Starting a Painting

When I start a new painting I always paint a thin wash over the canvas, toning the canvas. This prevents tiny white dots of canvas from showing through the finished piece. It also makes that big white newly stretched canvas much less intimidating. If using acrylic paint, thin your paint with water, grab a big brush and cover up all of that white. Let it drip or be uneven. If working with oil paints you can use acrylics for toning or you can use oil paints thinned with solvent. You can paint with oils over acrylics, but cannot paint with acrylics over oils. I most often paint with oils but will often use an acrylic wash to tone my canvas because it dries so quickly. A warm, brownish red or orange is the traditional color used for toning a canvas. However, you can use whatever color you please.

Next, I roughly "draw" the major shapes and elements of my composition with thinned paint. By this point I have already planned my painting in a sketchbook and I use that as a guide. I never use a pencil. I am sure many artists do. To me there is just something unnatural about pencil on canvas, like nails on a chalkboard...

 

As you can tell from the image above, I am working from the finished painting on the wall. It is a view from my studio window. I have been exploring painting the same composition several times...but that is a post for another day...

Next I paint in the whites or what will be the lightest areas. I am still using thinned paint. The goal is to lay the colors out.

 

This is as far as I got in my first session, about 2-3 hours. I will continue by painting in other areas of color with thinned paint. I want to see the painting come together and determine what colors should go where. It is important to see the painting as a whole and not finish a small area completely before moving on to another area.

 

Is this the only way to paint? Of course not. But it works for me. You will soon discover what works for you.

 

Choosing a Palette

Before you can paint you will need supplies. A palette is something you cannot do without. There are a number of options for you to choose from, simply follow these guidelines.

• No smaller than 9" x 12"
• White bottom
• Flat
• Sealable

What you DO NOT want is one of those little round white plastic palettes with little spaces for each color. You need a large flat area for mixing colors.

As you can see, I have several palettes going at a time.

You can choose to put paint directly on the palette and scrape off with a razor blade to clean, or put paint on another surface (such as palette paper) inside the palette and throw the paper away when used.
If money is not an option, I suggest the Masterson-Sta-Wet-Premier-Palette, whether you plan to use oils or acrylics. This will keep your paints moist. If using acrylics, use the special paper and sponge to keep paints wet. If working with oils, you can skip the sponge and special paper and use it for the super airtight seal. I like to line mine with freezer paper (so much cheaper than palette paper). Simply tape it down and throw it away when you are finished with it. You can buy Reynolds Freezer Paper at the grocery store in a big roll for $5.00. The Masterson palettes can be found online and in town at Michael's for about $20.

You can purchase a Pyrex or metal cake pan with a lid to use as your airtight container. This is not as airtight and the bottom needs to be painted white (with acrylic) or used with white palette paper. But it is a good option. The cheapest cake pans I have seen go for about $11, maybe less if there is a coupon or sale.

The least expensive option is a piece of wood or sturdy cardboard. Paint it white or tape down some freezer/ palette paper. Cover with a long sheet of heavy clear plastic such as visqueen, which can be found at the hardware store. Staple the visqueen to the wood so that it covers the surface, making it wipeable and smooth. Make it long enough to fold over the wet paint to keep it from drying out.

You can also use clear plastic photo frame boxes or a piece of plexiglass as a palette and store it in as airtight container.

Some artists simply wipe or scrape away their paint after each use instead of saving it. I personally like to save time and paint and keep mine covered. You need to find what works for you.