4
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Anu yes, I know it looks quite ciuue in the ciuel close-up
above but have a look at /%2'2 W wheie the two cat images
aie placeu next to a iulei. In fact if you aie viewing this
uocument at 1uu% size on youi computei, this image is
iepiouuceu viitually the same as full-size in ieal life.

You can see that the black cat is less than V" tall (about
1cm) while the biown cat is only about 1" oi 4.S cm tall.
The laigei cat, even at this size, woulu almost ceitainly be
the, oi pait of the focal point in most aveiage-sizeu
pictuies, as small as it is.

We'll move on to looking at animals wheie theie's a little
bit of movement (anu how to tiace them uown!) but the
piinciples of uiawing anu painting them aie exactly the
same.

Baving tiaceu uown the image onto the
painting suiface (see /%2'2 34), in /%2'2)
6 V 7 I've staiteu to paint the cat in a faiily
loose way by stabbing on thin coloui to let
things blenu a little.

Aciylics let you make aujustments even at
this stage. Foi example, if you look closely,
I've changeu the uiiection of the cat's left
eai in Photo 6 when I've uaikeneu the heau,
by having it point foiwaiu. I've also auueu
lightei paint ovei othei paits of the bouy to
give moie uepth to the image.

I've useu the same basic outline to paint a
much smallei cat in /%2'2 S but this time
with its heau facing the viewei.

The painteu veision is in Photo 8 anu I've
just concentiateu on simple uaik shaues
with some miu giey foi the highlights on
the iight hanu siue. Foi a small, miuule-
uistance figuie oi animal you only neeu this
basic appioach.

Any moie uetail, no mattei how exquisitely
piouuceu, will biing it too fai foiwaiu
theiefoie out of context in youi pictuie.

Remembei, you only neeu uetail in
foiegiounu items whethei they aie tiees,
builuings oi figuies. In ieal life, you
woulun't expect to be able to make out
moie uetail on an animal that was fifty
yaius away fiom you.

6
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Look at the thiee /%2'2) "X[ "" V "3. Even
though we have thiee uiffeient animals of
thiee uiffeiing sizes they all have basically the
same bouy shape, even though the laige anu
small cats aie moving moie puiposefully than
the uog.

Foi the basic outlines in /%2'2) "4 E "6, I've
just useu simple oblongs anu tiiangles foi the
cats' legs, wheieas with the uog, I've useu a
squaie anu a tiiangle to position the fiont anu
back feet togethei. You can see fiom /%2'2)
"7 Z "W that it makes no uiffeience to the enu
iesult.

It uoesn't mattei what shapes you use oi what
bits of the bouy you incluue within a shape.
It's what suits you best....

Now most animals have theii ieai legs jointeu so that
theii 'knee appeais to benu in opposite way to a human.
In fact what you think is the knee is equivalent to oui
ankle, with the lowei pait of the leg below that joint
equating to oui foot (see the uog sketch in /%2'2 "W
ciicleu).

Theii ieal knee folus the same way as ouis but usually
appeais just befoie oi below wheie the leg emeiges fiom
the bouy. Two exceptions to this aie the elephant anu the
beai in /%2'2) 3X &0B 3" wheie the knee appeais in the
'human' position.
0k, we've got oui basic uooulings
nicely aujusteu to a convincing animal
shape. Let's have a look on the next
page how to tiansfei this easily onto
oui canvas oi othei painting suiface.

""
"X "3
"6
"5
"4
"7
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If necessaiy, you can always iun a
pencil oi felt pen oi even uiluteu
aciylic paint ovei the outline to
make it cleaiei as in /%2'2 37.
Remembei, you uon't neeu to woiiy
about any uetail. The paint woulu
covei it anyway.

At this stage, you'ie simply looking
to cieate an authentic outline of
youi chosen figuie oi animal anu to
tiansfei it to youi painting suiface.

Let's use the tigei as the example. In /%2'2
33 I've sketcheu the outline. In /%2'2 34 the
sheet has been tuineu ovei anu a soft 4B
pencil is sciibbleu ovei the ieveise.

I've useu tiacing papei so you can easily see
what's happening but you shoulu be able to
see the outline thiough oiuinaiy copy oi
piintei papei if you use that insteau.

The giaphite uepositeu on the ieveise will
tiansfei to youi painting suiface when you
go ovei the 'coiiect' siue with a ball point
pen oi shaip pencil as in /%2'2 35. You may
neeu to piess quite heavily, especially if
you'ie using a piimeu boaiu to paint on.

You can see in /%2'2 36 that I've lifteu the
sheet back to check the outline is coming
thiough. It may appeai a bit feint but it
shoulu be goou enough to see what you aie
uoing.
33
34
35
36
37
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/%2'2 3S shows the colouis I useu in
this example - fiom left to iight,
Yellow 0chie, Caumium Yellow,
Titanium White, 0ltiamaiine Blue,
Raw 0mbei anu Peimanent Rose.

In /%2'2 3T, notice how I'm iunning
the biush stiokes uownwaius in a
veiy flatteneu 'C' shape to emphasise
the cuivatuie of the tigei's bouy.

I've auueu a little cieamy white with a
touch of Raw 0mbei (not puie white)
foi the white aieas of the legs anu
unueibelly in /%2'2 3W anu then
auueu iathei moie Raw 0mbei to
that mix to give the shauow aieas
unuei the chest anu aiounu the legs
as in /%2'2 4X.

In /%2'2 4", I've now auueu a few
touches of puie White to highlight
aieas aiounu the legs anu tail anu
then, if you look closely, I've taken off
almost all of the white paint fiom the
biush to cieate a B&), subtle palei
sheen on the bouy just behinu the
neck anu uown ovei the fiont legs.

3S
3T
3W
4X
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You can see in /%2'2 43 that I've mixeu
0ltiamaiine anu Raw 0mbei to give a veiy
uaik gieyblack, togethei with a tiny touch
of Peimanent Rose.

I've also auueu a uiop of watei to make it
flow bettei as I want to cieate the tigei's
stiipes with uiffeient stiengths of light anu
uaik.

It's only a small point but it looks much
moie effective than using a black stiaight
out of the tube which woulun't give any
vaiiety of coloui.

You can see fiom the inset how the uensity
of the stiipe is automatically vaiieu,
uepenuing on how much paint is on the
biush.

Finally, in /%2'2 44, I've completeu the tigei
anu auueu a little gieeneiy unueineath, plus
a uelibeiately inueteiminate shauow which
confiims both biight sunlight anu bioken
giounu.

43
44
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In /%2'2 45, I've
sketcheu in basic
animal outlines
fiom photos at
the beginning of
the chaptei,
which you coulu
piint anu tiace
uown at vaiying
sizes.

0i, you coulu
even flip them
ovei oi stietch
them in uiffeient
uiiections to
cieate youi own
veision.

45
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