My Painting Technique

In this post I will discuss how I paint from a photograph.

Step 1. Choose a photograph. A landscape with no buildings or people is usually the simplest and easiest to paint.

Step 2. Draw with dark acrylic paint the basic lines of the photo, like cloud shapes, distant mountains, landscape, bodies of water, etc.

Step 3. Now paint in the areas with acrylic paint using the compliment (color opposite on the color wheel). For example blue sky would be orange, green foliage and trees would be red, violet road would be yellow, violet clouds would be yellow, yellow buildings would be violet.

Step 4. Using your oil paint once the acrylic paint is dry, make a detailed drawing. I usually use dark violet for this part.

Step 5. Continue with your oil paint, making sure you have the right values.

In my next blog posts I will demonstrate each of these steps and in the end I will, I hope, have a dynamic and successful painting.