Step by Step - Micks Commentary
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Gull River, Haliburton - (south of Percy Lake)
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I get asked "Hey Mick how do you do your paintings ?" - quite a bit. I have been considering doing
a movie with my scanner - showing step by step procedures every 15 minutes or so. The only problem with
that is it seems like a lot of work - I plan on doing it - just not yet ... So for now this is what
I've got !!! S
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My first step (after I have some idea of what I want to create !) is the drawing. I never pencil sketch
my ideas - I just get in there and go. And I do this with a very fine - old fashioned pen nib (Hunt
107) that I dip in my favorite Windsor Newton Permanent Black Spider ink. The nib is sharp as a pin
but as strong as a crowbar ! You can really press on it hard - And I did !!! I broke three nibs with
this drawing - it's a kinda funny later thing... One of the nibs hit me in the eye - went splat,
ink in my face - nib in my eye - ANYWAYS with this picture I started on the tall pines first - so I
can get a good idea of spacing and a feel of where things are going to go -(oh yeah did I mention I was
working from a photo taken this last fall) - after the seven or so pines were drawn I worked on the trees
and shrubs underneath - then the curly-ques that I invented to represent swamp bushes... I like those
spiral formations - they give a sort of abstract-pattern like effect - it lets me play with the reality
of the image... Then I said to hell with the weeds and went right for the foreground - I was really
excited about drawing sumac !!! So I drew my signature foreground growth - the conical-shrubs - there's
a pattern here - I left room for my two sumacs - I was a little worried about the negative space between
each sumac sprout (should I paint it black or draw each bloody leaf - I argued for a while and then decided
to do a little of both) - then the foreground was done. Then I drew the drift wood - and then the lily
pads under the drift - with a few pretty water lillies (not too many - just a dab here and there). And
the last item was the river - the mighty Gull River - Ha ! I put some mean waves in that little stream
- did I go over ? I was having fun and a little beer... Now two days later I was ready to paint - Yes
it took about 15 hours straight to draw the whole thing.
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Now for the fun part - I really like this step. It is so much more free than the drawing. I started
with the sky - the horizon above the trees was painted with a Pearlescent Metallic Liquid Acrylic - it's
the "Sun Up Blue" colour - (that would be a great song title...) okay back now after my gap - I got a
turquoise Acrylic to blend in with the Sun Up Blue - I really like turquoise - I feel that I should petition
for it to become a primary colour. Then I added darker Blue Acrylics then some wonderful Purple Acrylics
mixed with - and you gotta run out and get this stuff - "Speedball Pigmented Acrylic Ink" - Purple.
This stuff mixes and blends amazing - if Vincent had this stuff he would've lived a lot longer... it
just leaves this sort of thickness that is reminiscent of Belgian Chocolat. So I finshed the sky and
painted the river with Metallic Inks and regular Windsor Newton Blue Ink - I've been using these forever
- be carefull they fade... I added a little fade resistant gel to combat that. I made a note that I
would leave the white caps untouched. Then I painted the background trees - I had about five colour
combinates - mixing metallic with liquid Acrylics - these trees in the background were derived from Autumn
Explosion (my second last landscape). Then the undergrowth in two tone watercolour with Viridian Lizard
Ink - this stuff just makes it easy - it doesn't show up on black so you can let loose and have a couple
while you use it and not worry about going over the line... On to the Tall Pines - I painted them first
with a teal Metallic Ink then got darker with regular green acrylics - and let them dry real good. Ah
then the birch - I used the Brightest of the Brightest Ink - I think I want to paint a super Beetle this
colour -"Genesis Green" - Pearlesenct Liquid Acrylic - so 70's - I tie-dyed it with watercolour and regular
acrylics and made it a mean-bright-green birch of a tree. Then the copper sand - also with metallic
ink and pencil crayon underneath - to give it shadows. Then the foreground which is all completely liquid
ink - except for some metallic ink on the leaves of the sumac... The driftwood I used my secret which
I will not devulge - okay a regular HB pencil I find renders driftwood the best for me - mix it with
a little bit of red pencil crayon to shake it up a bit, and there you go... I also added pencil crayon,
yellow acrylic and a silver gel pen to the tall pines and that was may last step...
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Just a little note - I used very fine 250lb Windsor-Newton cold press watercolour paper - I cut my
own size - 11" x 15" from a 36" x 40" sheet.
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And after four days - about 24hours in total - I am finished !!!
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I just sold this painting at the McMichael Art Gallery !!!
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