Peaceable Liason

2007

• Please feel free to use the following as

inspiration or do your own, creative thing!

• Included are directions for a colorful abstract

painting to get you going as well as references

if you decide to continue working with acrylics

• The night is about having fun so don’t judge

yourself!

Thaneeya

McArdle

Metagalatic Factory

2007

Surface Reality

2004

Au Printemps

2003

Infini

2006

Mellifluency

2008

Atomic Jitters in Yellow

2013

Curious Chords

2006

Madame Koto

2006

Envisage

2006

Be as simple

or as intricate as you wish

Image courtesy of colorfulartgirl.blogspot.com

Add some black outlines around areas you wish to highlight

Image courtesy of Etsy.com

Add a

silhouette

overtop your

painting

Image courtesy Trulia.com

Mask areas of your canvas with tape prior to painting

Swirl Tree, Two Birds and Houses

Karla Gerard

Be more representative with your patterning to create objects and/or figures or use text. Print out

letters to use as templates from the computer. Dafont.com is a great free font resource

Restless

Claire DesJardins

Don’t be afraid to use the blank canvas as part of your art

Use black paint on a wet paintbrush or Sharpie marker to ‘draw’ overtop your painting

Images courtesy of madebynicole.com

Images courtesy of dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/

Be more expressive with your brush stroke. Use more water in your paints to thin and blend them together on the canvas.

On The Rocks

Nancy Stadlee

Use scrapbook paper, newsprint, magazine cutouts or small objects to collage onto your painting

• Brushes – there are a few different sizes and types. Experiment around with different ones to find what you like

• Canvas – Your choice of 10” x 10” or 11” x 14”

• Water jars for cleaning your brush between colors

• Palette for your paints

• Plastic knife for mixing

• Paper towel for wiping your brushes

• References – color mixing charts and step by step instructions

• Tape - for sectioning off areas of your painting

you want to remain as plain canvas

• Rubber blocks and printmaking gouges – for

making small stamps to make prints

• Misting Bottles – to make your paint dry a bit

more slowly

• Pencils and Paper for sketching

• Reference pictures, ideas or notes

• Rubber stamps or small objects to print on your

canvas (spools, combs, toy cars, buttons, etc)

• Templates or tracers (print then cut out and then

trace on to your canvas to fill in)

• Collage items – scrapbook papers, newsprint,

magazine cutouts, small objects to affix to the

canvas (I have adhesives you may use)

• Permanent black markers

• Acrylic paint dries to a plastic. You can layer it when it is wet or dry. Each achieves a different

effect.

• Protect brushes from drying with paint in them by placing them in water (if you’re taking a

break) or cleaning them by washing them in water (or soap and water when you’re done)

• Wash your brush when moving from one color to another unless you wish to be very free and

expressive – then go nuts and mix with reckless abandon!

• Mixing colors

– Use the plastic knife to dole out small bits of your paint to a blank section of your palette. Mix

completely to make a new color

– Start with your lighter color first then add small amounts of the darker color to it. You can always make

something darker. Example: Add red to white or add black to green

– Quick Color Theory

• Shade – adding black to a color

• Tint – adding white to a color

• Primary Colors- can’t be made with any other colors

– Red, Yellow, Blue

• Secondary Colors – made by mixing two primary colors

– Orange, Green, Violet

• Tertiary Colors – Made by mixing a primary with a secondary

– Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Green-Blue, Blue-Violet, Red-Violet

• If you find the paint on your palette stiffening, lightly mist it to keep the paint flexible

• If you find your paint is too thick, you can thin it with water. Also use water to get a more even

stroke from the brush

• Creating an organically inspired painting

• Requires no pre-planning. Completely intuitive

• Can be as intricate or as simple as you desire

Create a border around the edge of your canvas. If

you wish to paint the edges, go ahead and do so

Paint in your larger shapes first, working one color at a time. Remember, acrylics dry fast so if you don’t like what you do just let it dry and paint over

it!

Think about how your viewer’s eye will bounce from one shape to the next. Spread your shapes and colors all over the canvas to create balance

Add in smaller shapes overtop your larger ones. Keep your composition (how the art is laid out) in mind. Step back

every so often to get a fresh take on it

Add in patterns like dots, lines or shapes atop

your bottom 2 layers. Work one color at a time

over the canvas.

Continue adding patterns and shapes until you

feel the work (or you) is finished.

Turn the canvas upside down or on its’ side to get a fresh take on it

• Brushes: You ‘ll want a couple of sizes (small and larger) of each of the following:

– Pointed round brush (#4, #8)

– Flat (quarter inch and half inch)

– Liner (#0000, #1)

• Palette Knife: A plastic knife works well too!

• Paints: The traditional colors for acrylic painting are listed below. These are universal names across brands

– White: Titanium White

– Black: Mars Black

– Red: Primary Magenta, Quinacridone Red or Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light

– Yellow: Primary Yellow, Diarylide Yellow, Yellow Ochre

– Blue: Primary Cyan, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalocyanine Blue

– Orange: Pyrrole Orange or Cadmium Orange (you can makethis with yellow and red)

– Green: Permanent Green (you can make this with yellow and blue)

– Violet: Dioxazine Purple (you can make this with red and blue)

• Palette – a piece of plexi-glass, a plastic plate or waxed paper works well

• Surface to paint – canvas, paper, wood, cardboard, brick, stone,….the list goes on and on…..

• Water container and water – designate an old mason jar or large tin can for your water container. Make sure it is big enough to avoid toppling

over

• Paper towels or an old towel for wiping your brushes after cleanup

• A tote bag or toolbox to carry all your supplies – an old tackling box or plastic container is a great alternative to the expensive equipment the art

store sells

• Small containers for storing mixed colors you want to use again. Condiment containers with snap-on lips from the pizza place or old baby food

jars work the best!

• Collect – gather notecards, calendars, newspapers and magazines, business cards,

advertisements, leaves and flowers, fabrics, etc. Keep them in a folder for easy

reference

• Read – Check out websites or books on artist’s whose work you admire. Even local

artist’s often have great websites of their work to help inspire

• Draw – use a small sketchbook to draw something that comes to mind. Even a simple

doodle can become a gorgeous painting with some cool colors and patterns

• Search the internet – Google image search or search etsy.com with an object you’d

like to paint and be inspired by tons of different images

• Pinterest – A Pinterest search of anything you can think of will turn up some fantastic

inspiration

• Think of others – stuck on what to do? Think of creating for someone else and see what

is sparked. Oftentimes we are held back by our own ‘style.’

I’d like to take a few photographs of works in progress and

finished pieces and may post a few of the night to my blog

(http://inklingsartowork.blogspot.com) . If you are not

comfortable with it please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Camp Style

2006

Please let me know if you have questions tonight or

afterwards. I welcome comments to improve upon and

ideas for any other ‘art nights’ you want to see happen!

Email: caitlindevendorf@gmail.com

Picadilly

2006

Would you like another night of art? Let me know if you’re interested in learning how to zentangle –

creating repetitive patterns using artist pens and paper

Excerpt from Sketchbook

2013