People have been expressing themselves through painting for thousands of years. Even the cavemen showed great hunts or other events with paints made from berries and plants. There just seems to be an innate need to show others our thoughts, feelings, and ideas through pictures. The phrase “ A picture is worth a thousand words” is so very true.
With colors and design you can express every emotion you feel. Whether it is a woman
in a garden waiting for her lover or an old barn set in a field of wild flowers, the subject
bring memories and feelings to the fore front of the viewer's mind. All of this being
accomplished on a blank canvas with paint.
There are some basics the beginning artist should know. Although you may have been
sketching and drawing for years, the first time you pick up a brush it will seem foreign to
you. This is fine. You will become very familiar with each of the brushes and the strokes
they can make. They will soon be as comfortable in your hand as the charcoal pencil
you use on the sketch pad.
Paints can add style and creativity to an art piece. A single tear drop on the face can
take on a totally new dimension by adding color. Paints allow you to do this with ease.
The types of paint you use will also allow you to be more creative.
Many artists use the oil paints for extend projects. The oils do not dry as quickly and
can be rejuvenated with a little turpentine or mineral spirits. This allows the artist to
continue the project another day. The brushes you use with an oil painting must be
cleaned extremely well. If you allow them to sit in the cleaning solution they can loose
their shape. This means you may not be able to use certain brushes to achieve a
particular brush stroke.
When the artist uses acrylic paints, the dry time is extremely fast. Many times, a project
which is being done in half an hour or so will be done with acrylic paints because of the
ease of use. Clean up with soap and water is a quick task. The brushes wash up
quickly and cleanly. Allowing them to dry either on a flat surface or standing with
bristles up will keep their original shape.
The best thing to do when first beginning canvas painting is to experiment. Try using
oils. Become familiar with acrylics. You will eventually choose which medium you
prefer to work with. By playing with each, you can determine how the paints mix, get a
feel for how they flow onto the canvas, and become familiar with blending. These are
all important for the novice artist to consider.
Another factor is the type of canvas you will want to use. There are stretch canvases,
rolled canvas, canvas boards, and canvas mats. Each one can be used for different
styles, artwork, and even paints. Which one you use will be determined by which one
you feel more comfortable painting upon.
The information can become overwhelming when you start painting on canvas. Getting
to know the terminology will help clear some things up a little bit.
Here are some terms we will be using in this book.
Abstract – abstract art depicts the subject by using form and color. You may see a
resemblance to the original piece. However, the subject is generally represented in
more geometric shapes than the natural setting.
Accent – Giving exceptional detail to a certain object in the painting to bring attention to
it.
Acrylic – A type of paint which dries quickly. It can easily be cleaned up with mineral
spirits.
Alla Prima – Meaning “at the first” in Italian, this phrase means the painting is completed with just one sitting.
Cool colors – Colors associated with the cold such as blue.
Color Wheel – Any full spectrum circular diagram which represents the relationships of colors.
Composition – The arrangement of the elements in an art piece.
Medium – The type of pain being used to create a work of art. It can also mean the binder, usually an oil.
Palette – The painter's board where colors can be mixed and and different hues can be created.
Perspective – Being able to reproduce the same height, depth, and distance perception in a two dimensional medium that the human eye would perceive.
Pigment – The colored substance created by natural elements and synthetic ones which are mixed with certain binders to create paints.
Primary colors – A color which can not be created by mixing other colors. The only three primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. With these three all other colors can be created. (White is not a color. It is the absence of color. Black is the combination of all colors.)
Secondary colors – Any color which can be created from mixing the primary colors, such as violet, green, and orange.
Warm colors – Hues which represent warmth such as orange, red, yellow.