NEWSLETTER Spring 04 VOL 2 pAGE 9

BRIAN HARRILD: DIY WITH ACRYLIC

Those who braved the snowstorm to see Brian Harrild's demonstration in January were amply rewarded with a virtuoso performance. Acrylic is a versatile medium and Brian showed us his own techniques for creating paintings using three methods: the watercolour approach i.e. 'from light to dark', glazing a mixed-media painting, and the oil approach 'from dark to light'.

'WATERCOLOUR' The first painting was painted on 140 lb. Paper taped to a board. He 'stretched' the paper by wiping it with a wet sponge. Without wasting a second he dipped a B&Q 2 ins. fine surface paintbrush in water to make it easier to clean afterwards. Then he r used it to apply a wash of blue from a pot of premixed cobalt, ultramarine and phthalo blue paint. Acrylic dries quickly, so he was able to two thinnish washes with darker blue at the top of the painting.

While the sky was still wet, paint was lifted out with a dry J-cloth to create white clouds.

Distant hills were blocked in with a medium tone with smudges of a lighter colour along the skyline to create depth. A blue river with areas of orange and tan covered the foreground.

GLAZING Brian demonstrated how to glaze a painting using an acrylic varnish (purchased from hardware shops) diluted with an equal quantity of water and tinted with a little non-opaque paint, such as pink, yellow or lilac.This treatment is suitable for paintings with transparent watercolour washes in the background, with darker colours and detail applied using acrylic paint, to ensure that the varnish does not smudge the painting. Brian brushed the diluted varnish lightly and quickly over the painting using the tip of a 1 in fine surface brush, giving the painting a warm glow.

'OIL' Working 'from dark to light' is easy using acrylic. His support was an MDF board covered with buckram glued on with wood glue and primed with diluted white Dulux Weathershield paint. His brushes were kept in a pot of water with retarder added, to stop them from drying out.

The sky was applied as before, but this time the clouds were painted using grey and white paint, blended with a hake. He blocked in greeny-black tree shapes with strips of yellow, sandy colour and light beige. Foliage was stippled on using an old brush in shades of bright green, light 9 green and splashes of orange above the bright green.

Using small pots of pre-mixed paint and a different brush for each colour, he built of the rest of the picture: pink for tree-trunks and the path, darker brown for shadows and darker green texture on grass and under the trees. A stony foreground was achieved by splattering paint using a toothbrush. Finally, orange and tan washes completed the foreground.

Following the enthusiastic applause at the end of the evening, Programme Secretary Claire Palmer promised to secure Brian for a one-day workshop for T.A.S. members.

Di Alexander T.A.S. Editor

© TOTTON ART SOCIETY All text and images are copyright and should not be copied without permission.	*T.A.S. Newsletter* *Spring 2004 Volume 2 No. 1 Page 9*	THIS ISSUE PAGES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - 10 11 12 OTHER ISSUES

BRIAN HARRILD: DIY WITH ACRYLIC Those who braved the snowstorm to see Brian Harrild's demonstration in January were amply rewarded with a virtuoso performance. Acrylic is a versatile medium and Brian showed us his own techniques for creating paintings using three methods: the watercolour approach i.e. 'from light to dark', glazing a mixed-media painting, and the oil approach 'from dark to light'. 'WATERCOLOUR' The first painting was painted on 140 lb. Paper taped to a board. He 'stretched' the paper by wiping it with a wet sponge. Without wasting a second he dipped a B&Q 2 ins. fine surface paintbrush in water to make it easier to clean afterwards. Then he r used it to apply a wash of blue from a pot of premixed cobalt, ultramarine and phthalo blue paint. Acrylic dries quickly, so he was able to two thinnish washes with darker blue at the top of the painting. While the sky was still wet, paint was lifted out with a dry J-cloth to create white clouds. Distant hills were blocked in with a medium tone with smudges of a lighter colour along the skyline to create depth. A blue river with areas of orange and tan covered the foreground. GLAZING Brian demonstrated how to glaze a painting using an acrylic varnish (purchased from hardware shops) diluted with an equal quantity of water and tinted with a little non-opaque paint, such as pink, yellow or lilac.This treatment is suitable for paintings with transparent watercolour washes in the background, with darker colours and detail applied using acrylic paint, to ensure that the varnish does not smudge the painting. Brian brushed the diluted varnish lightly and quickly over the painting using the tip of a 1 in fine surface brush, giving the painting a warm glow. 'OIL' Working 'from dark to light' is easy using acrylic. His support was an MDF board covered with buckram glued on with wood glue and primed with diluted white Dulux Weathershield paint. His brushes were kept in a pot of water with retarder added, to stop them from drying out. The sky was applied as before, but this time the clouds were painted using grey and white paint, blended with a hake. He blocked in greeny-black tree shapes with strips of yellow, sandy colour and light beige. Foliage was stippled on using an old brush in shades of bright green, light 9 green and splashes of orange above the bright green. Using small pots of pre-mixed paint and a different brush for each colour, he built of the rest of the picture: pink for tree-trunks and the path, darker brown for shadows and darker green texture on grass and under the trees. A stony foreground was achieved by splattering paint using a toothbrush. Finally, orange and tan washes completed the foreground. Following the enthusiastic applause at the end of the evening, Programme Secretary Claire Palmer promised to secure Brian for a one-day workshop for T.A.S. members. Di Alexander T.A.S. Editor		Brian Harrild Photo: Di Alexander Brian's motto is: "If it gets the result, use it" and he quoted the example of his friend who found that he could obtain soft clouds by thumping his canvas with rolled-up socks. "GLAZES ", said Brian, "ADD LIGHT".