First time poster and painter (Boki) FINISHED (on page 2)!!!

Ok, so before you guys start criticizing, i've been lurking in the shadows enjoying some of the amazing art by the tikicentral community. So, I thought I'd give it a go and try to paint myself. Keep in mind that I've never painted before and, I have very limited art experience. Basically, I just doodle. Anyway, here's my first attempt...any advice on improving technique is appreciated...

[ Edited by: 2007-04-16 15:04 ]

[ Edited by: artsmart 2007-04-16 15:05 ]

[ Edited by: artsmart 2007-05-01 16:57 ]

[ Edited by: artsmart 2007-05-01 17:06 ]

That's really awesome! I'm not kidding either, that fish has a sort of "Hey look at me, I look like a disney character" style to him. Which is NOT a bad thing! I for one like Disney, so you get an A+. haha, welcome to the TC Community!

hey thanks! Yeah, it's kinda funny but when I was originally trying to copy some other artist styles (Shag, even some artists on this forum) I realized that this is the sort of doodling that I did as a kid...so, I tried to recreate that. I was very much into Disney and Hanna Barbara stuff as a kid so that probably comes out a bit here.

oh also, i forgot to mention, that this is one part of the whole painting. I'll post more pics as I complete it.

thanks again for the compliment but I'm definitely interested in constructive feedback as well as I know my technique sucks as this is my first time painting with acrylic paints.

I don't know anything about painting but I think you have a lot of potential! Great first one!

Thats cool. Now paint a tiki with that style! :D

Here's another section of the painting...again, i'm not a trained professional...this is my first time painting with acrylic paints...or paint for that matter. Everything is freehand and from my imagination. Apologies in advance for not having correct anatomy or species of fish/animals...just making stuff up as i go along!

I'd appreciate any tips or advice from seasoned acrylic painters as I'm finding this to be a challenging medium. some initial questions.

• do you typically start dark first then paint light to show highlights?
• when blending shades, do you blend while wet or come up with the variant colors (dark blue, medium blue, light blue) and then blend?
• i put some dark brown and greens as a base for the rock sections then went over it with blue glazes and finished with light paint highlihgts...is this the right way to do it?
• how do you make acrylic paint more opaque? i'm just using some crappy stuff I got at Target so any brands would be appreciated.

Oh here's the complete left side of the painting...

Don't worry there will be an underwater tiki to the right of it!

Way to go Artsmart! Acrylic can be a tricky medium until you start controlling its drying time. There are mediums you can add that extend the working time and another trick is to take a butcher tray...line in with paper towels.......saturate them with water..not swimming in water but very wet.....place a piece of tracing paper on top and put your dollops of paint on this....this dramatically increases your working time with the paint! You can also use a spritzer to occassionally moisten it. When done painting for the day, cover the tray with plastic wrap and keep in a nice cool place and the paint will stay workable much longer. Try mixing your colors on your palette or doing some dry brush technique for blending.....they each serve their purpose! I like to work from dark to light but art is a journey that we all take on different paths! Have a blast!

thanks suburban...very useful tips! now i can stop wasting paint!

Hi Artsmart. For what its worth, I reckon your painting rocks. practice sorts al those questions out. For me, I work out my mid tone range then I apply shadow then Highlights , more mid tone, shadows , highlights. etc. build it up to a work your happy with and resonates with you. Whatever works is my motto. someone at the door gotta go . good on ya. doing it is everything. process process.

I could totally see that painting as a mural on a wall somewhere. awesome!

Aloha and E Komo Mai! Good stuff! Very colorful and fun to look at. Tips... just keep experimenting, reading the posts and talking to some of the other artists here on TC. Most everyone here is more than happy to share their knowlegies with ya!

Chongolio

KEWL! You're doing better than my first stab at acrylics. I felt like drawing it first was "cheating", then I realized it was better to know where I was going, you know?

You gotta use it's transparency to your advantage. Like someone said, start with mid-tones and then go shadow and highlights. Working thin can help and building up layers for shadows. Feathering into the midtone is worth trying. Mixing a little mid-tone and shadow color can help. Same with highlights.

Keeping it wet can be an issue, but, as has been said, there are ways around that. I become somewhat of a madman when I'm painting and have found myself a bit of a distance from my water source and used my own spit to keep it going. Weird, but effective.

Along with additives to keep it "wet" there are things to make it more opaque or transparent. Lots to choose from and no right or wrong way.

Keep on keepin' on!

I'm envisioning you as a children's book illustrator. Your characters have warmth, love and innocence about them. Keep up the great work. (I think the fish is really Don Knotts without the glasses...wink wink).

wow...thanks guys for all the words of encouragement.

Big-Hodad: yeah, that's a good tip to draw it out first before painting. This one started off as an experiment so I didn't take it that seriously. The next one I'll draw out!

VampiressRN: Thank you very much for the compliment. I'd love to be a children's book illustrator as my nephew is almost at the age where he can appreciate books and not hassling my sister's golden retriever!

Thanks guys and I'll post an update once I make some progress on it.

Hey guys, I finished it. I think it came out ok. I probably would have done some layout changes but I think it's ok for my first try. what do you guys think?

close up of the ring...yes this is a wedding portrait!

Really good there artsmart!
Especially for a first painting!
are you sure you're not pulling
our leg? what a wonderful wedding
present that will be! May you live to
finish 1000 paintings and may every
one be better than the previous! :)

No, I promise that this is my first acrylic painting. I've tooled around with watercolor and sketched a bit, but never painted with acrylic. thanks

Excellent, it turned out really well. You got talent!!! :)

On 2007-05-02 05:33, VampiressRN wrote:
Excellent, it turned out really well. You got talent!!! :)

Thank you! I'm doing some sketches of my next one and I'll keep you guys posted!

Unique idea and a fun bit of art. Thank you for sharing.

Hahaha...how cool! I'm actually gonna be proposing soon and that looks like an awesome way to do it....now all I gotta do is find a bunch of sea creatures and tell them the news :P