Gonna start a painting project - need some advice.

[acotts]

So, I am doing a painting for my house. A pretty big one.

I've been painting for a while but it has been a long time (since college in 1999) since I have embarked on a project like this....one that will be in my living room for all to see.

and judge...


So, I am reproducing this peice from Deac Mong called Silent Forest. I wont lie, I saw it at a crate and barrel 5 years ago but have liked it ever since...I just dont like it $500 per print a lot. So, in the great tradition of assholes, I am going to do it myself.

My plan is to use balsa wood for the canvas.. I have always prefered wood canvas as I like the rigidity and its WAY cheaper and far more flexible in terms of size, than pre-packaged canvas. And since I am framing this, I am not too worried about the depth (I like a bit of 3-dimensionality.

S0 here is my plan, I could use a bit of help in procuring the right tools.
One peice of Balsa wood - 55" wide by 36
Standard Gesso Primer
A basic acrylic paint set, one standard oil set and an assortment of brushes. (I also have a bunch of random stuff from my 20 or so years messing around with paints, chalks, and pens.)

I prime the wood with Gesso, then I paint the the background color, the sorta faded grey-green with the bright spot towards the middle bottom. I actually see this as the hardest part. I plan on using some pretty big brushes (I dont remember how they measure brush size) to get this nice soft effect.
q1) do you think I can get this soft look with acrylic? I dont want to wait 3 days as with oils. I really dont ahve the time for that.

Then once it is dry, I plan to use oil paints to paint the the secondary and tertiary background trees as I am not sure I can make that translucent look with acrylic.

q2) I can layer oil on Acrylic like this right? do I need to do something to ensure I dont pull up the paint?
q3) would one use linseed oil to dilute the paint? Will that pull up the acrylic.

Then I use almost a straight black paint for the trees in the foreground.
q4) what kind of brush should I use to get that leaf effect?

final Q, this looks easy, but experience has shown me that art is always way harder than it looks. I know enough to know that this shit is hard. Could I still be totally understimate myself and this is likely to end up in disaster? I would need to bust this out in less than 13 or 14 hours.

Thanks doods!

[Too Tall]

Nothing to offer. I'd love to hear more. Mom was a prolific artist in watercolor, oil pastel and oil. Some of her best work was painting on silk with wax resist. Very time consuming work with dramatic results.
What you are doing will be bold.

[acotts]

yeah, I have done enough of this stuff to know I am on the wrong side of the learning curve.

[the bottle ride]

Just in for the fun- great post. I love this kind of stuff as it offer insight to the person and I love an art project.

[acotts]

The fun thing about these projects is they never turn out like one expects. There is a ton to learn and a ton of creativity even in plagery.

[vertical_doug]

Typing from iPhone so forgive typos

You can buy unframed print for 149 from artist. This will be cheaper than buying all the supplies yourself. But if you really want to try, have fun. The color on my iPhone makes me think it is a burnt umber not black. This is a warmer earth tone. Using a acrylic gesso is fine but I stay with oil for color. You can thin using a Turp for the wash. You don't need to wait for it to dry because top layers will be thicker with linseed oil. Painting thick over thin is no issue.

10 hrs is way too ambitious. I'd start with something much smaller so you work on tonal values and textures before going to a larger scale.

[vertical_doug]

To quote a story about picasso

An American woman saw Picasso sketching at a cafe in Paris. Being pushy, she asked picasso if he'd sketch her.

Picasso took a few minutes and drew a quick sketch.

The woman than told Picasso she wanted to buy the drawing.

Picasso said "5000 francs"
The woman responded that was outrageous as it only took him a few minutes.

To which Picasso replied,"no Madame, it has taken me all my life"

[j44ke]

I wouldn't paint oils over the acrylics. Oils are probably all that was used in this painting and you will be frustrated trying to get anywhere close. Things in the painting like the fog or the leaves have been done using some glazing techniques in which the oil paint has been thinned. There are ways to do this without super-saturating the paint with turpentine. And you can alter the drying speed of glazes as well by either mixing your own dryers or buying them pre-made at an art store. Balsa is pretty absorbent, so you'll want to really seal the surface with gesso. Layer and sand and layer again several times to seal the surface and create a smooth texture. You can also use masonite. I think linseed oil in the oil paint would retard the drying time and create an unstable final surface. Turpentine is the usual thinner, but as before, there are also glazing mediums that allow you to thin paint and hasten drying time so you can layer thin transparent layers of paint to built up atmosphere. Review a bit of color theory. There are ways to make black and white work in the space of your painting by adjusting their tint, or in the case of black, mixing a "black" out of other colors so that it will resonate with the surrounding palette of hues in the painting.

[Craig Ryan]

I'd buy primed canvas off the roll at Prism art supply (or other source of your choice) and stretch it proper onto canvas stretcher bars. Alternatively you could get .125" masonite and sand and prime it. I would use oils with some linseed oil and odorless thinner and go for it. Don't mix your media or you'll have trouble. You could also work with acrylics, but the dry time is fast. This could be a fun and educational project. You may want to mess around and develop your color palette on smaller pieces before you go bigger. Just stick with one material and have fun. Go for it!

[acotts]

I wouldn't paint oils over the acrylics. Oils are probably all that was used in this painting and you will be frustrated trying to get anywhere close. Things in the painting like the fog or the leaves have been done using some glazing techniques in which the oil paint has been thinned. There are ways to do this without super-saturating the paint with turpentine. And you can alter the drying speed of glazes as well by either mixing your own dryers or buying them pre-made at an art store. Balsa is pretty absorbent, so you'll want to really seal the surface with gesso. Layer and sand and layer again several times to seal the surface and create a smooth texture. You can also use masonite. I think linseed oil in the oil paint would retard the drying time and create an unstable final surface. Turpentine is the usual thinner, but as before, there are also glazing mediums that allow you to thin paint and hasten drying time so you can layer thin transparent layers of paint to built up atmosphere. Review a bit of color theory. There are ways to make black and white work in the space of your painting by adjusting their tint, or in the case of black, mixing a "black" out of other colors so that it will resonate with the surrounding palette of hues in the painting.

So if it is all oils paint, how do I set the background so that it does bleed into the thinned oil paints? To be honest, thats what I am most afraid of. Oil paints are the medium I have had least exposure to. Mainly because of the drying time and the host of agents one needs. (that and class rooms dont teach in oil...so no one ever taught me). My biggest issue is that I would take days off and the pain would still be wet.

hmmm...I am not sure if I have the time to do this.

...I gotta think about this.

[ElvisMerckx]

If you want oils to dry quicker, don't add stand oil or linseed oil when mixing paints, just use turpentine. Or you can accelerate drying time in oils by adding a siccative -- however too much siccative will cause it to dry too quickly and unevenly leading to cracks & fissures in the paint surface.

I'd recommend allowing the base coat to dry for a day or two (the surface can be tacky, but not wet) before adding the middle and foreground.

And, never insult oils by mixing them on a canvas with acrylics.

[Craig Ryan]

I wouldn't worry about the drying, it goes quicker than you think. Actually, it's your friend in that it lets you work slower and not worry about your paint drying on the palette. Mix your paint with just a bit of oil as you go and your surface will be smooth as a baby's butt, and dry quickly. You won't have any trouble with the background "setting." The costs won't be any higher than good quality acrylics.

All you need is a about 8 colors, oil, and thinner to clean up. Buy a few small tubes to work out your palette. Once your onto the range of colors necessary for all the background, buy big tubes. And like above, don't use straight black, warm it up.

We did some paintings at school on 4'x8' sheets of masonite. If you line around the backside with 1"x2" cedar it looks pretty nice and stays flat.

[ElvisMerckx]

So if it is all oils paint, how do I set the background so that it does bleed into the thinned oil paints?

Tacky surface, and make sure the paint on the brush isn't too wet (oil and/or turpentine should not separate from pigment on the palette).