How To Paint

Step by Step Painting Instructions

Note: This page is under construction

reference photo

Original photo

Getting Started - When I start a painting, my main reference source are photos I have taken on my trips around Nova Scotia. I typically use anywhere from 2 to 10 pictures to get the image I want but for this painting I just used the one. I really like the face of the big bull and how he is lifting up his head almost as a challenge to a stranger who has dared to invade his field.

I didn't actually get into his pasture, by the way. We were parked by the side of the road in the Gaspereau Valley and I was standing by the fence with my daughter Leah who was six years old at the time. My father, who was safely in the vehicle, saw this bull looking at me and yelled out the window "Bill, get out of there, that's a bull!". I quickly took this photo and we got back in the car.

Materials - Acrylic on stretched canvas. I stretch and prime my own canvas. However, sometimes I get lazy and buy canvas that is already stretched and primed with gesso. The advantage is I save time and the disadvantages are that you are left with standard sizes and sometimes the paint doesn't adhere very well to the gesso. When this happens you have to re-prime the painting surface. Click here for a full materials list.

Once in awhile I feel brave and try watercolour. This is not something I do very often as I find it challenging. It is a very unforgiving medium but I haven't given up on it altogether. When I first started painting I used oils exclusively. I love oil paint with its rich colours and textures but I switched to the water based acrylics that do not need strong solvents to dilute and clean.

Getting Started

	1. Pencil sketch - Most of my paintings start out with a pencil sketch right on the primed canvas. I do not do paliminary sketches on paper because I can visualize what I want the painting to be and doing sketches takes some of the sponiteity out of the final work.
	Using burnt umber, I paint over the pencil sketch and start filling in the dark areas. I make a point of filling in the dark areas to give a better idea of the contrast. This is crucial for any successful painting.
	After the burnt umber sketch is finished it's time to begin adding colour. I always start with the background first. I can't emphasize this enough, if you want to your paint to have depth you have to start with the background and work your way forward. To me, this is the most crucial stage of the painting. What makes a good painting a good balance between the foreground and background and if it I don't feel it at this stage then the picture will not be successful. As you can see here, I also start from dark to light, meaning that I apply dark colours first and add the light colours on in layers. This will add a 3 dimensional look to your work that will make it pop out at the viewer. Here I've started with Emerald Green mixed with Burnt Umder and a little bit of Ultramarine blue.

Finished painting