Table of Contents
Welcome 6
Project gallery 8
Chapter 1 Materials, tools, and techniques 12
Acrylic paint 14
Brushes 18
Palettes 20
Choosing a surface 22
Transferring your drawing 24
Color and value 26
Basic design principles 28
Displaying your work 30
Chapter 2 Putting on the paint 34
1 Basic paint application: Door 36
2 Mixing tints and shades: Envelope 38
3 Opaque layering: T-shirt 40
4 Expanding your color palette: Child's chalk drawing 42
5 Mixing values of gray: Wax crayon 44
6 Getting to know your brushes: Pastry with sprinkles 46
7 Cutting out a shape: Toy duck 48
8 Introduction to massing: Daisy 50
9 Textured layering: Red barn 52
10 Simple composition: Tabletop still life 54
11 Painting wood gram: Artist's palette 56
12 Distressing the surface: Brick wall 58
13 Simple reflections in water: Hot-air balloon 60
14 Rough and smooth surfaces: Egg on toast 62
15 Understanding fabric Theater curtains 64
16 Color contrasts: Door and padlock 66
17 Intricate details: Butterfly 68
Chapter 3 Light, shadow, and form 70
18 Introduction to cubes: Block of butter 72
19 Introduction to ellipses: Pineapple slice 74
20 Introduction to spheres: Pincushion 76
21 Introduction to cones: Holiday hat 78
22 Light and shade on a cube: Multi-layered sandwich 80
23 Reflective surfaces: Pawn 82
24 Introduction to cylinders: Stack of pancakes 84
25 Creating a unified color scheme: Cactus 86
26 Multiple spheres: Toy panda 88
27 Hatching brushstrokes: Bee 90
28 Understanding color values: Paper bag puppet 92
29 Shadow colors: Building block giraffe 94
30 Combining cones and spheres: Ice-cream cone 96
31 Complex ellipses: Button flower 98
32 Multiple geometric shapes: Toy rocket 100
33 Reflected light: Takeout carton 102
34 Multiple textures: Paintbrush 104
35 Complex cylinder: Pretzel 106
Chapter 4 Interpretive approaches 108
36 Random edges: Cumulus clouds 110
37 Expressive brushstrokes: Banana peel 112
38 Luminous light effects: City at sunset 114
39 Luminous glazes: Illuminated lightbulb 116
40 Creating clean, fresh whites: Swan 118
41 Simplifying the subject: Flamingo 120
42 Dramatic contrast: Light on road 122
43 Broken brushstrokes: Tree 124
44 Gradation and depth: Misty mountains 126
45 Mixing colors using glazes: Lighthouse 128
46 Complementary colors: Lemon branch 130
47 Translucency and transparency: Butterscotch candy 132
48 Painting a backlit subject: Thistle 134
49 Creating a sense of scale: Canyon vista 136
50 Tonalism: Landscape with setting sun 138
Glossary 140
Index 142
Credits 144