Which Method Gives Better Results? - WetCanvas: Online Living for Artists (2024)

SparkleAnnie

I’m still trying to get a good grasp on the technical aspects of painting with acrylics, since I’m a newbie. This might be a really stupid question, and I apologize for showing my ignorance. :o I don’t have the benefit of formal training in art, so I could use some advice from those of you who are more experienced.

Which method gives better results:

Painting dark layer first, then adding midtones and highlights on top?

OR

Painting midtones first, then the shadows and highlights?

Which method produces the best results? Which method is the accepted method when using acrylics? Is there a hard and fast rule? I was told by an oil painter that midtones always go down first, regardless of the medium used.

I’ve experimented with both methods using acrylics and feel that perhaps it depends upon the subject being painted. For instance, when painting skin tones, clothing, or flower petals, midtones first with shadows and highlights on top may give better results. Though when painting trees trunks and foliage, for instance, dark to light seems best.

Is there a right and wrong way? Does it depend on the subject?

Thanks for your guidance. I appreciate your feedback.

SparkleAnnie

Guide

The best method is the one that gives you (personally) the best results. One might work better for me and not at all for you. If it feels right, you are satisfied with the results and feel it is in some way better for you than guess what…..this is the method you should seriously consider.

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DebSpinks

I’ve experimented with both methods using acrylics and feel that perhaps it depends upon the subject being painted. For instance, when painting skin tones, clothing, or flower petals, midtones first with shadows and highlights on top may give better results. Though when painting trees trunks and foliage, for instance, dark to light seems best.

Seems like you’ve done the best thing – experimented and come to a reasonable conclusion. I generally start with midtones and work up and down the scale. I may start somewhat darker for the deeper values, but I paint in layers and like the result of the layers interacting with each other to give a rich depth of color.

Debra

Debra
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Einion

Which method gives better results:

Err, there isn’t necessarily a ‘better’ method for a lot of things – there’s what works well for you, which may be quite different from many other people. So bear in mind what I’m going to say below is just my opinion, which you’re free to ignore completely

Painting dark layer first, then adding midtones and highlights on top?

OR

Painting midtones first, then the shadows and highlights?

Er, sorta neither.

If you imagine your ground is a light grey or tint of brown (often better than just white) then you could paint the shadow areas roughly first, then establish the major areas of value in each zone so you’re not really working over existing paint much until you start to refine things.

In oil paint there are some sound reasons to paint darks first and paint more thickly and opaquely above this but in acrylics you really can paint any way you like, if the paint will actually do what you want.

I was told by an oil painter that midtones always go down first, regardless of the medium used.

No, that’s false. That may be the way he/she worked but it’s far from universal both historically and today.

I’ve experimented with both methods using acrylics and feel that perhaps it depends upon the subject being painted.

That’s really the bottom line – sometimes you’ll find it easier to paint a certain way, sometimes another way (even in the same painting). It’s all about the finished effect you want to create, how you like to paint (thickly/thinly, glazing, layering etc.) the actual paints you’re using etc.

s there a right and wrong way?

There are certainly ‘wrong’ ways of approaching certain things in the sense that it’s just wasteful of time and paint – for example if you were painting yellow flowers against a black background there would be little sense in painting the entire canvas black and then trying to paint with a transluscent yellow paint on top of this, preferable to paint the yellow flowers first on a white or light ground, then paint the black areas around the existing elements.

Einion

metalhead

I’m pretty much an amateru, but paint opaquely for the most part. So I tend to disregard value in choosing what to do first. To some extent, I paint back to front (farthest away thigns first, nearer things last, and less detailed, bigger things first, more detailed, smallter things last.

It’s definitely not true that you should paint midtones first regardless of medium. Watercolor is lights to darks as a general rule, for instance, just because once something is darkened, it’s tough (or impossible) to lighten it again.

timelady

Ditto to what’s been said. I use different approaches in different cases. In general I find a dark base layer difficult but only because of my overall technique of thin transparent layers. I find glazing whites or lights over darks very difficult in acrylics. Similar to what Einion said about flowers with transparent yellows. So if I do start dark it’s if I’m using a midtone opaque layer next, then lights. I probably start mid-toned.

There’s no right or wrong in acrylic.
Tina.

SparkleAnnie

Thank you everyone. So basically, it’s up to the artist and the effect he/she is trying to attain. My methods aren’t so wrong after all.

My general style seems to be closest to Debra’s and Tina’s…painting in thin layers. However, I’ve found I sometimes paint as Metalhead does…more opaquely, depending on what I’m trying to achieve.

I appreciate you all taking time to answer this question. The aforementioned oil painter was so insistent, I was nearly convinced I was doing my paintings all the wrong way. He admitted he liked the results I was getting, though he argued my method was techniquely wrong.

Thanks again!

SparkleAnnie

Nitsa

[FONT=”Comic Sans MS]For me, it’s all about personal comfort!
I have no strict technique I just approach each painting the way that feels right to me on the day. Although, without knowing it, I probably lean towards a certain approach more than others but it isn’t something I am too aware of…I just paint!

A great way of “seeing” how other artist approach works is to check out the WIP threads here in the acrylic forum, very interesting reading! [/FONT]

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"Love art... Of all lies, it is the least untrue." - Gustave Flaubert, letter (1846)

SparkleAnnie

I like your outlook, Nitsa.

Quote: “I just paint”

That statement was actually one I’d spoken during my debate with the oil painter when he said, “What are you doing? That’s not the way you’re supposed to do that!” He was looking at a WIP on my easel. About two thirds was the underpainting, and the other third I was in the process of applying more layers. My response was, “I don’t know. I just paint.”

Makes sense to me! After all, it’s really the satisfaction of having brush in hand, paint on the palette, and channeling whatever is in our heads through the brush and onto the canvas that truly matters.

I hope someday to attain something even close to the level of expertise demonstrated by the artists whose work I’ve seen here at WetCanvas. I’ve admired and studied many, many WIPs and finished works here and learned much from my observations and reading of the threads. If I allowed myself, I’d be on this web site all day, every day, trying to absorb it all at once! I am so glad I found WetCanvas. I’m very grateful for the many talented artists who populate the forums and contribute on a regular basis. A very big “Thank You!” to each and every one.

SparkleAnnie

metalhead

One other point, sometimes you can’t trust what people say that they do to match what they actually do. Not because they’re trying to deceive you, but because they don’t actually know what they do. For instance, today I noticed myself just jump in and start painting the most interesting part first, ignoring all other considerations. Which doesn’t match what I said above.

Guide

One thing to remember is that oil painters are painting in a totally different medium with other handling considerations. As an acrylic painter you don’t have to be concerned with the concept of “fat over lean” because in the acrylic world that doesn’t exist.

It can be a matter of just a different mindset and nowhere is it written that there is only one way to do anything.. Enjoy the process.

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The only person you can't fool, is yourself! (Oz The Great and Powerful)
"If you think you can, or think you can't, your right!"
"The thing about art is that life is in no danger of being meaningless," Robert Genn

meganj

In general, I try to plan back to front. I seem to paint a lot of plants, and going back after the fact to hunt down all the little white spots I missed while painting branches and leaves is a royal pain. If I have a light spot (for instance a flower) on a very dark background, I might cut in the edges of the flower over the dark with a titanium white, or a tinted titanium white, and then do layers over that. Negative painting doesn’t always work well for me… If I have a blended background, I don’t want to have to go back and touch it up if I can help it. My mixed paint will either be gone, or too dry to revive, 75-85% of the time.

Something else to keep in mind is how many of your colors are transparent, and which ones are opaque. Back to front works easily if they are all opaque. If some are transparent, then it becomes much more difficult, or at least will take multiple layers to rectify. This brings me to the wonders of choosing titanium white (opaque) over zinc white (transparent) and vice versa. Mixing Titanium white with transparent colors makes those colors cover much better… if you’re looking for more layers, then use the zinc white. I have been using much more zinc than titanium lately. I’m sure that will change from time to time.

My two cents, and limited experience!

We must be willing to get rid of the life that we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. -Joseph Campbell
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Einion

One other point, sometimes you can’t trust what people say that they do to match what they actually do. Not because they’re trying to deceive you, but because they don’t actually know what they do. For instance, today I noticed myself just jump in and start painting the most interesting part first, ignoring all other considerations. Which doesn’t match what I said above.

That’s an excellent point. Also people sometimes don’t ‘watch’ what they do so they might leave out little things that form part of their painting process. Also there are posting constraints – not many of us are trained typists so it’s very attractive to condense things down to the minimum to get an idea across.

P.S. I sometimes do the same thing – paint the fun parts first

Einion

timelady

The fun parts? Oh, wait, yes, of course. I LOVE my job! Some weeks I forget…

I was going to mention the fat over lean thing too, just because we’d mentioned that oil was different but didn’t mention *why*. And I worked dark to light on a painting last week that turned out lovely. So don’t listen to us either.

Tina.