Oil & Acrylic Workshop

Classic and contemporary techniques for painting expressive works of art

Kimberly Adams, Bridget Skanski-Such, Yiqi Li

• Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781560108733
• eBook ISBN: 9781633224469
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Create contemporary and colorful works of art using a variety of traditional and unique painting techniques with Oil & Acrylic Workshop. From classic tools to modern twists, it's all here to try out! Break out the art supplies, because it's time to discover how to create beautifully textured, vibrant, and colorful works of fine art. Oil & Acrylic Workshop guides you through harnessingboth traditional and unique painting tools when putting media to canvasin new and surprising ways. Whether you're an aspiring or established artist, youwill relish setting aside the paintbrush in exchange for the palette knife, sponges, and even your fingers to create colorful, contemporary works of art. This book comespacked with techniques for working with oil and acrylic, as well as color theory and approachable step-by-step projects. Don't miss the featured projects, including the art of creating landscapes, mastering animals, painting delicateflowers, and much more. Budding artists will become masters of new and engaging painting techniques in no time.

Kimberly Adams

CONTEMPORARY IMPRESSIONIST KIMBERLY ADAMS creates vibrant landscapes without brushes or tools, applying the paint only with her fingertips. Kimberly studied art at a young age and took private lessons in the small town where she was raised in New Mexico. She pursued her passion for art by studying fine art in college, where her emphasis was on pastels and human figure drawing. She is now considered a finger painter of fine art.

Kimberly lives in Washington and is an active member of the board of directors for Parklane Fine Art Gallery in Kirkland, Wash. She is deeply rooted in the art community in Kirkland and teaches workshops at Cole Gallery in Edmonds, WA. Her paintings represent her love for nature and her adventurous heart.

View more of Kimberly’s work at www.artbykimberlyadams.com.

Tools & Materials

PAINT

When finger painting with oil, choose an oil paint with lots of pigmentation. You will see better results when blending and building texture with high-quality paint. This is especially true with finger painting because the paint colors are mixed directly on the canvas, straight from the tube, and not on a palette first. Oil paints with less pigmentation tend to contain more filler, and they can become sticky or oily.

CANVAS

You will need a primed cotton or linen canvas. Gallery-wrapped canvases work well with finger painting because you can hang the painting without framing. The canvas can be finished by painting a solid color on the edges, or you can continue the painting on the sides.

GLOVES

Medical-grade gloves can be found at your local pharmacy or ordered online. It’s important to find a size that fits your hands snugly, but not so tight that they’re uncomfortable. Loose-fitting gloves make it difficult to control the paint when applying it to the canvas. Ensure that the gloves are of good quality to avoid breaking through the fingertips. Gloves should last over several weeks. Gloves also make cleanup fairly easy—all you have to do is remove them when you are done.

PAPER TOWELS

To maintain vibrant colors, paper towels are necessary to clean off your fingertips between color applications. Keep plenty nearby, as you will use quite a few throughout the process.

EASEL OR TABLE

An easel is helpful when finger painting because it holds the canvas in place when you are applying the paint. Placing the canvas on a flat surface works well too. You can also use a table easel as long as it is secure and stays in place while painting.

Safety is essential when finger painting.

Techniques

YOU CAN ACHIEVE AN ENDLESS NUMBER of finger-painting techniques by varying the size of the stroke, the amount of paint, and the pressure that you apply to the canvas. Here are just a few examples of texture and detail that you can create. I encourage you to try a variety of techniques to discover your own unique effects.

LAYERS OF COLOR

Use multiple layers of color to achieve a three-dimensional effect.

SMALL STROKES

Create different shapes by using smaller paint strokes.

LINE DETAILS

Produce subtle line motion by applying very light pressure.

Finger painting on a small canvas, such as 16" × 20", is ideal for begin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Section One: Kimberly Adams
• Section Two: Bridget Skanski-Such
• Section Three: Yiqi Li
• Closing Words
• Copyright