‘Vibrant Acrylics’ 7th Painting Exercise – Abstract Landscape

This landscape exercise in ‘Vibrant Acrylics’ by Hashim Akib was the most difficult for me to date. The colours and composition in Hashim’s painting were somehow difficult for me to apply. This painting was on my easel for over a month and although I reworked sections, I was still not happy with it.

In a moment of clarity or craziness, I decided to try a smaller version on acrylic paper. Disappointed with the brushwork again... I took out my pallet knife and created something prettier than my first version. Can’t wait to start the next painting in the book and hope I have better success.

‘Vibrant Acrylics’ Sixth Painting Exercise Benny the Cat

Initially the fur looked much darker than the example in ‘Vibrant Acrylics’. To lighten it up I added more yellow highlights and probably went a little too far. The large brushes are hard for me to control so I’m using smaller ones and this contributes to the different look. As usual my perspective on the cat is a little skewed; the painting's not perfect and doesn’t look like Hashim Akib’s version in the book, but I still like it anyway.

‘Vibrant Acrylics’ Fifth Painting Exercise - Antiques and Tennis Ball

Can’t believe it’s over a month since I painted the roses.  The fifth exercise ‘Antiques and Tennis Ball’ from Vibrant Acrylics by Hashim Akib looked really awesome but also difficult; that’s probably why it took me so long to finish.

I have a definite problem with perspective and it keeps cropping up every time I try a still life or building. I’ve had classes on perspective, read articles and watched You Tube videos and they always makes sense, but when it comes to drawing or painting…I don’t know what happens. Anyway the painting came out nice enough, except for the dog statue, which BTW was supposed to be a lion:)). Hopefully the next exercise will be finished sooner, but no promises.

‘Vibrant Acrylics’ Fourth Exercise - a Rose

The fourth exercise 'Paint a flower in fifty brushstrokes' from ‘Vibrant Acrylics’ was completed back at the beginning of September because, as usual, I was impatient.

To do all the exercises in order I’ve repeated the rose painting; this time using bigger brushes and canvas. For some reason, painting shapes isn’t easy for me, especially getting the right perspective.  The second painting looked worse than the first; so I decided to paint over it for a third try.

It took many attempts to get a good photo of the third painting because the texture from the previous one shows through. After looking at them, it seems I may have put too much deep violet in all three. I'll keep trying this exercise until I’m happy with the results... but don't worry I won't bore you with them:))

'Vibrant Acrylics' first two exercises

As promised, I am working my way through the exercises in the ‘Vibrant Acrylics’ book by Hashim Akib.

The first exercise ‘Using generous strokes’ was a lesson in making confident marks with big strokes and not overworking the paint. It was tough using a large 2" brush as the artist suggested, so most of the painting was done with a 1" short flat. The background colour was process magenta & titanium white; the example in the book had a lot more of the background showing. It was also hard not to overwork the painting… but for my first try it wasn’t a total disaster.

The second exercise ‘Let’s Paint’ was a still life image using strong primary colours. The background was made with cadmium orange & titanium white. Again I had trouble using the large 2" brush, so mostly the 1 1/2 “, 1” & ¼” flat brushes were used. It was difficult to draw the images with a paint brush and I found my perspective and size of the elements not quite right. When completed, though, I did like the final painting and enjoyed the process.

Both images were painted on sheets from Blick Studio canvas pad size 16" x 20", bought while in NYC. Hashim's instructions were to use 24" x 18", but I'm not sure it would change my mind about the 2" brush. Painting larger and with heavy body acrylics is different and really enjoyable; some day I'll try a larger canvas.

Vibrant Acrylics Art Book by Hashim Akib

Came across Vibrant Acrylics by Hashim Akib; found the book while watching ‘A Splash of Paint’. They were doing a review of the book and I was intrigued because the artist’s style was fabulous. Reading books completely is not my forte… and to my surprise the author was conscious of people like me. By the third page Hashim recommended an assignment to do if the reader couldn’t wait. The book was written for me...great minds think alike.

What I produced wasn’t fabulous but there were lessons learned. One of the problems, yet again, was I didn’t have the right colour paints or large brushes. There goes more money for art products; but this time it’s o.k. because I’ll be doing all the exercises in this book. The colours also suit me so that’s good too.

Will also try to be patient and read the book from start to finish and do ALL the assignments in order. After my attempt at ‘the Rose’ it’s absolutely necessary! Watch this space...