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Bruce Mulcahy acrylic demonstration
Topic for today Langstrothdale.
Bruce mainly paints outdoors and after over 40 years experience he has refined his equipment list to colours and equipment that work for him and the outdoor conditions.
Bruce works mostly on watercolour NOT paper, sometimes a canvas board. He used a plastic lid as a palette and uses the following colours: Titanium white, Lemon yellow, Cadmium yellow medium, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Crimson, Vermillion, Bt Umber. Bruce also has a unique water system of old medicine bottles! ideal when you are outdoors. This ensures the colours stay clean by frequent use of a new water bottle.
Langstrothdale
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A preparatory basic line sketch, ensuring the large shapes are drawn in.
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First, aim to put down main dark colour shapes, using a mix of Ultramarine and Bt umber. Using plenty of paint put in the big shapes that can be refined later. The aim is to put down colour shapes of what you see in the landscape, rather than focussing too much on WHAT the shape is at this stage.
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Dark shapes completed.
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Paler tones. Wet-in-wet technique used for some areas.
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Coffee break and raffle time. Members also buying art materials.
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Making progress
With lighter tones Bruce does "negative painting" - carving out shapes by covering up some of the previous dark paint leaving the shapes you want to show.
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Bruce's uncomplicated plastic lid palette.
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Using dry-brush technique
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Explaining the techniques: wet-in-wet, dry brush, and glazing.
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After 2 hours Bruce had nearly completed the painting, only the fine detail to add.
Bruce confirmed that unless the painting is framed under glass, he puts a matt varnish on his finished acrylic paintings. This ensures that the paint is protected from dust.
It was a very enjoyable and informative afternoon. Bruce was thanked for providing an inspirational demonstration and for his advice and technical information about the use of acrylics as well as comparisons to gouache.
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