A Journey Through Acrylics
So a while back I made a post about my journey through the watercolor medium. My first paintings, etc. Now I want to do the same thing, but for acrylics!
Technically I first started using acrylics in high school art class, but I didn't really know what I was doing. That was back when I thought paint was just paint, and I didn't understand how to use any of them. Honestly, I really had no idea what I was doing in art class ever hahaha. I was just having fun and painting a lot of anime...It wasn't until college that I really started understanding the differences and how to actually use it. I took an acrylics class my junior year, which was eye-opening. We did a series of five paintings: two still-life, one portrait, one landscape, and one where we had to mimic the style of one painting with the content of another. Looking back I don't think they're that great since I was still learning and getting used to the medium, but the whole point of this blog post is to show everything! So here we are!
Painting #1 - Still Life, Black and White, Spring 2013
This was the very first serious acrylic painting I did! Black and white is always a good starting point because it forces you to think about values, something I have always (and still am) bad at. Overall I think the painting still looks pretty fuzzy and undefined. There's probably just not enough paint and layers on the canvas, and while the values in some areas look fine, in others not so much. I liked--and still liked--how I painted the pitcher though. I remember being very proud of it hahaha. I think it's pretty clear as well that I spent the most time on that. Everything else though...hmm...
Painting #2: Still Life, color, Spring 2013
Woo color! I think if you gray-scaled this, the values would still be muddy, but composition and color wise I don't mind it. It's still got that fuzzy undefined feeling, although I'm unsure if that's the painting or the photograph quality...I rather like how the chicken came together (these were all either taxidermy or fake) and I remember we had fun with setting up the still-life that day. By now I think I'm getting the hang of the paint overall, but again. The values could be punched up more, and everything just a bit more defined.
Painting #3 - Self-Portrait, Spring 2013
Oh boy, where to begin.
First, this was back when I had looong hair. And I remember I'd had a couple different ideas, but went for the straight on. This was also my second paint attempt. Initially I had a purple background but I didn't like it and painted over everything. I think color-wise it's fine. There's more contrast with the reddish tones of the skin and the green bg. I like how the hair came out. But the facial proportions could definitely use work, especially with the eyes. I think if they were farther apart and not as large, it would look better. They're also noticeably a bit off kilter with each other hahaha. At the time though I remember liking it and certainly I think the actual painting skill is getting better, even if the draftsmanship is a little off.
Painting #4 - Landscape, Spring 2013
This is definitely suffering from a lot of lack of definition. I think the best part about this painting is the clouds. They were some of the hardest parts, but looking now I think it paid off. Definitely not enough value variation with the foreground and background. There's some good stuff happening with the trees, but things don't look as far away as they need to, and the stuff in the foreground just isn't crisp like it needs to. For this we had to work off a photograph, and the one I chose was from when I lived in Norway. I had good memories painting it, but at the time I struggled a lot of with landscapes in general, so it was difficult overall. Ironic, since now most of what I paint is landscapes, haha.
Painting #5 - Disney in Pointillism, Spring 2013
So for this we had to combine two different styles. I decided to a do a Disney shot but with pointillism. By now I felt I had a firmer grasp on the medium than before, and I think the water really shows that since it's the best part of this painting. But Ariel, oh Ariel. What did I do to you. I think the main issue was the brush I used was too large...especially for the white highlights. Admittedly from far away it looks all right, which is kind of the point of pointillism anyways (see what I did there?) but there's definitely a lot of improvements to be made. To be honest I think I chose pointillism because it was the easiest to mimic...or so I thought.
That was the last of the paintings we had to do for class, but I didn't stop using acrylics. On the contrary, I discovered its usefulness for birthday presents.
Painting #6 - Sister's birthday present, Winter, 2013
I was never very good at drawing realistic animals, but after a few trips to the zoo, I think I felt emboldened. Additionally, the ability to repaint over things with acrylic helped me feel more confident. Thinking I knew what I was doing, I set to painting this red panda for my sister.
Looking back, I actually quite like it. It shows a marked improvement from my class pieces, more definition and texture. I didn't really understand animal anatomy at the time, but I knew how to work from a photograph. I think the biggest flaw here is the light falling on the panda's back. It cuts across straight, rather than adhering to the curve of the body, and flattens the entire picture. For now though, overall I think it's decent.
Painting #7 - Graduation Cap, Spring 2014
This is more of a "for fun" painting. Note to others, painting on a graduation cap is really difficult! The cloth soaks in a lot of the water and paint, so it needs a ton of layers. But I still had a lot of fun painting this, esp since I was obsessed with the movie. Here I depicted my favorite jaeger and kaiju duking it out. I think my favorite part about this is the coloring, or rather the more painterly approach to it. Obviously Coyote Tango isn't a rainbow jaeger, yet somehow while looking at the reference, I translated the colors as such and I think the result is very pleasing. Same with Otachi. We won't talk about the destroyed highway bridge. Even though it's by no means a masterpiece, I'm still pretty pleased with it, and still have the graduation cap in my apartment.
Painting #8, Brother Birthday Present, Winter 2014
Back when my brother was just getting obsessed with Halo. I think he still gets on me for the plot accuracy of this painting. I remember this being particularly difficult because a) none of this was stuff I was used to drawing, much less painting, and b) there was no direct reference I could use (believe me I still used a ton of reference though).I think there are still some issues of fuzziness and not as much definition in the painting, but color wise I liked it. I always joked that these two were seconds away from a full-on make out session, haha.
Paintings #9-11, More Sibling Birthday Presents, Winter 2015
Now let's fast-forward a year and a half!
By now I'd started messing around with watercolors, and just developing more as an artist. I had a better grasp on colors and painting and more experience with acrylics. I was still relying heavily on references, especially for the animal paintings, but certainly the definition and painting quality has gone way up since my first few paintings 2 years ago! I had a better understanding of how animal anatomy worked as well. Of course there are still things to be improved on, but I think these show a marked improvement.
Painting #12 - Yet another sibling birthday present (and hippo painting #2), Winter, 2016
Not the best quality picture, but I think it still gets the point across. The strive for realism and more nuanced colors continues! I have a younger sister who really likes hippos, so this was a present for her. Again I enjoy the complimentary colors, and the faces are definitely on point. Won't lie though, the body of the mom hippo could maybe use some extra attention...perhaps just a bit more blended. For this I was working off a direct reference, recreating an existing photograph, which helped a lot.
Paintings #13-14, the 2 I did in 2018I
know you guys have already seen the Ollie painting, but I included it anyways haha. A note about that, his outline was already pre-drawn, so I didn't have to worry as much about draftsmanship. Just the actual painting.
And then of course we have the very small painting I did based on a direct reference of a stunning photograph in Hawaii. To be very honest, looking at these, I feel I have gone a bit backwards, hahaha. It has been a while since I've done a lot of acrylic painting, especially since I'm focusing more of my energy on watercolor. I still know how to use the medium, but it does appear that I'm a bit out of practice. Of course, that just means I need to practice more!
Anyways, now that we're all caught up, I hope you enjoyed watching my progression in this medium! I get a lot of comments from people who say they wish they could draw or paint, and just like Bob Ross says, anyone and everyone can paint! You just need to put your mind to it and practice. The first few won't be very good, but eventually, if you stick with it, you'll be able to create something great. And be sure to keep with it, because if you drop off, you may find you have to struggle a little to get back on!
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you guys have a wonderful week. And if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like me to write about, let me know in the comments!