How to paint a school of fish in acrylic

How to paint a school of fish in acrylic

The materials for this lesson can be found at a Gold or above Art Centre. Go to to find your nearest stockist. CMMD6012 Mont Marte Double Thick Canvas 610x1220cm MPB0098 Mont Marte Abstract Expression Brush 50mm MPB0084 Mont Marte Hog Bristle Brush 75mm BMHS0030 Mont Marte Taklon Brush Set in Wallet 11pce MAMD0003 Mont Marte Acrylic Retarder Gel PMSA0010 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Titanium White PMSA0017 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Cadmium Yellow PMSA0008 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Phthalo Blue PMSA0029 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Cerulean Blue PMSA0018 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Paynes Grey PMSA0020 Mont Marte Satin Acrylic Silver PMDA0024 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Turquoise Also Required: Water paper towels Black and White Crayon

This project could be done as a larger or smaller size. It would also be a very good clasroom activity. 1. Painting the background The first step is to paint the surface of the canvas with Phthalo Blue. Let this coat dry. In the next stage of this step we need to add colours to the surface of the canvas and blend them together. To facilitate the smooth blending of colours we cover the surface of the canvas with a thin coat of retarder gel. Use a large hog bristle brush to apply this. Squeeze out some Turquoise [Dimension Acrylic] Phthalo Blue and Cerulean Blue. Add these colours over the top of the retarder gel so they align next to one another and then smoothly blend them together. Keep the brush moving quickly and blend darker colours into lighter colours. Use darker colours as you move down the canvas so that the tone is darker at the bottom. 1

3 1 2 5 2 2. Creating the fish Refer to the outline on page 7 and use a wax crayon to draw up the fish shapes. Use a white crayon for the dark areas and a black crayon for the lighter areas. Once all of the fish outlines have been drawn up squeeze out some silver paint and paint in each fish. Make sure that the crayon outline is covered and the coat is a consistant layer. Let this dry. Wax crayons can cause a resist. For this reason don’t press too hard with the crayon. This way a minimal amount will remain on the surface. 2

3. Adding the colour to the fish The fish can be painted in the following steps: 1) Paint the bottom portion of the fish with a blue created from Cerulean Blue and Titanium White. 2) Paint the top of the fish with Cadmium Yellow. Blend the tone out about halfway down the fish. 3) Use Paynes Grey to paint stripes on the fish. There should be a stripe on the tail and 4 stripes on the fish. Extend the stripes 3/4 of the way down the fish. Use a fine brush to paint the eye, then a circle around the eye and the gills. 3

3 1 2 5 4. Detaiing The fish have all been painted by this stage and the final step is to add Titanium White to the fish. Add the white around the eye, along the gills, over the top of the fish and over the top of the tail. 4

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