Pete Martin - Acrylic Abstraction and Transparency - 6 Aug 2023
Venue: | Craigslea High School |
Details: |
Pete Martin Pete is known for his aerial landscapes and his watercolours; his works are rich in narrative and purpose. Pete’s background is wide and varied like most professional artists, but this diversity adds to his breadth and knowledge of materials and techniques. His years of lecturing at the Brisbane Institute of Art have helped make him an exceptional communicator and demonstrator. Pete Martin Galleries online Objective: Participants will learn how to create and recognise abstracted artworks using acrylic paint while incorporating the techniques of transparent glazing to add depth and complexity to their compositions. Participants will learn and see how glazing can add so much more feeling to their works, most works are only a step or two away from being truly amazing. Materials
Pete's shared knowledge Preparation and painting Pete prefers a smooth surface so that he, and not the canvas, is in control of the marks. He says he's not a texture person but can emulate it. Always wash new canvases with soapy water to get rid of the sealant added during manufacture as it prevents prevents your paints adhering properly. Instead of gesso he uses four coats of low-sheen acrylic wall paint, which can be wet sanded (to avoid dust). The wall paint seems to melt under wet sanding and it delivers a very smooth surface. You can do pencil on those really smooth canvasses -> fixative -> varnish. A surfactant will slow drying: original Windex on it's own or a drop of detergent in brush water. Use exterior estapol to varnish finished paintings as it doesn't yellow. Pete uses clear acrylic medium to mix with colours as he can do many, many layers. If you need to interrupt a painting session you can put your palette of unused colours in the fridge or freezer until next time. Abstraction The meaning of abstraction in painting is to take something we recognise and put it in a different format. It is to represent something in a new and exciting way. People love gradients of colour. Take a photo in slow motion, e.g. dripping water, using your phone as it will blur the background. Just paint that - place it using tone, form and line. Paint the beauty and emotion of the sunrises and sunsets and then share. Use the largest brushes. Use a spray bottle with metho for texture. Then Pete's pricing is $5.40 per square centimeter - don't discount your work as you do the purchaser and yourself a disservice. What stuff sells: brighter colours, had red in them. Don't let unqualified people tell you what to do with your work or how to do it. Put a wet chux over the drain when cleaning up as it catches the big stuff. It's better off in the bin than in the water system. What we did on the day: First we dampened the canvas and dribbled a small amount of flow paint (red) over the wet canvas.
Spray this with metho. Go close and slow for bigger drips. This creates texture such as resist circles (blooms). Dry it with a heat gun to preserve the effect. Use word mapping - what kind of line, what is the story - tone, hue, mass / form, balance, golden ratio (1.618). Add another layer (blue) - clear acrylic painting medium and a little paint and water to glaze part of the canvas. Spray with metho again. Dry with a heat gun to prevent losing the texture. Next layer - plain glaze with different colour (burnt sienna). Repeat layers of glaze - same colour or different.
Find an image in what you have created and enhance it. Here is a series of images that Julie did on the day.
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