Paint Alchemy

Exploring Process-Driven Techniques through Design, Pattern, Color, Abstraction, Acrylic and Mixed Media

Eva Marie Magill-Oliver

• Publisher: Quarry Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781631595967
• eBook ISBN: 9781631595974
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Experience wonder and excitement as you mindfully take your painting technique to the next level: It’s Paint Alchemy.

Part of the new Alchemy series, Paint Alchemy explores how to build a painting practice. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced painter, you’ll learn how to create freely by combining a foundation in solid techniques and design principles with an open approach that stays focused on the moment, rather than the end result.

You will learn how to prepare your art space, work with intention, and move between action and observation, responding to the work along the way. Paint Alchemy will help you cultivate a full perspective on the process: from developing ideas in a sketchbook to crystalizing your vision.

As you work through the exercises, you’ll gain a better understanding of color theory, mark making, representational form, abstraction, and composition. Mindfulness, experimentation, and reflection will give way to wonder as your paintings develop. 

CHAPTER ONE

BUILDING A PRACTICE

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you.”

—CHUCK CLOSE

i have been working as a professional artist for sixteen years. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been interested in art, taking classes in oil, watercolor, and acrylic mediums. I have tested and worked with various brands and products.

On the following pages, I share how I set up my workspace and which basic studio materials and tools that I always keep handy. Most, if not all, are affordable and easy to find, either locally or online. Supplies and brands can vary greatly in price, yet less expensive brands can be of similar quality to more expensive alternatives. For example, I normally find little difference among paint brands, especially acrylics and watercolors. Oils, on the other hand, are made with pigments that can be rare, such as cadmium, which can increase their cost significantly. If you limit your paint choices to just the water-based varieties, you can keep the cost of your materials at an affordable level.

preparing your
workspace

i prefer to stand rather than sit when I paint and create. I enjoy the freedom of movement it permits. Acrylics, watercolors, and inks all dry fairly rapidly, so it is helpful to be able to move quickly and easily around a piece as you work.

While standing, I can easily step back and observe my progress from a distance. I can walk around a piece and view it from different angles and perspectives. It is important to consider your work in its entirety and not to focus solely on one area. Overall balance should be a priority as you create.

I work on the floor and use a waist-high work table, which allows me to stand as I draw. On the table, I keep drawing supplies within reach as I work. These include, but are not limited to, pencils, erasers, markers, and some inks. I keep the majority of my paint supplies separate in an effort to keep one area of the studio clean and paint-free.

Drop cloths are an inexpensive way to protect your floor and table and are found at most home improvement stores. I often stand on cut-up cardboard boxes. A bonus is that after they have become messy and covered in paint, they can be folded up and recycled.

Always work in a well-ventilated area or move your process outdoors, if possible. Not only does working outdoors cut down on paint fumes, it also provides natural light, which is the best lighting for painting. Lamps or fluorescent lighting can visually alter the colors in a painting, making them seem yellow, flat, or as if they have a blueish hue. If you have to work under artificial light, periodically view your progress in natural sunlight before making any big changes or decisions in terms of color.

materials

This is a basic overview of all the materials I use in my studio. Standard Materials (see at right) are the ones you will need to create the exercises ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• chapter one Building a Practice
• chapter two Foundations of Design
• chapter three Seeking Balance
• chapter four Working with Intention
• chapter five Exploring Mixed-Media Tools
• chapter six Space, Composition, and Form
• chapter seven Improvising with Acrylics
• chapter eight Perspectives on Color
• Resources
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Dedication
• Copyright