How I paint- general techniques

1. First a caveat: I'm not a professional artist (I don't make my living out of art), and I'm not formally qualified to dispense advice (I write tutorials/ walkthroughs because I think some people might get something from them, even if just to see how another artist works). I'm completely self-taught and therefore do what works for me, which may be different to how you work. This doesn't mean either of us is wrong, as there are as many ways of producing art as there are artists! Each method has merits and drawbacks which will only be discovered through experience and experimentation.

2. I do lots of concept sketches for each painting. Some works may have as few as a dozen, but others have around 50. These encompass everything from little scribbles to work out possible compositions, to detailed drawings showing poses/ expressions of the main figures. Many have notes alongside where I write what works and what needs fixing.

3. I scan my sketches onto the computer and fiddle with them using a graphics program. I also flip my drawings around to find errors, and to check the composition.

4. You earn Evil Points for tracing from photos. Drawing is a fundamental skill for every artist, and tracing's a great way to stifle the acquisition of this skill.

5. If I've drawn my main figures smaller than the size I want to paint them, I'll scan and print them at the correct size. Images are transferred to my painting surface (cold press medium-weight illustration board or acid-free matboard) using carbon paper.

6. I collect a lot of reference images from magazines, etc, and keep them in a folder, and I download reference images from the Internet (these are rarely printed, to save paper and ink). Still, I prefer taking my own photographs where possible, as I can control lighting and composition. For "Bilbies with Bite", I took many photos of chocolate, foil and trees. Sometimes, I photograph individual elements to be incorporated into a painting, such as the aforementioned chocolate, but I've never visited outback Australia, so referred to existing photos to complete the background. I'm careful to use a variety of sources, and I don't copy someone else's photo; I also make sure to maintain consistent lighting over the artwork.
Conversely, sometimes I'm able to photograph everything I need. For "Still Life with Fruit... Bats", I arranged fruit in a crystal bowl and photographed this as reference, though I changed the arrangement considerably as I painted. Later on I painted the knife and satin from life. Additionally, the photos didn't show quite enough detail, so I kept some fruit in front of me while painting, to better capture its colour and texture.

7. If I don't know how to approach something, I may be inspired through checking out how other artists have tackled the same thing. However, I never copy their work! I peruse a variety of art, from abstract to photography to sculpture.

8. There's no need to buy an overpriced palette from an art supply shop. I use an old lasagna dish which is extremely easy to clean (soaking it overnight makes this even easier). If you prefer a plastic palette, "TV dinner" trays are ideal. These are inexpensive, easy to clean, and the cupholders are good for mixing washes in.

9. I use high-quality artist's acrylics, and sable brushes in sizes ranging from 000 up to 10 (with the odd synthetic brush here and there). I work with a limited number of colours per painting (between five and eight is average).
Regularly-used colours include ("Matisse" brand) titanium white, Payne's grey, raw umber, skin tone deep, skin tone mid, chromium green oxide, permanent green light, Australian olive green, and ("Atelier" brand) burnt umber, cadmium red, cadmium yellow and Pacific blue. Other colours I use more rarely include Matisse unbleached titanium, napthol scarlet, yellow mid, cerulean blue, yellow oxide, Australian yellow green, Southern Ocean blue, dioxazine purple; Atelier toning grey yellowish; and Winsor and Newton phthalo blue green shade. I don't use metallic paint on "serious" paintings (though I use it on quick mixed media pieces), nor do I use black (see point 14).
Sometimes I add final touches to artworks using Winsor and Newton chalk pastels and/ or Derwent coloured pencils, though this is rare. I have used an airbrush in the past (e.g. "Inside the Glasshouse"), though I now find an airbrushed look too smooth for my liking.

10. My first step is to wash in the main objects and indicate light sources using a thin wash of brown, grey or blue. My concentration then shifts to the object/ surface furthest from the viewer, which is generally the sky. From there I work my way forward, completing the main figures last. However, as the painting progresses, I often move around the artwork, painting a bit of one thing, then a bit of another.
Every colour I use on the main figures will already have been used in the background. For example, I wouldn't paint my background with browns and greens, then add red solely to the main figure. If the figure is red, the background will have red (probably muted) in it somewhere.

11. I work thin-to-thick, dark-to-light, in general. Washes of acrylic are laid down first, then as I layer paint on the surface, I build up to thick, opaque paint. Highlights- the really fun bit- are generally added last with thick paint. I mix a few drops of water into even my thickest paints, making them easier to work with.

12. I have most/ all aspects of each work planned (e.g. composition, light direction and temperature, colours, even a title and back story/ description) before commencing painting, but to keep on track, I often hold the work up to the bathroom mirror, to check how it's going. If there's something requiring correction, I'll do that straight away, even if it'll be a major hassle to fix.

13. I often apply glazes of white and blue to distant objects, to push them into the background. Acrylic dries darker than it appears when wet, so using glazes helps you reach the desired colour.

14. Despite the "rule" against using black paint, it doesn't make me cringe with horror. If you want to use black, go ahead. Personally I don't use black, but this wasn't a conscious decision; rather, I ran out of black and didn't bother buying more. I make my darkest colours from a mixture of Payne's grey and various browns. Burnt umber creates a warm dark colour, which I use more in the foreground of a painting, and raw umber (or a similar colour) produces a cooler tone for parts of the painting further in the background. Using a warm dark on your main subject will aid in grabbing the viewer's eye to the focal point.

15. I use white in all my works. Unlike some artists, I don't think it's wrong to use white, and I use it both in mixtures with other colours and (more rarely) straight for bright highlights. As time goes on I use less pure white, though still mix it with other colours very often.

16. I don't often use paint straight from the tube, because I work with a limited palette which necessitates lots of colour mixing. A limited palette is good to keep your colours unified, but not essential.

17. I never enhance my work digitally. If I did, I'd mention this so viewers would know. Rather, I can never get the scanned image looking as nice as the original, as much as I try! Anyway, it's just plain sneaky to present a digitally-enhanced artwork as purely traditional.

18. That's it! Don't be afraid of taking on a challenge- I'm always intimidated by each new piece. Have fun painting!

All content copyright Donna Quinn.