Here are the techniques that I applied as part of the improvement of my painting process.

Color Study

Before starting with the actual painting, do a color study. This will help you determine the colors that match the picture. This will shorten the time og your painting especially if you are shooting a video of your painting process.

Mixing Colors

In this video, 5 paints were used for the body of the wolf-eel as listed below:

Tools:

Golden SoFlat Matte Acrylics Naphtol Red |

Rouge de Napthol Clair PR112

Cadmium Primrose |

Primevere de Cadmium PY35 Ultramarine Blue | Bleu d’Outremer (Mixture / Melange)

Titanium White | Blanc de Titane

Black | Noir PBk7

For the spots:

Payne’s Grey | Gris de Payne (Mixture / Melange) Strathmore Toned Tan 9 x 12 in

If you combine two primary colors, the result is a vibrant secondary color. Add third and two neutrals to mute the color unless you want it flashy and striking. I personally prefer mute colors, not necessarily subtle. I don’t like my paintings shouting at my audience.

Underpainting

Underpainting adds the playfulness of colors and acts like a bleeding effect thus making the whole picture look like a painting rather than a technical illustration. When the top layer is thin, you can see the underpainting glowing from below or rather acts as a shadow when darkened.

Glazing

Glazing is the technique of adding layers of different colors. In matte acrylic painting you can thin down the paint by adding water. In the video, glazing was applied the glazed between the wolf eel and the background remained 1 layer of glazed that acts as a separator between the two and appeared to be a dripping fluid.

Blending

In the video Borciani e Bonazzi was used. Its bristles used to be stiffed because of the matte medium. When I tried to fix it by brushing it with a comb, it become bushy and cannot be used for fine or straight line. But fortunately I was able to use it for blending. Lesson learned, utilize your tools.

Practice Everyday

Compared with acrylic painting, I found it hard to paint using matte acrylic paints and I do not know how may times I gave up on it as well as on my Strathmore Toned Tan. It is only to practice and belief that you will learn how to manage and appreciate them. Always remember that paints are chemical and each have distinct property that you need to deal with.