Modern Art Tutorial

Jason watches this cartoon about a spy agency called Archer. Maybe cartoon is a little too lighthearted of a way of describing it. Animated drunken/nudity/violent/profanity fest (with a pet ocelot) is probably more appropriate. You have been warned.

I've noticed in the background scenery that there are some really neat pieces of art hanging on the walls. I decided that I would make a painting like one of the ones hanging in the ISIS office as a gift for Jason.

That's right, I made the guy who doesn't appreciate art (especially modern art) a painting. "Why Dana, " you say, "that's a really dumb idea." You're right, it is. But it's okay. He's really good at faking sincerity. That being said, the router that took 5 minutes to pick out was appreciated much more than the painting that took 3 hours to make.


Here's what you need to make one:

Canvas - any old canvas or smooth piece of wood will do. The one I used is a piece of Masonite with a wooden frame on the back for stability. It's left over from an old painting class project that I hated.

Brush - use a big one. Unless I'm trying to paint details, I find it easiest to work with a 3" house paint brush. For details, a 1/2" to 1" paint brush.

Paint - my original idea was to use house paint because a) I've already chosen the colors to match our decor  and b) we have gallons and gallons of the stuff out in the garage. I decided against this plan because a) it's hot in the garage and b) I didn't feel like shaking up gallons and gallons of paint. Instead, I used a combination of acrylic artist's paints, white gesso (primer for canvases), and matte medium (for thinning paint).

Cup o' water, paint palette (old or disposable plate), paper towels, drop cloth (trash bag or newspaper)


Here's how I did it:

Looking at the original painting (far right) from Archer, I made rough sketches of the order in which it appeared the layers of color were applied. I also noted the placement and shapes of those color blocks. It helps paintings to look more visually interesting when there are lots of layers of paint. Also, don't use the paint straight out of the tube. Mix it with another color first, but keep the colors a little streaky.

1st layer: tan



This layer was intentionally dark so that it would show up as shadows under the next layers. I used burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and cadmium yellow. I mixed the colors together and with  white gesso, then applied it in streaks to my canvas. The blue spot in the middle is part of the old painting showing through from underneath.

Let each layer dry completely before starting with the next. A hair dryer helps when you get impatient. The shadow across the top of each picture is from the wall shelf above where I was painting.



2nd layer: white



I diluted the white gesso with the dirty brown water from my cup. That made the white less bright. I slopped my dirty water/gesso mix onto the canvas and let the drips run down. I repeated this step until I had built up enough layers to hide parts of the first layer that I didn't want to show as much, but intentionally left some of it visible.



3rd layer: yellow



I mixed cadmium yellow and yellow ochre with matte medium to make the paint thinner and more transparent. I painted a wide, horizontal swath across the canvas. Then I dunked my brush in the dirty water and went back over it to make some drips.



4th layer: orange



Napthol crimson mixed with yellow ochre, cad yellow, and matte medium. I scribbled it across the right side of the canvas and laid the canvas down flat when I wanted the drips to stop spreading.



5th layer: blue wash



Ultamarine, pthalo blue, a touch of cad yellow, and matte medium. I got a little too much in the center of the canvas, so I scrubbed it off with a paper towel and water while the paint was still fresh. Added lots of water to make it drip like crazy.



6th layer: red



Napthol crimson, burnt sienna, and matte medium. I didn't use any water to streak this layer.



7th layer: brown



Burnt umber, burnt sienna, ultamarine blue. My burnt umber was about the consistency of fudge, so I mixed it with some matte medium to thin it out. When that didn't thin it enough, I used a palette knife to apply it, instead of the brush. It's really thick and I'm pretty sure it's never going to dry. Also, WOW, it's really dark.



8th layer: blue shadow
Pthalo blue, ultamarine, a touch of yellow ochre. Oopsie, looks like I forgot to take a photo.

9th layer: brown touchup



The unplanned layer. I wasn't happy with the 7th layer. It's just sitting there on top of the canvas screaming I AM BROWN!! Using some yellow and white I made a lighter brown. Thankfully the paint hadn't dried all the way yet, so I was able to work the lighter brown with the darker, existing brown and scrape the surface so that you can see some of the red layer underneath.

I think that the reason the brown layer didn't work is because it is so opaque. All of the other layers are thin and you can see parts of the under layer peeking through. I wish that I had used more matte medium and applied the brown in several layers so that it had that same effect.

All in all, I'm happy with the way my painting turned out. It's been years since the last time I painted and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. Maybe I should start painting again?