Demo: David Johnson - Woodland Textures in Acrylic

A thoroughly entertaining demo from David!

He began with a canvas primed in burnt Sienna. He used a reference of a woodland scene in autumnal culours with strong background light.

He explained that he worked with a standard group of colours (ultramarine, cerulean, yellow ochre, burnt umber, burnt Sienna, cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, white) of the large container relatively inexpensive type. To these, he added “treat colours” from a more expensive professional range - turquoise, purple, white - as indicated by the subject matter. He was particularly fond of Windsor violet, which is excellent for shadows. The more expensive paint from the professional ranges cost more because there was a higher percentage of pigment in in the mix which meant more intense colour. A posh white was particularly useful for intense light effects on top of the cheaper white (especially if applied with a palette knife!). He used Michael Harding Acrylic Primer to prepare the surface of his canvas. He also recommended Michael Harding Miracle Medium for use with oils - new, non-toxic, non flammable, environmentally friendly.

To achieve his very textured work, he used aritificial sp0nges, cut to interesting shapes, canvas wedges, palette knives of various shapes, and worn out bristle brushes for dry brush effects. He used a rigger brush for smooth lines and an egbert brush for interesting marks (he recommended Rosemary Brushes). When applying texture marks, he advised cultivating the random and ignoring the brain’s efforts to organise brushstrokes into tidy patterns. Drag, scratch, flick! You can always come back and edit what you have done.

He began with painting in the lights, adding the greys (made from mixing complimentary colours) then the darks. He painted rapidly, at times checking the paint colour against the reference. The painting was interspersed with anecdotes of painting adventures, such at painting plein air up a mountain in the sub zero temperatures, where he discovered that ice crystals appearing in the paint gave pleasing textures when everything thawed.

David’s workshop is on Saturday, 25th April. It will suit acrylic or oils and as usual, if you let Jen know, paints can be loaned if you want to try out a new medium. If you would like to join us, sign up here but do hurry, as the workshop was almost full by the end of the evening.

And some of David’s paintings: