- Hi, welcome back. I'm glad to see you today. Today I thought we'd do a black canvas, and we'll turn it into a painting that will look like it's
done on white canvas. So I'll have them graphically
run all the colors across the screen that you need to do this painting, and they'll come across in the same order that I have them on the palette, starting with a white and working around. And let's go head up to the canvas here. Now this is a black canvas. It's been painted with
a flat black acrylic and allowed to dry and then I've covered the entire canvas with a thin, even coat of thalo blue. Now you could use Prussian blue for this, but I'm in a bright mood today, so I thought I'd put thalo blue in there to just make it sparkle and really play. Let's start with a little
bit of titanium white, and we'll just work a
little into the bristles, and let's go right up here in the sky and just start playing. (paintbrush scrapes) And you can see already that white picks up the blue color that's on the canvas and beautiful, beautiful colors. They just happen automatically. Just let them happen. I love these black canvases. There we go. And you can make the sky
as bright as you want it or leave it dark. If you want it brighter,
just add a little more white and just work it in. It'll get brighter and
brighter and brighter. (paintbrush scrapes) Ok. And that's a super fast little way to make a very effective sky, just applying a little
white on the canvas. Ok, and we clean the brush. A little odorless paint thinner on it. There we go (paintbrush thuds) That is a fun part. Now maybe, maybe, maybe, you want to put a little cloud in the sky. It's very simple. Put a little titanium
white on the fan brush, just work it into the bristles. Ok, let's go up here and very easily, very easily, just take the corner of the brush and you drop in a happy little cloud. I just want to show you how to make one. And in your world, you put
as many clouds as you want. Ok, then we'll take the large brush and we want to blend the bottom out and not touch the top. Very lightly. Little tiny circles. Tiny little circles. Don't touch the top yet. There. (paintbrush thuds) Ok. Then we'll lift that up and very lightly blend it. Very gentle. And that's a super, super
nice easy little way to make beautiful little clouds. I think we'll have another one right here. And once again, in your painting, you put as many clouds as you want. I just want to show you how to do them, and how many clouds you have is up to you. There. Ok, and we'll fluff it up a little bit, and then just very gently, very, very gently, blend it. Ok, now then. Let's build some happy little
background trees back here. And I'll use this old large brush, still has a little bit of blue on it, and I'll got right into some cad yellow and sap green. Cad yellow and sap green. We'll just make a beautiful green color. Just load a little bit into the bristles, and just pull it through the paint there. See? Ok, let's go up to the canvas here. And let's put a few little
happy tree indications just a little way back here. Now all we need's a light color because we already have
all this dark on canvas, so we can get away with it. Now I'm going to begin
adding little colors to the brush, like yellow ochre, a little Indian yellow, without cleaning the brush. Just sort of play these
colors back and forth. Let's put a little burnt
umber in there, too, that will tone it down some. There. You can make these colors as
dull or as bright as you want. (paintbrush scrapes) Yeah. A happy little indication. We're not looking for a lot of detail yet, just little indications back in here, and as many of them as you want. And layer them, that's what makes them look deep and gives the painting depth. Make layers and layers and layers of them. Let's add a little bit
more of the brown color. A little burnt umber and maybe right there. And let some of this sky show through, just let it show through, let it shine. (paintbrush scraping) There's one. That one's a little brighter. Gives it a little more contrast. Put a little darker one in front, and you just play black and forth with your colors, light against dark, dark against light. Ok, let's go to the other
side here for a minute and drop in a couple of quick
little trees and bushes. Just let them fall off your brush. And there's many, many,
many ways to use this brush. This is just one. And I try to show you numerous ways to use the same equipment, and then you pick out the way you like, or use them all. We just want to give you ideas here. Ok. Put a little alizarin
crimson in the color. We'll make a nice bright one right there. There we go. Ok, and that color gives us a nice little
background indication. See, you mix all these colors on the brush and then all kinds of beautiful
things happen automatically. I'm going to use a little
bit of paint thinner and go right into some burnt umber and some Van Dyke brown. And I've thinned the paint down. And let's go up here, and let's put a few little trunk
indications here and there. Just here and there. There we go. And remember our golden rule: A thin paint will stick to a thick paint, so if your paint doesn't
want to stick too well, thin it a little bit, then it'll stick. We always start with a very firm paint, then we can add thinner paints on top without becoming a mud mixer. It's easy to become a mud mixer. And we've all done it. By gosh, I've done it
probably more than anybody. There we go. And just however many of these you want, just let them drop off your
little script liner brush. There. The script liner brush
has very long bristles. It holds a lot of paint. Ok. While I've got that going, tell you what, let's do maybe there's one that's in the foreground right here. Let's just let him come
right down like that. This one's a little
closer, a little bigger, a little more detailed. And I'm going to add a
little tiny bit of white onto my brush so I can
just put the indication of a little highlight here. I don't want much, we're too far away to
have a lot of detail. Just want a little
detail, not a great deal. There. And we'll put some leaves
on that little tree later. Ok, now I'm going back to
the two and a half inch brush and just play it through
some of the different colors. Cad yellow, Indian yellow, yellow ochre, and then I'm just going to begin tapping. (paintbrush taps) Just tapping, then we'll put some nice soft
little areas back in here. Very quiet, very quiet, very soft, gentle. There. A nice place for the
little birds to live in and bunny rabbits and squirrels. There we go. (paintbrush tapping) Ok. And this is one of the
easiest ways there is to make very soft little grassy areas. Ok. And you can just do them
layer after layer after layer and let them go. Maybe let's take a fan brush here and a little bit of the burnt umber, just a small amount. And I'm going to go right up in here, and maybe this little ground area showing, just sort of scrub this. A little yellow ochre right
on the same old brush. And just very lightly. (paintbrush scrapes) There we go. Just here and there, and maybe this. Maybe it's an old dried creek bed. Maybe when it rains, the water
comes down through there. Probably, maybe it's a little path. Maybe it's where the deer comes. There we go. Just makes the painting a
little more interesting. Ok. Now, let's go back to our liner brush, a little paint thinner, some Van Dyke brown, burnt umber, and maybe, maybe, maybe, yup, there's a tree-it lives right there. Right there. And we'll put him in a basic trunk shape. And you could do this with a knife. Fan brush. Today I'm just using the liner brush. There we go. And drop in a few more little branches. Touch a little white just so there's a highlight. There. That's blended right into the dark. (water splashes) Ok, let's go back to our big brush now, and let's put some leaves on this tree. We'll start out here, looks
like a cad yellow and sap green and some burnt umber. Cad yellow, sap green, burnt umber, all mixed together. Let's go up to the canvas and just drop in some basic little ideas where we'll have some leaves, and all I'm doing is just
barely touching the canvas. Just using the tip of the brush. Just barely touching. Just let all these little things just fall out of your brush. There we go. Maybe there's some that live right here. Now, I want to highlight those so they stand out a little more, so I'll go into some cad yellow right on the tips of our brush, and then we can just, just touch it here and there. Just enough to highlight it. There we go. There. Just barely, barely touch the canvas. Just sort of let these
float right off of it. And wherever you think they should be. Ok. And then a super way to make a very effective little tree and it does good things for you in here. Ok, while we got this brush going, let's go over here and we'll do the same
thing to another tree. I'm going to use Van Dyke brown, sap green, and a little bit of the cad yellow. Let's just drop in some little
leaf indications, same way. Same way. If it's working, let's keep it going. And practice these little things. You'll find the more
you practice anything, the easier it gets. If there's a secret, it's practice. Ok. A little bit of the yellow. And just drop that right in. Just a few little
highlights here and there. There. Isn't that quick? It's a very effective little tree. Ok, let's decide where
his foots is down here, just cut him off. And we can bring this right on down. Same colors. Sap green, cad yellow, Indian yellow, yellow ochre. And mix them on the brush so you get a multitude
of things happening. Ok, this is just a dry clean brush. If you want to make it darker, all you have to do is just tap on it and it'll also soften it
to make it much quieter. And you can just bring it all together. (paintbrush scrapes) There, see? You need that dark area
so the light shows. You need the dark, you need the dark. A lot of times when you're painting, it begins to work so nice that you get carried away and you cover up all your dark areas, and then, all of a
sudden, nothing will show. It doesn't stand out. You need dark against light. Ok, tell you what let's do, maybe, maybe there's a happy
little pond down here. I like water. I'll go right into some titanium white with a two and a half inch brush. Figure out where you
want your water to be, and I want it to be right there, and maybe it runs back in there. We don't know where exactly. That's picking up all that beautiful, beautiful
thalo blue that's underneath, the green that's in the grass. All these colors are just coming together. Don't fight them, don't fight them. Let these things happen. Some of your most beautiful effects, in truth, they're accidents. But don't fight them. Let them happen. Look at that. Beautiful colors. Now, to give it the appearance of water, very lightly, just go across. These strokes need to be straight. No matter where your water goes, they still need to be straight. It's amost a tendency to
follow your water line, and if you do that, those strokes will go at an angle, and they'll bother you. Oh, you'll yell at me. (paintbrush scrapes) Ok, tell you what, let's take the old knife. I want to mix up some Van Dyke brown and some burnt umber. I'm going to put a little bit of permanent red into it. So we got Van Dyke brown,
burnt umber, permanent red. There we go. Ok now, let me grab the old fan brush. And we'll take the fan brush and load a lot of paint into it, and let's put some dirt
under our grassy areas here. And all we're going to do
is just scrub in some dirt. Just like so. And this is where you have to start making all those big decisions. Where does land and water meet and come together? There. See, let that come out right through there. And this is a very
effective and simple way to make some nice, nice land areas. Ok, without cleaning the brush, I'm going to go right
into some yellow ochre and some titanium white, right on the brush, and then just barely, barely touch. Just let it bounce and play. Let's add a little
permanent red to that, too. And mix these on the brush. Don't overmix them. You want all the different colors just sort of to happen. Just let them happen. Let them have fun. There. Ok. There's some right back in there. There we go. Wherever you want these, just let them happen. (paintbrush scrapes) This is a super nice easy way to make very effective land areas, and look like little stones, and works easy. Ok, now we can bring some of these nice little grassy areas right down in here. Bring all this together. There we go. I put a tiny little bit of
paint thinner on my brush, so the paint's a little bit thinner, and it'll stick easier. There we go. Let's go over here on the other side. There we are. Just let these come right down. Bring them all together. (paintrbush scrapes) Ok, a little bit right in there. Ok. Ok. Then we'll take some magic white, add a little bit of brown, and, like so, take a little bit of paint
just to cut across it. Let's go right up in here. And just drop us in a
happy little water line. It's a good way to clean up the edges and bring everything together. Ok. Right across. I really hope you paint
along with me each week. I get so many cards and letters, and people are painting along, and it works. It really and truly works. There. (knife scrapes) And another nice thing
about painting, you know, it doesn't matter if you're eight or 80, it works just as well for young people as it does for us older people. Works just as well. There we go. Tell you what, let's do, let's have some fun. Let's have some fun. Let's build some trees. Let's make a tree. Right here. I'll still use the liner brush. I'll show you how to make a bigger tree just using the old liner brush. It holds a lot of paint
so you can do this, and I've thinned the
paint with paint thinner so I can come right down here and just let this tree keep
growing and getting bigger. And don't make all your trees straight. Let them bend. Trees grow in all kinds of ways. They're not just all perfectly straight. Every limb's not straight, every branch is not straight. It would be nice if
they did grow that way. The man at the lumber company
would be a lot happier. But they don't, they don't. There. And we'll take a little
bit of a light color, light brown, and just drop in some indications and some highlight here and there. (water splashes) Ok. Now, let's drop some happy
little leaves right up here. Get a little bit of this
same old dark color I had. Sap green, Van Dyke brown,
a little cad yellow. And we can drop in some basic little leaf shapes
just very quickly. Very quickly. We've got a lot of fun to make. Keep them loose, just relax when you do this. If you're real stiff, then the leaves on your
tree will look that way. Just be very loose and relaxed. Take a little big of yellow, put a little highlight on him. Got to let him sing in the sunshine. There. See now, when you look at this painting when it's finished, you wouldn't believe it
was on a black canvas. And wash off the old fan brush. (water splashes) Got to put some grass on
his little footsies there. Tell you what, let's do, let's go right into this. I'm going to take some thalo green, and we'll just mix this on the brush, some thalo green and alizarin crimson. That'll make a super,
super nice black color. Ok. Alizarin crimson and thalo green. And right, right here, right there. Oh, look at there. I know what you're saying: That Bob's messed up this time. Maybe. But I want a big tree right here. I want to show you how to
make a beautiful big tree. Let's give him a big foot. Maybe out through here. We'll just let it come right on down. Very dark. This is black. And this old big tree will
help push everything back and makes your perspective better. Alright. When we make a tree, we make a tree. We make a tree. Let's give him an arm, right there. Big, healthy arm. Strong tree. There. Now we need some highlights on that tree. And we can use the knife or the fan brush. Let's use the knife today. I'm going to take yellow ochre, just straight old yellow ochre, put a little bit of burnt umber into it. Pull it out flat, get a little bit right out here on the edge of the knife, ok? And let's just go right up in here. And all I'm going to do is just touch. Now, because you have that
little row of paint on the blade, when this bark dries, it'll have texture. It'll produce real shadows. You can feel it, strong. There. And when you're out
selling a painting or two, people will look at that, and whoo, you'll put a happy buck in your pocket. Happy buck. I added a little permanent red, a little permanent red, just the smallest little amount. Just enough to spark it up a little bit. Ok, like so. Ok now, let's put a little bit
of reflective color, and I'll use thalo blue. A little touch of white. And go to the other side and just give a little indication here of a little reflected light. Ok, just let this wander
right on up the tree. Maybe just a little under his arm here. There we go. Needs a little reflective
light under his arm. (knife scrapes) Ok, just let this come right
on down his little foots, big foots. He got a big foots. Now, back into the black color, and just that little roll of paint, and I'm just gonna begin touching and bring all this together. And you just keep tapping, letting this color work back and forth until you get it the way you want it. This is a very, very effective way to make a fantastic tree branch. Nice strong trunk, but it'll really, really
have texture to it. When it's dry, it is spectacular. A little touch of light right there. There we go. Ok, now we can take the
little grass on his foots, just a little here and there. (paintbrush taps) And I think we about have
a completed painting. Take a little bit of thin oil, a little color, sign it, and it'll be all done. And I really hope you've enjoyed this one. The old clock on the wall tells me I've got to leave you. But I'll be back next week. So, until then, happy painting. (slow music)
