I Tried This New Technique, You Won't Believe the Results I Achieved!

Lately I have been painting this photograph of my dog. What interested me at first was to paint the color of the shadows. These colors between blue, gray and orange that the coat has. But something that is also interesting is the backlighting effect that the photograph has. For that reason, YouTube suggested a video by James Gurney where he paints this glowing effect at sunset. The process is very simple. The key is in the base that he applies. Generally we are used to working on bases of a uniform color, but what James Gurney does that I find very interesting is to work on this base with a gradient. I'm going to start by painting this gradient with acrylic paints. I'm going to use acrylics because they dry faster and I can paint with oils on top without any problem. I start with a little lemon yellow to paint the center and gradually add a few drops of orange to it to create this smooth transition. After reaching the maximum orange I begin to add a few drops of Alizarin Crimson to redden the tone. At the end I added a bit of Burnt Umber for the darker shades. Then I trace my drawing with a white charcoal. It is a material similar to chalk but that I can sharpen to a fine point. But a prismacolor pencil can also work perfectly to trace our drawing. I have the primary colors on my palette: lemon yellow, quinacridone rose, phthalo blue, titanium white, and ivory black. In fact, I used very little blue. I might not put it on my palette. But I always like to have it there in case I need it. I start by working on the brightest parts. The most intense lights. And I leave the base color visible in the shadow area. I can mix a little Quinacridone Rose with Ivory Black to create a muted purple. This color helps me paint the deepest shadows. Something that has always been difficult for me is to invent characters, objects and settings in my paintings. If I don't see it and it's not in front of me, I can't paint it. It is very difficult for me. Because I see artists who can make whole scenes appear out of nowhere. That is a skill that they have practiced for a long time and that they master perfectly. But if I don't have a model in front of me, I don't feel capable of doing a painting. I could draw something, but the kind of realism that I like requires that I look at a model. The problem with that is that later you find yourself tied to the reference. In this case to photography. And one becomes a copyist of photographs. We do not feel capable of inventing or transforming the image we see and that can be detrimental to our creativity. This base of gradient colors has served as a guide to transform the colors of the photo and give it a different effect. In this case, accentuate the effect of a brilliant sunset. Color is actually the easiest to modify. As long as we keep the tonal value, the colors may vary and the paint will not look terrible. But if I wanted to transform this dog into a German Shepherd, then I wouldn't know how to do it without having the reference of a photograph or something where I can see it. There is nothing wrong with needing references to copy. Because I've heard some people say that if you don't know how to make up scenes and characters, then you can't draw. And that makes the students no longer want to look at photographs. Because they believe that seeing a model is not knowing how to draw. But that can also lead to a formula. If we need references, let's use references. But the thing is how we use them. Don't let them bind us to make a literal translation of the image. But use them as a starting point to do something of your own, something personal. This simple exercise can help us break away from the literalness of copying a photograph. I hope this exercise is useful for you. And try to free yourself from your references. Always leave a path for the imagination to flow. That would be all. Thanks for watching this video and see you on the next one.

Channel: César Córdova

Views: 1,087,041

Rating: 4.9459004 out of 5

Keywords: painting, art, oil painting, how to, painter, real time, maler, Dipingere, Peindre, curso de pintura, clase de pintura, pintura al óleo, acrílico, aprender a pintar, pintura, óleo, clases, curso, gratuito, como, como hacer, tutorial, cesar cordova, arte, manualidades, dibujo, dibujar, malen, Anstreichen, Verven, للصبغ, Mengecat, 作畫, pintar, 塗る, Peinturer, Рисовать, पेंट करने के लिए

Id: rsBhn8zkFn0

Length: 5min 55sec (355 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020