Practice Makes Presents
Or rather, presents make great practice.
I’ve been attempting to paint with acrylic more often, and learn art skills along the way – color theory, palette knife techniques, underpainting, etc. With a bit more skill than money, presents tend to be handmade from me. Hand-knit gloves, hand-sewn bags, sachets, etc. This year, that’s meant paintings. The first of which was an octopus for my dad, per his request.
This felt like my first real try at using acrylic paint thoughtfully. Inspired by a google image of an octopus, I tried to capture the reality while accepting the artistic license to make colors more vibrant, details more cartoonish. My dad was happy, and that was what really mattered.
Later the next summer, I took a two-day art class on painting with a palette knife. I had never done this before and was excited to try something totally new. With father’s day approaching I searched for a tutorial and landed on this sailboat painting. It was fun, took less than hour, taught me new techniques with the knife and made the perfect gift. While with the octopus I take some creative credit, this painting I would never try to profit from and the link to the tutorial is here.
Just looking at the sailboats makes me want to try another tutorial soon. Sometimes it can be daunting to come up with something on your own, and I think following a guide like this is a great way to get into the movements of painting. You never know what little techniques you may learn along the way.
Another gift for my dad, who may be running out of wall space as he encourages my painting, was this snook. A common fish in Florida where my family used to vacation.
This painting I undertook after attending an in-person art class with an open format. The class required specific paints though. Colors I’d been hearing about in Youtube videos, but didn’t know where to start with, like burnt umber and yellow ochre. I learned how to use a limited palette and how to “mix black”, again something I’d heard of doing but didn’t understand how to do (burnt umber and cobalt blue). I also used a flat brush for the first time, which is now my go-to. The final lesson that really helped with this painting was to paint dark first, and layer with light. Coming from more experience in water colors, this was the opposite of what I was used to, but once I saw how it worked it felt so obvious. There’s no way I would have gotten the scales effect without that tip.
Now I’m working on another gift. A late Christmas present for my uncle (baby H had his first fever this Christmas, so I have a good excuse) of a room from my grandparents’ house, now torn down. The room used to be an artist studio for the previous owner featuring curved walls and parts of an old river boat, hence being called the “boat room”.
My reference photo was mostly yellow and brown from an old zillow post, and while I started with that color palette, it started to feel pretty sad. Adding more red to the wood, green to the grays, and accepting a cartoonish inaccuracy of the image, I think, is helping it come to life a bit better. Most of this has been painted while standing with H attached in the wrap carrier, so final detail will be painted and mistakes corrected when I don’t have to worry about him swinging his head around suddenly.
All of this to remind myself, and share, that practice doesn’t have to feel pointless. It doesn’t need to stay hidden in a sketchbook nor lost under a pile of papers. Just because something isn’t going toward a greater project or won’t be sold, doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a little attention if you want it. While I still have much to learn in the ways of painting, I can see development across these projects and it makes me want to do more. What’s your next or current project, gift, sketch, or serious endeavor, and where is it heading?
Thank you for following along!
xx
Julianna Mackenzie
You May Also Like
