Painting Seascapes – Making The Scenery Look Bigger
This week, we dive deeper into painting seascapes and other big sceneries. In spring, I thought my painting Atlantis was already finished, but after seeing the ship paintings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in May, I realized that I had made my seascape painting too simple and small-scale, and went back to working on it. Now it’s finished!
Painting a Bigger Sea
Despite the size of the canvas, you can make the seascape or any scenery look larger by adjusting the composition and the size of the brushstrokes. Compare the finished version with the one below!
When you want to make a seascape look bigger, add tiny strokes, especially near the horizon, and adjust both left and right edges so that it looks like the seascape continues outside the painting.
The changes may look small when you look at the small photos, but in reality, they make a big difference. Here’s a close-up photo of before and after.
There are so many details that it was easier to make a short video instead of sharing more pics.
Seascapes don’t have to be boring and all blue. They can include all kinds of events and creatures, even buildings like in my painting.
A Series of Big Sceneries in Progress
It’s been a hot July in Finland, and my little studio is really warm in the afternoon. But I have big canvases in a queue, and the next one is already in progress.
New Course Is Coming Up!
Painting seascapes and other sceneries is exciting, but as you know, I also love flowers. I will be running a new watercolor course called Wild Garden from 22nd September to 14th November. Here’s a small teaser pic …
The early-bird sale of Wild Garden will start next week, so stay tuned!
Art Supplies I Should Not Use Anymore
When I look at my art supplies, there are many that just take up space and don’t bring me joy anymore. Recently, I have tried to use them up, but one crayon, for example, can last a long time. Maybe I should just stop using them and give them away?
This blog post is a little inventory of what art supplies don’t bring me joy anymore.
Arteza Gouache Paints
Arteza sent a big set of their gouache paints to me in 2019, and I made a blog post with a video about them.
>> Intuitive Painting in 60 Colors of Arteza Gouache Set
I prefer Schminke Horadam gouache paints, because they are much better quality.
In general, I like watercolors more than gouache paints because they are livelier and more transparent. In the course Decodashery, I have used both gouache and watercolors.
Gouache is great for decorative-style painting, so I will keep my few Schminke paints, but I should give the Arteza gouache paints away.
Derwent Artbars
I have a love-hate relationship with these crayons. I have used them quite a lot, especially with water. But always when I look at the finished piece, I think that it would have looked so much better if I had used watercolors instead. For example, this recent art journal page would have been quicker to create and much more delicate with watercolors.
On the other hand, I really like many sketchbook pieces from 2017, like the one below.
In this blog post from December 2017, I share many projects where I have used Derwent Artbars.
I bought the Artbars somewhere around 2014, and even if I have tried to use them now and then, they may live longer than I do. I think I should either toss them or give them away. Watercolors easily replace them.
Faber-Castell Gelatos
I often wonder: “What did I think to achieve when I purchased these?”
I bought Faber-Castell Gelatos around the same time as Derwent Artbars. Mixed media enthusiasts thought that Gelatos were fun at that time, around 2010. I was very much into mixed media, and it was not difficult to sell new art supplies to me. Nowadays, I am much more traditional and don’t consider myself a mixed media artist anymore.
However, if you have Gelatos, you may enjoy this blog post from 2014 where I show some color mixing with them. >> How to Mix Colors (with Gelatos)
And this blog post where I work with Gelatos by using inspiration from art history.
>> Consistency and How to Get Inspired by It (with Gelatos)
I try to use gelatos now and then, and managed to use up one stick of the big set. But these are just a nuisance: no accuracy and not enough pigment. I should give these away.
Oil Pastels
I only have a small box of oil pastels. They really suit my art style. They have strong pigments and it’s easy to mix and blend them. Oil pastels look great a a top layer of pencil drawings and work well on top of many other art supplies too.
And I love the results! Here, the face has been painted in acrylics, there are regular pencil marks, and then the oil pastels add their flare.
See more images in this blog post from 2018: Oil Pastels and Spicing Up Your Art
I have also used a lot of oil pastels in this recent blog post: Using Up Old Crayons
And I have even made a course that uses oil pastels with other supplies. It’s called Innovative Portraits!
So, why should I not use oil pastels anymore when I seem to be so excited about them? Well, they are messy for sure, but also this: If I make a piece with oil paints instead, I can sell it and get more worth of my time. Oil paints (and acrylics) can do everything oil pastels do. Oil pastels are quicker, but the result is more valuable if I use paint. So, this is related to what kind of artist I am and what I need to get out of my time.
Alcohol Inks and Acrylic Inks
I bought alcohol inks in my mixed media years and loved them.
Alcohol inks are strong and work on any background, even on the top of acrylic paint. I used to use them to make backgrounds too, here’s one example from 2015.
And in 2012, I made many collages in the Collageland style where I also used splashes of alcohol inks, often pinks!
But now, they don’t feel so much fun anymore. Their odor is a bit disturbing too. But I have some pens that can be filled with alcohol inks, and will use the rest of them like felt-tip pens.
I also have some acrylic inks and acrylic watercolor inks.
I prefer to use watercolors instead nowadays. I should just make some art journal pages to use up those few bottles or give them away. I actually found a fun idea from an old blog post: Inktober Warm-Up Exercise (inks + drawing, from 2019)
All That Glows
Gold, silver, pearlescent effects – they are not my thing. I love to imitate glowing effects with regular paints, but glowing surfaces are not what I like to create. I have tried too many times, and made some fun pieces too, like this one from 2020.
See more images in the blog post: Impressionistic Floral Painting on Structure Paste
And see how lovely glitter glue looks on the box cover, made in the course Doll World!
I have already given away many glittering paints, and I intend to give away the few that I still have.
Special Mediums
When visiting an art supply store, it’s tempting to try a new medium. I have velázquez oil painting medium, masking fluid, granulation medium, fiber paste …
Some of these mediums are for adding surface effects. For example, fiber paste creates a surface that can then be used for watercolors. Velázquez medium is for those who like to paint thickly. The more I have painted in oil, the smoother surface I want. For me, the smooth quality of the surface feels important to achieve. Smooth paintings bring old masterpieces to mind.
I know many use masking fluid and granulation medium for watercolors. I have used masking fluid in the course Watercolor Journey, but have stopped using it. There are ways to avoid it so masking fluid feels unnecessary nowadays. Granulation medium is not a miracle medium either. I like to keep my watercolors with water only. I think they don’t enjoy the makeup!
However, in Watercolor Journey, we use the masking fuild in a fun way – for doodling – and I think the result is fun!
I have some masking fluid and granulation medium left. Maybe I should make some art journal pages with this doodling approach to quickly use them up!
My Basic Art Supplies
These are the basic supplies, I want to keep: oil paints, acrylic paints, watercolors, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, and felt-tip pens. Oil paints and acrylic paints are mainly for canvas paintings. Watercolors are mainly for watercolor paintings. And colored pencils and felt-tip pens are mostly for art journal pages and small drawings.
Mediums
With oil paints, I need painting medium. And with acrylics, I like to use gel medium and glazing medium for thinning in addition to water. I could give up the gel medium if I had to choose, because the glazing medium works better for thin layers. Then comes the question: how minimal to go and what would it serve?
What do you think?
However, nowadays when I want to have a treat while visiting an art supply store, I buy a new color, for example, a new colored pencil or a new tube of oil paint.
Maximalist or Minimalist? Style Experiments in Art Journal Pages
This week, we experiment between maximalist and minimalist styles.
Every time I open one of my art journals, I feel a sense of relaxation. It’s time for experimentation and risk-taking. In art journals, failure can also be success. Page by page, I learn to know myself better and thus, express things that can also be relevant to others. Now I wanted to experiment with style and picked my Dylusions Creative Journal for that.
Maximalist – Multiply!
I know that I’m more of a maximalist than a minimalist, so I started with that and made a spread with the principle of “more is more”.
I’ve started to be fascinated by buildings, both exterior and interior, and here too motifs began to create a sense of space as they turned into ornaments.
It was so fun to add a new detail on top of another that I forgot to take more pictures of the different stages, but I started with watercolors and soon moved on to colored pencils.
I’m fascinated by abundance and luxury. I connect that with the courage to be brave and let it all out. When I feel like that, the maximalist style is born effortlessly.
Adding details and dividing one shape to many can be done over and over again. I could have refined my drawing even more!
Maximalist or Minimalist – Adult or Child?
For me, maximalism is associated with adulthood and minimalism with childhood, although many probably think the opposite: that as a child you sprawl and as an adult you can prune. But when I look at my childhood drawings, I can say that my poor drawing skills made me a natural minimalist as a child.
It was a little unpleasant that the organizer has written the prize in the drawing,
but now it just adds a nostalgic flair to it.
But let’s remember that even as an adult, we can grab a light marker and start coloring with clumsy strokes and without outlines.
Minimalist – Simplify!
I colored the shapes of horses directly on a blank piece of paper without outlines. When I colored the background, I then refined the shapes.
As a child, I loved playing with plastic horses and red tights were my favorite accessory.
While making this art journal spread, I felt a deep connection not only to my childhood in the 1970s, but also to my teenage years in the 80s.
Back then, everything was still possible and ahead. The horses galloped wildly in my small room, but my mind was already far away in the outside world.
The controversy between the style and the content is the key here. The picture is clear, and the colors are raw, but the atmosphere is intense and a little mysterious.
It is as if I were each of those four horses. At the same time, a playing child, a baby seeking support, a galloping youth, and an adult whose life is still a mystery.
When I compare these two spreads, I think that I could give the minimalist a little more space, and it would not reduce the expression, maybe vice versa?
What do you think? See the pics below and leave a comment!
Exercise: Maximalist or Minimalist?
Try the same experiment in your art journal!
Creating Menagerie
This week, I share a recent acrylic painting called Menagerie and talk about the process. This is an example of making the most of the rich visual vocabulary – the topic that I talked about in last week’s video, but now we focus more on the idea of the piece rather than the style.
Recently, I have been thinking about the news feeds and their many truths. Although things are presented in beautiful phrases and pictures, the truth is much more complicated, and there are layers behind them. The same applies to people. Even though we try to be human, we are still animals, too.
When I paint, I struggle with the same thing: should I paint a flower or a soul?
I want to create beautiful paintings, but on the other hand, a painting is like a person. If you treat the painting superficially, you don’t get to see its true beauty.
I seem to paint better if I can partly focus on something else!
My goal is to give my paintings the freedom to be themselves and this painting really revealed its heart to me.
However, my task is not only to reveal the wild nature of the painting, but also to gently train it.
Menagerie is sold already. I hope it will bring joy to its new owner.
Details of Menagerie
Here are detail pics of the finished piece. I like how the style of this painting is partly illustrative. It looks like it’s partly drawn with a brush.
I wanted to create an impression that the animals are captive but still wild and strong enough to break free.
This painting has many layers and details.
I tried to bring up the similarity between flowers and animals.
Here you can see the big flower up close. The brush strokes are loose, but still, I painted them with a lot of thought and care.
I hope this inspires you to create too!