Learn how to Paint with Acrylics - Sponge Texture
Hi, I’m Mary Gallagher – Stout, and today we’re at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton Virginia, my studio is here, and we are creating a stony lion. We just put on a layer of gray, and now we’re go in with burnt sienna, a very diluted burnt sienna, and build up those lines again. Because like I said, we’re not working from a reference picture, we’re working from my memory and my memory put down the information and if we washed it away, we won't be able to get it back, so let’s build up those lines that are already existing. And I’m using a little, a number two round brush to draw in my sketch. So, I’m just really, really just building those lines back up, so I can put my lion where he needs to be. This is a darks piece, so I know I need to fill that I want some dark. And it’s really about having fun, and going with the flow. So there aren’t any mistakes, there’s just some new beginning, and that’s the way you really should look at your art work. Because, that’s usually the best paintings come from, from mistakes really. So I’m just gonna fill in this lines, and not sweating the small stuff. Just filling in my lion, this is his bottom lip here. So now that I can see my image again, I’m gonna be building up the stone. Typically, what happens when you’re building a stony lion, your image will start to fade away, and when that happens, you shouldn’t panic, because basically building this lion is just a repetitive process of building up the layers with depth and color, and lights and darks. So we’re gonna build more grit on top of this since we can see our lion again. And I’m gonna lay a darker tone of gray on top of our lion. And we’re just building up grit and texture on top of this lion, and if you notice that your image is getting a little weak, you really need to just go in with a little burnt sienna and retrace what you’ve already drew, okay. So, I’m gonna mix up that gray and that’s what we’re gonna do next. We’re gonna lay out a toning darker gray. So now I continue to put the light gray glaze on top, we’re gonna put on the burnt amber and paints gray. And that’s a toning darker layer that help build depth with the light and depth. And we’re just gonna continue, that’s what I’ve been doing, just layering and layering, and layering, and once image falls away, you’re gonna pull it out some more with some darker, I’m using paints gray to pull it out as I get farther in to it in the layers. So, you just gonna take your paints gray and burnt amber and it’s a very diluted solution. It’s probably 10 to 1, it’s a lot, a lot of water. And you’re gonna get a sea sponge, and you’re just gonna put it on, very hap hazardly. We’re just building texture like a stony texture because we are making stone. And just want to have it on there, give it a nice variety. And any sea sponge will work, and you just wanna make sure that you’re not making, like a uniform pattern, you want it to be kind of all over the place. Because things in nature aren’t symmetrical, they just kind of, you know, everywhere. They’re natural. So, and now I’m pushing in it a little bit, I’m wiping it in, not too much. But I’m just kinda folding and blending as I’m rolling it on there, you can even roll it if you want. There are many ways that you can do it. I’ve rolled it. And we’re just gonna keep layering, and layering this stony color until we’re happy with how the stone looks. And again that’s all your own preference, and don’t expect to get it perfect the first try, it takes layers, and layers, and layers to build the type of stone that you’re looking for. So, don’t give up, coz you don’t think it looks like mine. It takes time and layers. So, if you’re not happy with it, just put on another layer and just add a little bit more movement with your sponge or some more spattering with your stiff brush. Coming up next, shadows and highlights.