Hello there! My name is Saria and I'm starting Acrylic painting.....You see last night I tried to paint (with Acrylic) a beautiful photo of orchids I found on the internet(I attached it so you can see) .....the one I painted didn't turn out too good! I wasn't to keen in the mixing paints department....I tried to mix the pretty color on the petals but it turned out to be a smokey grey purple......not even close to the real thing.

I know there are many of people on Drawspace that don't just draw...so I was wondering If some of you can give me (or anyone else on here that would like to know),some tips, hints, or helpful advice in acrylic painting....and maybe how to mix that petal color for the orchids

I've never done this before so thank you all for your help!

Yours Truly
Saria<3

PS The pictures I posted below are the ones I got off the internet to copy off of...( both pictures are the same...I just added it twice by mitake......)

Dear Saria, your orchids are simply lovely. You painted them beuatifully, now you can add a background. I would suggest a pale warm yellow tone with some blushes of orange here and there.

Oh I'm so sorry..I must have said it wrong..I didn't paint the attached orchids,wish I did! That was the picture I was copying from......the picture I painted look nothing like that...I wanted to know how to mix the color of the petals on the picture I added.The pink color.

But thanks alot for the advice on the background...once I learn how to mix colors right I'll do the pale yellow and orange you have suggested!

Sorry I confused you!!
Saria<3

Saria,

you can use acrylics like watercolour and thin them down so that you can add wash after wash and so get a lighter finish that doesn't feel as heavy - which can be quite good for delicate flowers.

As far as colour mixing goes, I am afraid that it is trial and error. You can buy a book on colour mixing - but still if the brand they use isn't the same as yours then the results won't be quitye the same. I suggest you borrow a good book from the local library to get some ideas, and then start a folder with colours and techniques. Use your colours on paper and make swatches with notes on the colours used and then you will get to know your own paints. Also if you practice a style or technique and file that you have it there with notes to refer to. I use a spiral bound book for watercolour - but I think a 2 or 3 ring binder might be the best way to go - you can just keep adding, rearranging and creating different categories.

Sorry but that is the best I can suggest - that and practice, practice, practice!!

Saria, color mixing is an art all of it's own, and am not very good at it. However if I experiment long enough I can come close to my reference. I can not tell you a formula on how to get this color, but can tell you it is not just one color. It appears they first laid down some hot pink and let it dry, then purple over it letting some hot ink show though. The white is most likely not white paint, but the white of the support (no paint in that spot) There is also the possibility that your reference was painting digitally .. not always and easy thing to copy with real paint. You should probably invest in a color wheel (plastic coated cardboard wheel available at any art/hobby store) This will help you understand what happens to a color if you mix it with another. One other thing that can be helpful is to get some 3x5 index cards and make some color cards. For instance, divide the card into several columns, pain one section with a base color, then add some white to that base and paint the next. Next add some black to the base and paint another. Mark each column with what you did .. something like B Purple +White +black. etc.
Then do another and this time add yellow and red to the purple.. If you do this with all your colors you will have a reference to go back to next time when you need to match something.
One other tip I can give you is to say a shadow is not black. A shadow is a darker value of the color on which the shadow falls. So if the shadow is on a blue wall you may want to add some dark red and a tiny touch of black to the blue to get the dark shadow color. Use black very sparingly. For instance the background of this painting is not black, it is 60%Raw Umber, 30% Purple and 10% black! http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?...i&img=35217

I hope this was of some help, just keep experimenting, it is just paint.. you can't hurt anything, just have fun!

Thank you very much for your advice. I've never thought of the idea of making a binder.Thats such a great idea!Thank you so much I will definitely do that.
Saria<3

Great tip with the index cards....with that and the binder I'll be all set! Haha now I'm getting excited to get organized with my paint.Also I like what you said about shadows....I didn't realize you could use other colors to darken colors.....wow I've got alot to learn and I have to practice too!:P...and I didn't realize mixing color is that hard....I'll get a book about it

Thankyou again for your help
Saria<3

Hi there SariaMay. Just as airscapes has said, it is difficult to copy the exact colour that was created digitally. However the brightest and prettiest purples we can create with paint are with a colour called Dioxozine purple add some white and a touch of magenta. Jo Sonja's artists colours are gorgeous and can be diluted to use as thin as water colours or very thick as acrylic paints. I specialise in teaching people to mix colours and paint. My painting and drawing course is available here on drawspace, just trot along over to drawspace.com/courses and click on the painting and colour mixing course. The course covers a huge array of techniques and tips to help you begin right from the very basics (including the correct brushes to use and what angle to hold your brush on for each stroke.) There are instructions on how to mix a huge variety of colours using basic colour theory. It is a correspondence course so I am available to help you and advice you every step of the way. I highly recomend that you take a look and if you have the resources it is really worthwhile. It is very in-depth and easy to follow.

Working with acrylics does take some training and once you are shown how, it can save you years of frustration (let alone the cost of product) with your art experience. There most certainly is a theory base to Colour mixing and you can control the process by understanding some simple basics about your primary colours. I teach the most amazingly simple method - just three techniques can help you to create a huge array of colours. It is very rare to find the exact colour you want just from the tube so it really helps to be able to mix your own - my simple colour theory is based on a combination of traditional training and some great tips from me. I love colour and each and every colour in my paintings is mixed in some way from my three primaries, plus black, white or their contemporary (opposite on the colour wheel.) I also use just a few other colours that cannot be mixed from the primaries such as the beautiful purple you are after....dioxozine purple, magenta, pthalo blue.

Dear Cindy
Thank you for your help.....I now realize that mixing color is such a big deal....
As for you classes I would love to be apart of them but I'm afraid money is an issue and so is age....(you see I'm almost 13)
Though I am young and having learning experiences daily just like any other kid ...I would still like to be among all of you fine artists and would still like to be taken seriously.....I can take some criticism

Thank you Cindy and Thank you all who have answered my questions....
Your Friend
Saria<3

Dear Saria, your age is definately not a barrier. I have been teaching children younger than you for many years and my classes are designed for 12 year old children (supervised) and upwards. Most of children go on to become award-winning artists in a short period of time and excel in art at school. Money can be a barier when you are a child, but lucky you, Drawspace lessons are free so long as you can view them online! Keep going, before you know it you will probably get a part-time job and can then consider more learning opportunities with art perhaps. In the meantime if you have any problems, the wonderful Drawspace team are sure you help you out. Just ask. Can we please see some of your wonderful art too!

Thank-You Cindy!!

Saria,

I agree with Cindy. You are definitely not too young. If you read around this site you will see so many people 50 and over who sooooooo regret not keping up with their art.

One of the cheapest things you can do to learn (until you can have lessons) is to go to your local public art gallery. There you will see so many schools of art and you can read abouit them there too. Take along a sketch pad and sit down in front of a piece that speaks to you and sketch some of the detail from it. Think about how they might have drawn it - and you will find that just by regularly doing that it will help you too. Or go to the local mall or park with your sketchpad and draw! There are subjects everywhere....................be brave and draw in public, and when someone moves before you're finished with them just leave that and start on something else. It doesn't matter .....its just practice.....and its your sketchbook, so you don't need to let anyone else see it if you don't want...................think of it as your homework for the subject you can't get enough of!

Now to do this "in public" sketching with colour I have a little art pack that I take everywhere with me. In a large zippered pencil case I have a small homemade watercolour travel kit (PM me & I'll tell you how to make it) its only about 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" in size next to it is my waterbrush. These are quite cheap (or ask for one as a gift) and they have a synthetic brush with a barrel that holds water! Next to that are watercolour pencils - if I don't want (or can't ) balance the watercolour set on my knee then I can take colour directly from the pencils or colour with the pencils and then use the brush (experiment and see how the techniques look for you. Then I have my two fountain pens to work with ink so I can do line & wash drawings. Next is my propelling pencil (0.7mm 2B) then there is a propelling eraser (Pentel Clic) and a stump to blend the graphite, and of course its all sitting on my sketchbook that is only 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" when closed.

This all easily fits in my handbag and so I carry it with me everywhere. That is the best thing to keep you practising your art - if you see something you have all your little bits 'n' pieces to draw or paint it right with you!!


Click to view attachment

Good luck and keep up the practice

Sue

I realy like your art case thing...looks handy!I'll PM you because I have a few questions.....
Thanks for the tip about going in public places and just drawing...I've done that and it's good practice...And fun too(which always helps!).

Happy New Y[code][/code]ear everyone!
Saris<3