In Coming Okapi In Acrylics

6/19/2017

I'm starting this painting with the underpainting for some blurry leaves. I've done this by blocking in my entire canvas with a very dark gray that I made by mixing mars black with some titanium white. Once the entire canvas was blocked in, I painted on even darker gray, and then white patches, using zigzag strokes with a filbert brush. Using a round brush, I painted marks of varying widths and lengths to represent leaves.

I mixed a darkish gray by adding titanium white to my premixed gray color and, using a small round brush, painted leaf like shapes all over the canvas.

Using the same technique as described in my last post, I painted black "leaves" all over the canvas. I painted titanium white and grey highlights on my dark gray leaves. I'm in the process of using a liner brush to paint darkish gray, black and white "branches" by making a shaky motion with my wrist as I move the lines down. I'm making mostly incomplete "v" and "x" patterns

Here's the painting with the black and the white "branches" filled in.

I mixed hansa yellow light, ultramarine blue, transparent burnt umber, and ivory black to make a dark brownish green, which I glazed over the background. I decided it wasn't dark enough for me, though, so I mixed a color that included more ivory black. I wasn't satisfied, however, until I glazed straight ivory black all over the green of the background. I did this by mixing the paint with the medium to the point where it was pretty much a tinted medium.

Here are the branches painted a darker grayish brown made by mixing transparent mixing white, ivory black, and burnt umber and a dark brown made by mixing transparent burnt umber and ivory black.

Here's my sketch of the trees for the midground, which I'm going to trace and transfer onto the canvas.

Here I've painted cadmium yellow and titanium white highlights onto the background.

Here's the underpainting for the trees started.

Here's the underpainting for the midground finished.

I've gone over the first tree from the left with a light brown made by mixing transparent mixing white with transparent burnt umber. I mixed some transparent burnt umber into gray made by mixing transparent mixing white with ivory black and glazed that over part of the ground. I also mixed quinacridone red into my brown and glazed that over part the tree in the far right. I put a fair amount of matte medium into all of these colors.

Here are my okapis transferred onto my painting.

Here's the underpainting for the okapis finished.

I've started by glazing transparent burnt sienna all over the okapis whose bodies can be seen. I glazed transparent raw umber for the darker shadows on the first okapis body. I have more work to do on that still, but for now I'm working on the gray and white patches.

I glazed quinacridone red over multiple layers of transparent burnt sienna on the first okapi to brighten it. Then I mixed gray from transparent mixing white and ivory black and, using a small round brush, painted streaks and swirls of this shade where appropriate. That's when I could see the painting coming together.