This is a step by step tutorial showing how I painted this painting in acrylics. First I drove out of town to where I spotted an old abandoned farmhouse. With the digital camera I took many shots of the property. They were put into the computer and one with good composition was printed for detail. See original photograph to the left.
From the print I first did the drawing. Using a set of pointers I scaled the objects in the print so they would be twice the size on the drawing. I used Masonite treated with three coats of gesso for my canvas. Getting the drawing right was very important. Then I pinned the copy onto my
easel above the painting for ready reference. I use the wall for my easel and prefer it to a studio easel. Walls don't move and shake when you are trying to do something.
The first stage of the work is to cover the canvas or panel. I first sprayed the panel with a little water, then with a two inch brush I smoothed out the water all over the panel. This makes it moist and easier to apply paint. I then work wet on wet. The trick with acrylics is to keep spraying water on the palette and the panel so the paint won't dry too soon.
Using colors red, yellow, blue, purple, burnt sienna and white I mixed until I got various shades of gray suitable for the first stage. I then covered the canvas applying the brush strokes to agree with the direction of the wood grain in the structure. At this stage I am applying only a thin wash and if I can still see the drawing under the paint, all the better. I always try not to lose my drawing until near the end when I no longer need it for reference.
Acrylics dry very quickly. That's why some subjects are better painted in oils, such as portraits, when you need them to stay wet to work. However, to keep acrylics moist all you need is a misting bottle and a flat container large enough to hold your palette.
I use glass over paper towels in a plastic container that is meant for keeping food air tight. You can buy them anywhere plastic food containers are sold. This way when you finish painting you can preserve your unused paint for weeks by pushing the air tight lid on the container.
By spraying your canvas or panel periodically you can keep your work wet as long as you wish and are working on it. However, unlike oils it won't stay wet overnight.
The painting looks ugly at this stage. This is normal and we are not worried about how it looks yet, rather we just want to cover the panel and get ready for the next stage.
Having covered the panel I then started working the true colors by first applying gray and a little white to the entire painting using a two inch brush. This was a glaze, very thin.
Next came the oil tank where I applied a little color using burnt sienna, red, gray and white. It's starting to move forward. Another wash of gray is added to bring out more true color. White is later added to the clapboards as well as darker horizontal lines, to make the clapboards look more real.
More gray is applied to the entire wall and using a script brush, lines are drawn both horizontally and vertically to bring out the wood as well as the bushes. The dark in the window is layered with a suggestion of something in there and the curtains are detailed. The same applies to the window frame which is detailed to make it look more real.
Below is the finished painting. Someone photographed it in the gallery and it appeared in Country Roads Magazine, Summer 2010. I was pleased, but as of this date nobody has bought it.
