This tutorial shows the step-by-step making of an artwork in opaque, mostly undiluted acrylic paint on illustration board. Materials used included professional acrylic paints, hot-press illustration board, and sable/ synthetic mix brushes in sizes ranging from 000 to 7.

Step 1: Sketching and composition
Kangaroos were drawn on paper, cut out, arranged and taped on the board. The background was lightly sketched. Precision wasn't necessary for the natural landscape, so it didn't matter if the background was painstakingly drawn. The pencil lines were intended as a rough guide.

Step 2: Working back to front
The background was first to be painted, however you may prefer painting areas of your work in a different order.
The sky was painted with cobalt blue, phthalo blue and white. Yellow oxide and skin tone (mid shade) was applied to the sunlit areas of the rock. A few drops of water were added to the mixes to make them easier to handle.
Note: with acrylic washes, paint dries lighter than the colour it appears when wet. With opaque acrylic the opposite is true. Sometimes paint may dry considerably darker than how it looks when wet. Extra layers may be needed to build up smoothness of tone and reach the desired colour.

Step 3: Rocks and sky
The sky was repainted, only with payne's grey and unbleached titanium added to dull the blue as it was too bright. The foreground was painted with chromium green, raw umber and permanent green light. The kangaroos were traced onto the board using carbon paper.
Unbleached titanium and yellow oxide were used for the rock highlights, with yellow oxide and skin tone for middle tones. Payne's grey and raw umber were used for dark shadows. Pale shadows were painted with permanent green light and raw umber. Napthol scarlet was added to some areas, and cracks were lightly painted with payne's grey and raw umber using the smallest brushes.

Step 4: Foliage
Some cracks and foliage finished the rocks. Chromium green, permanent green light and black were used, highlighted with yellow oxide and white. Background shrubbery was painted in small blobs with a size 0 brush.
Black and permanent green light were painted over the shadow areas of the shrubbery. Blobs and streaks of greens and yellows were applied to denote leaves, and clumps of foliage were suggested with permanent green light applied with a nearly dry size 7 brush. Shadow colour was used for dark branches, while dead trees were painted in unbleached titanium, highlighted with white.

Detail of above step
The pattern of blobs used to create trees can be seen below. Larger spots of paint were used for the scrub, as this area is closer to the viewer. Some branches are obscured by foliage which helps to create depth.

Step 5: Flowers
The blob technique was used for the flowers at the front of the image. Most of the flowers were painted in yellow oxide, as this colour is dominant in the cliffs, and light purple to complement the sky. Large flowers at the front of the work were detailed with a few dark lines for petals and a dark spot denoting the centre of the flower.

Step 6: Finishing
The kangaroos were painted metallic red and blue. The backdrop was glazed with a cobalt blue and white wash, to push it into the background.

All content copyright Donna Quinn.