Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

Create a richly textured painting with tissue paper and a painting knife

Level: Beginner to AdvancedFlesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8.2Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 62.7Drawspace Curriculum 8.4.A2 - 6 Pages and 12 Illustrations

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

Supplies: pre-stretched canvas or canvas board, white tissue paper (color tissue paper optional), soft brush about 1 in (2.54 cm) wide, acrylic gesso, scissors, acrylic paint, painting/palette knife with 3/8 to 1/2 in (1 to 1.27 cm) tip, water for mixing and cleaning, paper towels

This activity has two sections:• Prepare a Tissue Paper

Background• Paint with Impasto

Painting with texture adds a three-dimensional effect that catches light and creates shadows in the peaks and valleys of the paint.

Figure 1

This activity is fun, easy to do and requires few supplies.

The surface used in this lesson is a 6 by 6 in (15.2 by 15.2 cm) canvas board (Figure 1).

2 8.4.A2: Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

Prepare a Tissue Paper Background1. Cut a piece of craft tissue paper

slightly larger than your canvas.

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

In Figure 2, you can see that white tissue paper was used. However, a colored tissue paper may be used as an option to add interest to your artwork.

As an Aside

2. Bunch up the tissue paper in your fist to make lots of wrinkles (Figure 3).

3. Slightly flatten the wrinkles in the tissue (peek ahead to Figures 5 and 6).

When you finish, the wrinkled paper should still be approximately the same size as the canvas.

4. Place your wrinkled tissue paper close by so you can later access it quickly.

5. Mix just enough gesso and water to cover the canvas with two coats.

Use an approximate three-to-one ratio of gesso and water. You can also add color to the gesso mix, as shown in Figure 4. (A gold acrylic paint was mixed in to give a shimmery warmth to the painting.)

6. Paint the canvas quickly using the gesso mixture and a wide acrylic brush (Figure 4).

7. Place the tissue over top of the canvas and brush another coat of gesso mixture over the tissue (Figure 5 to 6).

38.4.A2: Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

Artists often choose to add a tint to their canvas before beginning their painting in order to give an overall warmth or coolness to their work.

Tip!

Craft tissues come in a wide variety of colors and can be found at art supply stores, or in the gift wrap section of department stores. Also, next time you or someone you know receives a gift with tissue paper as part of the wrapping, don’t throw it away! Keep it with your art supplies.

As an Aside

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Work quickly so the gesso doesn’t dry! The beautiful wrinkles sharpen and create a wonderul textured background.

8. Before you continue, let the canvas/tissue paper dry fully.

9. Trim any excess tissue paper that’s extending off of the canvas using scissors or a cutting knife.

Impasto: a technique used in painting where paint is thickly applied with a brush or painting knife (also known as a palette knife). The resulting effect is that the paint is strongly textured and appears to emerge from the painting with a three-dimensional effect.

ArtSpeak

Paint With ImpastoIn this demonstration, a simple palette of the following acrylic paint colors are used:

• Titanium White• Cadmium Green• Hooker’s Green• Dioxazine Violet• Cadmium Yellow Lemon

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

Figure 8

Figure 7

Tip!

Painting knives, also known as palette knives, come in a variety of sizes and shapes and can be found in most art supply stores and online. Most painting knives are made of pliable plastic and are very affordable. Painting knives can also be made of metal which last longer and are less prone to breaking. Painting knives are most often used for Impasto painting, but may also be used to achieve a variety of interesting effects and are very easy to keep clean.

10. Use the painting knife, two greens, and a bit of white to create loose shapes that represent leaves (Figure 7).

Notice there are no defined edges. The color itself creates the shape of the leaves (Figure 8).

11. Apply a thick layer of the darkest flower color using your painting knife. This creates your flower shape.

Allow the painting knife to create the shape of the petals. The knife used in this demonstration has a rounded tip.

A pointed tip knife will create petal shapes with pointed ends. Both are perfectly acceptable.

12. Layer the lighter flower colors over the dark using the painting knife, as if you are sculpting the painting.

4 8.4.A2: Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

Tip!

When working with acrylic paint, always keep a supply of clean water and paper towel or wipes handy to mop up excess paint on brushes and knives, for accidental spills, and for mishaps on your painting. Paint is often messy and sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. Be prepared!

Please remember to use paragraph styles DOUBLE NUMBER and INDENT DOUBLE NUMBER for double digit call-to-action numbers.

Figure 10

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

Figure 9 13. Build the paint until the lightest color is on top. (Figure 9)

In Figure 9, the lighter colors of the flower were created by loosely mixing the Dioxazine Violet with White.

For smoother color, mix the colors thoroughly on your palette before applying.

Less mixing allows for more variation in the applied color.

(Either slight or thorough mixing are perfectly acceptable.)

58.4.A2: Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

14. Add the finishing touches (Figure 10).

In Figure 10, a touch of Cadmium Yellow Lemon was added to the centre of the flower to create a focal point and add interest.

Touches of yellow were also mixed with green to make highlights in the leaves.

In addition, a smaller flower bud was added underneath the larger flower for interest.

Figure 11

ISBN: 978-1-77193-233-2Copyright © 2016 Drawspace Publishing and Cailin Green. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Cailin Green and Drawspace Publishing.

To learn more about the artist’s work, visit:

www.CailinGreen.com Facebook: Cailin Green Artist

To learn about the artist’s music, visit:

www.CampbellAndGreen.ca www.YouTube.com,

Campbell + Green channel

15. Let the paint dry completely.

Once dry, you may choose to declare the painting complete.

16. Enhance the background texture by brushing on and gently wiping off a darker color (Figure 11).

The dark paint gets trapped in the small folds and adds more contrast.

In Figures 11 and 12, a dark brown mixed with water and a black was brushed on and wiped off using wet paper towel to bring out the background texture.

Experiment with the consistency of the paint and water mixture on a separate surface before applying directly to your painting.

Figure 12

6 8.4.A2: Use Impasto to Paint with Texture

Caution!

Be careful not to rub too hard when applying a darker color on the background texture. When the paper is wet, it’s vulnerable to tearing or rubbing off.