PAINTING TIPS

BREAKING SNOW on a MOUNTAIN: Load the knife by first flattening your titanium white paint. Next, cut across the paint with the large part of the blade held perpendicular to the palette, to get a small roll of paint on the edge of the knife. Hold the knife with your thumb on the top, and forefinger on the bottom of the ferrule (metal ring at the top of the handle) of the knife. Start at the top of the mountain and glide the knife down the rightmost peak, pulling to the right. Let the canvas grab the paint from the knife. NO PRESSURE. The paint will break, leaving little holes of the dark under color showing through, creating the illusion of rocks, shadows, etc. in the snow. Reload the knife and repeat, working across from peak to peak, until the peaks are all highlighted.

SHADING SNOW on a MOUNTAIN: Lightly mix the shadow color using titanium white and the dark color of choice(usually blue or black). Load the knife by first flattening the paint. Next, cut across the paint with the large part of the blade held perpendicular to the palette, to get a small roll of paint on the edge of the knife. Start at the left top of the mountain and glide the knife down to the left. Be sure to connect the shadowed snow to the white snow. Let the canvas grab the paint from the knife. NO PRESSURE. The paint will break, leaving little holes of the dark under color showing through, creating the illusion of rocks, shadows, etc. in the snow. You may use the small blade of the knife for small, hard to get to areas. Always pull to the left. Reload the knife and repeat until the peaks are all hilighted.

MISTING the MOUNTAIN: Use a clean, dry 2" brush to tap the base of the mountain to diffuse the snow, following the angles of the mountain. Then lightly brush upward to create the illusion of mist.

LOADING the LINER BRUSH: The paint must be an ink-like consistency to work properly on the liner. First dip the liner into paint thinner. Then roll the brush in the paint to load it. Next roll the brush tip to a sharp point. You are now ready to paint.

LOADING the 2" BRUSH: Hold the brush at a 45 degree angle to the palette. Tap the bristles into the paint. Allow the brush to slide forward a tiny bit into the paint, to pick up the paint on the tips of the bristles.

CLEANING SMALL SOFT BRUSHES: To clean a liner, or other small soft hair brush. First gently wipe excess paint on a clean paper towel. Next swish the small brush in thinner and gently draw it across a soft clean paper towel. Never scrub it, or beat it on a beater rack. That will ruin it. Repeat until it leaves no color on the towel.

CLEANING the PALETTE: To cleanup the acrylic palette, scoop under the paint, lifting it off the palette, with the broad edge of the knife. Almost all the paint can be removed this way. Discard the paint. Next, wipe the palette with a clean dry soft paper towel. Now wipe the palette with a baby wipe, then dry again with a clean dry paper towel. repeat if necessary. Be sure to clean the back of the palette too.

If you have a painting tip you'd like to share,
You may contact Lorena in person, at:
lorenasworld@earthlink.net
or call 510/222-2425