Assignment 1

Choosing a composition proved far harder than it ought to be! As I’d just been researching Chiaroscuro, I thought at first perhaps a portrait with direct light source but it quickly became clear that I couldn’t make my studio dark enough for the light to have effect (nor did I actually feel capable of painting a portrait). I tried an assortment of arty things but that felt too predictable.

Eventually I settled on a Still Life of some household objects that are connected by their colours, have a good range of heights and a variety of materials/textures to test me:

Paint choices: acrylic paint. Decided to just go for it and adjust colours as I go along. I don’t currently have any mediums to add to the paint for gloss, matt, texture etc as there’s too many options to choose from! I’m meeting a couple of more experienced OCA Painting students next week for some technical know-how.

Started with a rough dark background and sketched on the outlines in charcoal to get proportions correct. Added blocks of colour and left to dry.

Layers of colour added to reduce transparency, especially of mug and lemon. Several layers of glaze (colour with water) to apples to try and make them glossy and colours blended. Darker tones to right side of objects where less light. Decided that the upturned flower pot was too similar to background colour so changed that. Also tried to add the spots of light on the apples using white – that didn’t look right at all and I thought I’d messed it up as the white is too opaque to cover but I found that despite being dry I could scratch it off. Tried adding the texture pattern to the ‘cows’.

I found this really challenging but focussed upon knowing I could always repaint parts that weren’t right and I’m fairly happy with the final painting.

I found selecting the correct brush more tricky than I’d realised it’d be – I guess that’s a matter of practice. Small details eg the ears, were particularly hard and these are pretty messy. My hands can shake a bit making the fine lines of the flower stem and apple sticks rather wobbly. I think I’ve managed to capture the idea of 3D with the darker tones and shadows – perhaps more variation between the vertical and horizontal planes of the background would have helped ie make the objects look like they are sitting on a flat surface. The left hand cow tends to blend into the background as they are similar colours – a lighter area behind him could have helped this.

More critique in sketchbook:

A lot to be thinking about now with this and many lessons learnt.

Having another try at still life:

After seeing the ‘Coffee Pot and Lemon’ still life of Colin Pethick at Open Studios, I wanted to have another go. Such amazing reflections caught in the metal and table surface but on close inspection his brush strokes are very rough and nothing is totally blended. Love this style but it is oils rather than acrylics…

No coffee pots so I’m going for a white tea pot with lemon. I found that placing it on its side gave far more tonal variation and a more interesting shape. Added a few flowers to complete composition:

Same colour pallet as before but decided to make the background more vibrant so started with Vermillion, Copper and Gold paint. Tried to use brush strokes to define the difference between horizontal table and the vertical. Used chalk to add outlines and painted basic shapes. White, of course, being opaque, covers the background nicely but I can see I may struggle with the orange flower (lemon will hopefully be OK as there’s nothing behind it and the background colours can be used to add tones).

Detail of lemon: some white mixed in with yellows to cover background then dappled a darker tone to give texture. Finished with glaze of yellow. Photo is a bit blurred I’m afraid but I can see progress from the lemon in my first piece.

Shadows ground the objects well. Happy with lemon and white flowers. Orange flower is still too transparent and I needed to add more white to paint. Flower stems were very tricky again as my hand stook too much for an even line. I think I have a good range of tones in the tea pot but found it very hard to blend then properly.

Sketchbook critique:

Far from perfect but I’m pleasantly surprised to find that I’m learning from each try and can see improvement.

Uncategorized

Creative Watercolour course

Abstract scene using watercolours, drawing inks, leaves and cling film to give blending and impression of textures.

Thoroughly wet paper (which is masking taped to board)
Working quickly so it doesn’t dry – Add watercolour patches randomly, allowing them to blend together
Place leaves, ferns and grasses into paint – must be relatively flat, not thick glossy leaves, lots of texture good
Ensure paint is still wet, spray if necessary
Cover with cling film, press down and accentuate the crinkles and wrinkles.
using a pippette – drip drawing ink down under cling film and encourage it to run into the creases to give lines and veins by tipping paper
Allow to fully dry (a day or two) like this, add weight on top if needed to press cling film down
Remove cling film and leaves

when dried and cling film/leaves removed

Note how much lighter the watercolours are once dry – something I’ll need to remember and be aware of.

Love the textures, patterns and lines this has made. Could be useful as a background method. Also could try this on a portrait A3 paper, watercolour a blue cloudy sky in top half/third, then use this method for landscape on bottom part, leaves and foliage in foreground….

To be continued…..

Session 2:

For the Sky: Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Lemon Yellow. Use wet and allow to run.

Then quickly scrape back the paint off the tree trunks using a credit card.

Paint on bark using credit card – dark on one side, light the other.

Faint shadows on snow.

Paint in trees on the skyline, keep the line rough.

Splatter with white for snow

Exhibitions & Books

Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow: 8 Sept 19

I focussed on studying the variety of painting techniques that had been used, noting similarities/differences and new ideas to me:

L S Lowry, Seascape, Oil on canvas, 1950
close-up detail

I hadn’t seen a non-industrial scene by Lowry before so was drawn to this. Very limited pallet used. Calm sea and calm sky. Seascapes are usually painted with dramatic skies and sea, with colour and tonal variations, rocks, boats etc. None of that here, just the small changes in tone and scale as we go into the distance to the dark horizon line.

L S Lowry, VE Day 1945, Oil on canvas

More the typical Lowry: full of interesting details to study. His usual simple brushstroke people that do the job without fuss. Perspective changed to get all the view he wanted (eg side streets of bunting). Buildings fading out into the distance but enough to create impression of very industrial city scene. No tones or shadows, all detail kept to a minimum.

JD Furgusson, The Pink Parasol, oil on millboard, 1908
close-up detail

Millboard = Heavy duty cardboard made by pasting thin sheets of paper together to make a painting surface.

Broad brushstrokes that would appear rather rough on close inspection but stand back and it comes together wonderfully – note to self: remember to take a step back, don’t get fixated on fine detail.

Maximilien Luce, Landscape with Willow Trees, oil on canvas, 1887
Close up detail

Country lane in bold strong colours painted as irregular dots that blend together into a tranquil scene.

Paul Signac, Sunset Herblay Opus 206, oil on canvas, 1889
close-up detail

Again, painted as dots in a range of tones that seem to glow at the horizon. Trees reflected into still water.

Wyndham Lewis, Froanna, the Artist’s wife, Oil on canvas, 1937

Painted almost entirely in tones of red with a little blue for contrast. Gives it a very warm and calm feel. No fine detail of the fabrics.

Paul Bril, A Mountain Landscape with the Journey to Emmaus, Oil on copper, 1602

I have the feeling that I’ve seen some contemporary artists working on copper – something for me to investigate.

James Guthrie, Old Willie – The Village Worthy, oil on canvas, 1886

Great tones and blending for the skin showing his aging features in detail. Very direct gaze at the viewer giving him authority and presence. Almost photographic.

EAHornel, The Dance of Spring, Oil on canvas, 1892
EA Hornel, The Brownie of Blednoch, Oil on canvas, 1889

Same artist but very different atmospheres created by colour choice. Bright colours and sweeping lines show joy and life. Dark grey tones with hard to make out detail, just the white moon illuminating small parts give a scary, gloomy atmosphere.

Anthony Green, Embassy Lodge, oil on board, 1990

Another Anthony Green multi-perspective piece using cut-outs of board to accentuate the dimensions and angles of the room – I keep coming across these now. The tall triangular shape of the ‘floor’ gives the impression of expanded time as well as the size and grandeur of the room – it is based upon a memory of breaking his mothers best china.

Claude Monet, Vetheuil, Oil on canvas, 1880
Close-up detail

Light and airy impressionist painting. Apparently finished within a few hours – the close-up shows how the light brown base layer can be seen still.

Exhibitions & Books, Uncategorized

Drawn to the Valley Open Studios: Friday 30 August

Artists of the Tamar Valley opened their studios. Highlights for me were:

Roger Pyke (Callington), acrylic and mixed media incorporating relevant text (sometimes on edge of canvas). Uses photographs of local areas – perhaps projecting onto canvas? Artist not available to ask. Lots of textures.

Oonagh Glancy (Callington), sugarlift and ink. Spoke to artist at length – uses Drypoint etching initially for her main black outlines and then uses a cardmaking press (cheap) to print several copies. She then adds detail in ink making each copy slightly different. Also uses ‘Sugarlift’ and ‘Aquatint’ processes (see this site for what they mean: http://www.blogmuseupicassobcn.org/2015/07/sugar-lift-aquatint-by-pablo-picasso-the-delicacy-of-the-etching-of-pictorial-effects/?lang=en ) Also uses a quicker and easier method of etching using sheets of acetate which she scratches her marks onto (rather than metal plate) and then prints off those – only works for a couple of prints though.

Joely Swift (Callington), stitched felted silk. Beautiful landscapes with textures eg the rock columns which stand out. Irregular shaped supports = more organic.

Paul Jeffries (Callington), mixed media. Rather muted colours for me but the textures are magnificent – carefully placed and work so well for the rough rock cliff faces.

Rosemary Wood (Callington), mixed media. What was astonishing was her vast range of materials and techniques used – textiles, collage, resin, drawing, printing. She said she loved to play and didn’t want to settle on one style.

Jackie Lowman (Gunnislake), mixed media. Uses acrylic inks because she loves ‘their jewel like colours’ (Jackie Lowman). I agree, I love the vibrancy they give and found myself constantly returning to use them in Drawing 1. Colour was the main focus of some of her work – woodland silhouettes over sunsets of vibrant reds and oranges. Others were landscape scenes incorporating found seeds, leaves, bark etc. And this mystical piece of ruined buildings high in the forest – imagine your own dream story for this one!

Allie Cole (and other artists at Calstock). Prints of organic shapes, very clean and neat. Some including fabric (as above). Also Hot knife fabric cutting being demonstrated – looks like a soldering iron but with a point end – uses it to join coloured silk fabric strips together to make abstract arrangements to put on cards. Quick line will melt fabric enough to join together, slow line will cut through ie can cut shapes through some layers and leave lower layers.

Colin Pethick (Gunnislake), oils. Colin has recently been on Portrait Artist of the Year (Channel 4) so it was great to have the opportunity for a proper chat with him in his studio. He had just begun a 1 hour portrait in oil and the likeness, especially around the eyes, was already there. He says to always use the largest pallet possible so that you’re not tempted to skimp on putting out the paint. Rarely rinses brush, just wipes quickly on rag. Uses large brush strokes, doesn’t fuss over them, if they’re not right it’s easy to go over. Uses swipe of finger to soften paint when too bold. He runs classes on fridays in this studio and has spaces! Definitely giving that a go.

Large portrait of a local fishman above doorway. Skin really looks weathered and textured. He has painted the lower eye lids watery – makes them so real.

Absolutely love this ‘simple’ still life of coffee pot and lemon. Great study of the reflections in the metal and also on the table. I need to find a coffee pot and have a go at this.

Part 1

Research point: Chiaroscuro

Chiaro = light in Italian

Scuro = dark in Italian

The use of a bright light source to show great contrasts between light and dark tones. Creates a focal point of that main object and gives depth.

Figure 3
Figure 4

Figure 1 = Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus. Light source from upper left side leaving foreground figure in darkness and making the central focus the two animated figures to the right.
Figure 2 = Tintoretto, Portrait of two Senators (1570). The light source here is used to define the folds in the rather dark robes and gives weight to the fabric.
Figure 3 = Tintoretto, self portrait. Light source is only slightly to right beside artist/viewer and means that the tones and shadows on the face are almost symmetrical. Lightest tones are on forehead and nose which makes them the focus along with the dark eyes.
Figure 4 = Peter Rubens, Old Woman with a basket of coal. This is, I suppose, a realistic scene with the only light coming from the fire on a dark evening. Focus becomes the old womans weathered and textured face as she stares at the light.

Figure 5 = Joseph Wright of Derby, The Philosopher Giving that Lecture on an Orrery (1762). Almost photographic in quality. The light in this case is the ‘sun’ within the animated universe. It gives most detail to the children nearest the center but also extends into the far room. Foreground figure is just a silhouette.
Figure 6 = Rembrandt, Self portrait (1657). Small light source that only illuminates a small area of his face and doesn’t reach the sides/hair/lower face. Focus becomes the dark eyes within the textured forehead and nose area.

Figure 7
Figure 8

Figure 7 = Vic Harris, self portrait in oil (2015). Difficult to do a self portrait that isn’t looking directly at you – I guess he used a photograph. Highlights the folds in his black shirt and detail in his dark hair that wouldn’t be seem otherwise. Interesting pose.
Figure 8 = Valkenburg, Chiaroscuro (2005). Strong light used here to change the atmosphere to one that’s creepy and scary. Not a wide range of tones this time – mainly black and glaring light tone with not much between. The spots of light reflected in his eyes make them really bore into you.

Bibliography (all websites access on 27/8/19)

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/chiaroscuro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKwoCkY4Goc

http://www.widewalls.ch/chiaroscuro/

http://www.drawpaintacadamy.com/chiaroscuro/

http://www.artble.com/artists/caravaggio/more_information/style_and_technique (fig 1)

http://www.oldmasters.academy/old-masters-academy-art-lessons/rembrandt (fig 6)

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/21-facts-about-rembrandt (fig 6)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wright_of_Derby (fig 5)

https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/vicharris/artwork/58833 (fig.7)

Study Days and Courses

OCA SW Study Day: Maiden Newton 17th August 2019

Eleven students attended from various disciplines and study levels making it a very all round informative afternoon. (3 x new textiles students, 1 x foundation drawing, 3 x POP1 (including myself), 2 x creative arts level 2, 1 x completing photography level 3, 1 x painting level 2)

Zotero – Harvard referencing software supported by OCA. Recommended by a couple of students who said it is easy to use (several helpful videos) and does all the referencing for you in the correct way. Definitely something for me to investigate as I’ve been wondering if my referencing is up to scratch especially as I progress further.

Sending work for Formal Assessment – refer back to confirmation email when registered for requirements. Remember to guide assessors through parts you want them to see showing progression and learning. Use colour coding. GDrive will arrive end August – complete thoroughly.

I showed my progress so far in POP1 and the tonal studies on White and Dark Grounds. Questions I asked:

What mediums should I be looking into? eg gloss medium for bottle glass to make shiney and contrast with pepper? A= There are 100s to choose from and it’s personal choice. Try: Zest-it, Galkyd by Gamsol (makes drying quicker), Open mediums will help Acrylics to blend, Flow medium, Liquin Gel (for oils) to help flow…. the list is endless. Sue volunteered herself and another experienced student to spend an afternoon showing me their own stocks and what each does – fabulous!
Would they advise using Oil paints as well as Acrylics (I don’t have any currently)? Would I need expensive ones or will cheap do? Yes, try out both but remember they have different qualities. Oils are easier to blend but can take ages to dry. Cheap oils are fine to use – try Georgian Oils which a couple of students use. Also Artizan Oils by Windsor and Newton, which are water based oils (can wash brushes with water rather than turps and doesn’t have strong chemical smells).
Canvas v Paper? Diane used canvas for the important pieces but general consensus was that quality thick paper was more appropriate – look into ‘Canvas Papers’ and special Acrylic or Oil papers
What about watercolour? Sue said the reason watercolour isn’t mentioned is that there used to be a separate unit just for watercolour but that has been withdrawn now – fine to also include it when appropriate but remember it has different qualities/workings.

Part 1

Working on different coloured grounds

Tonal study on white ground

This is the composition I chose. Sketches in pencil and charcoal are in sketchbook. As we have to use just 2 colours plus white, I have chosen violet (which is a dark tone) and viridian green. I’m going to paint the pepper as if it’s a green one rather than red, just focussing on the tones. Light was coming from behind on both left and right sides.

I always find incorporating a simple background tricky but decide to go with a curtain and table cloth.

I found this very hard but realised that it was improving with each layer of paint so persevered! I took this photo as I find it easier to spot corrections needed from a photo rather than the original for some reason.

Glass bottle has no form/depth to it. Shape and colour variations are ok but I think it’ll benefit from adding more layers of transparent.
Don’t like the background curtain at all. I think it’s my choice of colours that’s the problem – the violet acrylic looks very dark on the pallet but over the white ground it is now far too ‘violet’ and rather distracting.
Struggling to make the white table cloth look like a cloth…
Plums are ok and I shouldn’t really fiddle any more
Pepper is recognisable though a little streaky with brush marks
Shadows and dark tones around base of fruits ok

Worked on correcting the above things and content with this first attempt now. Bottle is much better having had several more layers of trans green and the white ground shows through to give it depth. More layers of trans violet on curtain too – still don’t like it but it’s better. Reworked the tones on the pepper so that it is less streaky.

Tonal study on dark ground

I’m liking these colours much better on the dark ground – the violet is far less vibrant and more natural.

Table cloth is 3 layers of white and the dark ground is still showing through. This works well for giving some tonal variation to the cloth which I didn’t have in the previous piece. Worked to keep brush strokes in appropriate direction and not too visible
The glass bottle looks vaguely rounded and 3D with the white highlights really showing up against the dark ground. And the layers of transparent viridian give it depth. I think the addition of some gloss medium or something would help make the glass reflective and glossy – perhaps it’s time to invest in some of these mediums I’ve read about.
The plums are not good – too much light tone and not enough tonal variation and colour
Pepper looks a bit flat, shape of bottom is too straight, shadows not dark enough

Reworked the plums by coating in violet which stays vibrant as it’s over the white. Added some tonal variation but less than before and finished with white highlights – better.

Mixed together the viridian and violet to get a dark tone for bottom of pepper and altered shape slightly. Made all the shadows darker directly under the objects.

I’m surprised to say that I feel working on the dark ground has given a much better result. Having the dark ground to show through additional layers is very useful and the opaque white is effective in turning any areas lighter. With the white ground, I found it hard to add those dark tones – the white of the ground was very dominant and turned successive layers into vibrant transparent colours eg curtain. A very valuable exercise.

I’m pretty satisfied with both of these as first attempts with acrylic – lots of practice and experience is needed but I’m feeling more confident that I’ll get there eventually.

Part 1

Monochrome Studies

It wasn’t until I had completed this exercise that I understood what it was about! The light grey includes white and is therefore Opaque, and the dark tree colour is a transparent wash.

It was incredibly tricky painting the negative spaces. It was hard thinking about where each branch was and I managed to paint over a few. My white acrylic is obviously rather poor quality as it took 2 coats to make it semi opaque – you can still see through to the background and clearly see all the brushstrokes as well. However, now that it’s finished I find that I prefer it to the first one. There is far more life and movement and seeing the brushstrokes adds to this effect. The trans on opaque is rather boring and lifeless. It’s also interesting to note how the branch shapes vary between the two with the lines being more angular on the second (tendency to leave a straight edged gap for the twigs rather than small bends and flicks).

Interesting how the background brushstrokes are so clearly visible on the second tree. I ran the strokes horizontally not thinking at all about the effect. This gives the tree trunk some weight and a suggestion of being rounded. I think vertical strokes would have elongated the tree and given the suggestion of height – an interesting point to consider for futures pieces that the brush stroke direction for the ground could still matter.

I didn’t do the fading in tone for the outer branches and twigs – I found it tricky enough without that extra complication. Next time.

Note to self that I must get a quality fine hair brush.

I would have automatically gone for painting the tree onto the background. This exercise has definitely open my eyes to the fact that it doesn’t have to be done like that and painting the negative spaces could add required movement and life – don’t just do the obvious!

Part 1

Transparent and Opaque

Tonally graded wash and Overlaying washes

Violet and Ultramarine Blue Acrylics

With the wet on wet washes, the colours have blended together irregularly and patchy. There is some distortion where the water has gathered a little. The blending is a little more streaky than on the overlaid glaze versions.

The wet on wet method would be better for skies or water for example where the grading isn’t totally regular and there are patches of one colour or other dominating. The glaze method would be better for anything with regular grading, something man-made such as fabric, it’s far easier to control.

Colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel (eg Yellow with Green or Orange, Red with Orange, Blue with Green) are called Analogous Colours and they blend well together though could get too intense so best if one colour dominates. Those that are opposites (eg Red and Green, Blue and Orange) are called Complimentary Colours and these work very well together with the colours really popping out. The Yellow and Ochre are too close on the wheel and look rather boring together.

All the colours physically blended together well although it’s hard to control how wet the paper gets with wet-on-wet and this makes it streaky and patchy.

https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/

Glazing is far easier to control and gives a nice regular grading. I’m making the wet on wet too wet and it’s pooling.

Mark Rothko:

https://www.artsy.net/series/how-to-be-an-artist/artsy-editorial-mark-rothko-artist

https://www.tate.org.uk/search?type=artwork&q=seagram+murals

The Seagram Murals are 8 huge works which hang in The Tate in the ‘Rothko Room’. Four are titled ‘Red on Maroon’ and four ‘Black on Maroon’. Viewing these online is totally underwhelming as both the size (they are all several metres square) and colour are completely lost – in fact the images on The Tate website show no contrast between colours on my screen so I started off very confused over their attraction. Thankfully other websites show better images and the beautiful vibrant red ‘frames’ blur as they meet with maroon.

Also used this style of layering colour for many other paintings in various colours, some of which work well together and others that seem to clash.

Opaque Colour Mixing

Paint is termed Opaque when you can’t see through it to the layers below. Some acrylics are more opaque than others eg titanium white and cadmium red.

For this exercise I’m adding white, rather than water, to the colours to try to replicate the grading washes from previous exercises. This should make them Opaque rather than transparent.

Left images = transparent (with water), Right images = Opaque (with white)

Cadmium Orange to Brilliant Red. Pretty close match although Opaque is slightly pinker.

Cadmium Orange to Ultra Marine Blue. The orange is far more vibrant when opaque and rather washed out when transparent. Didn’t manage to replicate colours.

Viridian Green to Brilliant Red. Again the red is a little pink and the green+red+white seems to make grey.

Viridian Green to Medium Yellow. Pretty close grading although transparent green is far more washed out – my fault for adding too much water.

Ultramarine Blue (on own). Very different – the blue changes colour completely (to be more vivid and bright) when white is added.

Viridian Green to Ultra Marine Blue. Greens match well but, as above, the blue is a different colour when opaque.

Burnt Sienna to Medium Yellow. Very close match in colours.

Burnt Sienna (on own). Close match although hard to get lighter tones with white added – I needed to use far more white and less B.Sienna.

A very useful exercise for me – I hadn’t really appreciated the difference between transparent and opaque mixes in acrylics and just how different they can look. The opaque mixes would make great bases for the initial layers. Generally I would think adding transparent mixes towards the end would lift a painting and make it more vibrant and add depth. Opaque can be used to change the colour of lower levels if they are not as wanted, where as transparent can only be used to make subtle changes as lower layers will be seen through.

Part 1

Basic Paint Application

Getting to know your brushes – see sketchbook

I know absolutely nothing about brush types, well about painting in general really, so started by googling brush types and identifying what I had/needed. Lots of lovely marks, especially love those made with the fan brush.

Acrylics. Painting is really tricky! Feeling just a little out of my depth here but I guess it’s all about practice.

So I was feeling that these were rather awful but I can see progress. Plums were painted first – shadows were a real struggle as was showing the colour/tone variations. Then the banana – shadow is a bit better, needs more colour variation and ‘depth’. Finally the apple which I took a bit of time over and started with a background colour. Lots of colour mixing and adding more paint in layers, adjusting shape etc – much happier with this attempt.

Applying paint without brushes – see sketchbook

Pallet knives of various shapes and sizes. Initial layer left to completely dry then second layer added. Dragging edge of knife can give lovely smooth even layer without the marks of a brush. Also when run over texture it gives additional ‘depth’ (not sure what word to use for this). I’m learning that Acrylic paint looks best on thickly!

More marks with credit cards, sponges, rags, toothbrush, bottle lid…

Painting with pastels – see sketchbook

I practiced using oil and soft pastels in Drawing 1 but never with turps or paint involved too.

Started with a bit of googling as a starting point as the instructions don’t make a lot of sense to me:

http://www.emptyeasel.com – How to Create a highly textured pastel painting using acrylic paint
YouTube: Dieter Becker – Mixed Media acrylic and Oil pastel. Base layer of acrylics then pastels using stabbing motion, not blended.
http://www.drawpaintacademy.com – How to use Scumbling? which I discovered is similar to the Dry Brush technique I learnt on the watercolour course only this time using pastels rather than paint. An uneven layer over existing colour.
Barry, H. (2017) Encyclopedia of Acrylic Techniques. London: Quarto Publishing plc – great book for me with all the various techniques described that I’m hearing about including, in this case, Scumbling.

Beach and Sea with Rocks. Initial smooth layer of acrylics as base coat. Then lots of texture added with pallet knives and left to dry fully. Then soft pastel added in places, not all over but filling in the gaps. Lots of dabbing and quick marks in sea, darker near horizon, then white/light tones added for the spray using scumbling (pastel in edge, lightly over texture). Blended pastel over sand. Rocks added lighter tones over texture again with scumbling.

Very quickly done but I can see how this could be a great method for rough areas such as rocks and water.