How I painted a city scene with acrylics

I recently painted: 'Not a Typical Office Job,' inspired by photos I took when I visited my son recently in Sydney. In this blog post, I outline what was involved in the painting process (which in general applies to my other paintings). My paintings are many layers, over several days and I specialise in acrylics.

I took the original reference pics with my bridge camera, which has the advantage of a built in zoom but it's not great with low lighting. One doesn't need to try copy a photo exactly anyway (after all, a camera doesn't even see what we see). Using my own reference pics ensures I don't run into any copyright issues. I find it helpful to resize the reference pic to the same dimensions as my painting plus do a greyscale version (desaturate the colour). 

Most smartphones and tablets have a desaturation option. An image on a screen gives more colour information and detail than a printed version. Plus, I can zoom in when necessary (to compensate for my eyesight challenges - I need corrective lens 3 different refractive errors with my eyes).

Most of the pics in this blog post were taken with my phone, in not the best lighting (I don't have the luxury of a dedicated art studio with optimal lighting).

I usually paint on canvas. For this painting, I used cradled gesso panel/board, which I thought might suit the detail better. I applied masking tape around the edges, to avoid paint getting onto the wood sides, which I wanted to leave unpainted. (With canvas, I extend the image around the edges as I paint). I applied an extra layer of gesso to smooth out any imperfections.

I haven't bothered gridding (which I see as mechanical and tedious) but for this painting, the proportions were very important for the perspective. So I applied a grid over the digital image and lightly ruled a grid with water soluble pencil. Then, I lightly sketched in the most important parts (the people and window frames). It's no point drawing in everything, as it will just be painted over. The idea of a grid, is that what you see in the grid, is what you draw, although I didn't bother with most of it.

I used an extra fine black acrylic paint pen for the window lines and I applied spots of bright colours to indicate the shirts and buckets associated with the window washes.  These were useful for helping navigate as I painted (like assembling a very complex jigsaw puzzle).

Then, I applied washes with acrylic inks, mostly with Prussian blue, to reflect that I mostly saw blue in the reflected glass. Acrylic inks are extremely fluid with suspended pigments. I use them for my 'ground' layers, to help me map out the approximate composition, give approximate tones and to get rid of the white gesso.

It actually doesn't really matter what colours one uses, as long as there is tone (contrast of lights, darks and midtones).

To check if my tones were dark enough, I took photos with my phone and converted to greyscale. I made the bridge a little narrower, as it was dark (it's easier to paint dark over light paint but not vice versa). Then, I started painting in heavy-body acrylics.

I worked in layers, going from 'back' to 'front'. In this painting, that was reflected sky, reflected buildings, bridge, then finally details like the people (window washers). Each layer overlaps slightly. I painted wet-in-wet for areas like the buildings, to make a softer, more fluid effect. To keep the paints wet enough to work with, I only put out what I needed and sprayed as needed with a spray bottle containing water and Flow Aid (which enhances the fluidity).

I'd already chosen my main palette (I use a different palette for every painting). This painting was mostly Prussian blue, raw umber and titanium white. With touches of supporting colours. I choose my palette from mixing experiments in my art journal, plus experience. I work under artificial lighting, so a relatively limited palette helps me to compensate for poor lighting conditions.

'Not a Typical Office Job' Fine Art Print

NZ$35.00

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I found an angle/chisel brush best for painting the straight lines. Fine details like ropes were painted in at the end. I turned the painting upside down or sideways as necessary. Some of the ropes were a little thick, so I painted in some background to make them thinner. The advantage of using a limited palette, close to what I want,  is that it's easy to quickly mix something to match (bear in mind that acrylics look darker when dry).

There are multiple thin layers, finishing with some glazes (medium mixed with a little transparent paint). I felt more fluid layers suited this painting best. Then, I photographed the painting in natural light. (It's best to photograph art before varnish or glass framing, to avoid extra reflections). I intend to varnish it with gloss, to go with the glassy buildings.

I don't currently have space to film the entire process but I took some little snippets with my bridge camera and my phone and shared them to my social media (links at bottom). A composite video is below: