For my partners 26th birthday I painted a green heron with a silly version of us riding it. Thought I’d share .

I had so much fun painting this. 🧡🍂

No idea who/what. Just started painting

Hi again! I have been working on a bunch of holiday portraiture lately and caught sight of Moo Deng and figured as a little break in between, I would work on this little tenacious Dragon as a reward for myself for getting so many personalities on paper. Hope you guys enjoy the completion and keep loving the weird and the unknown!

Somehow these cheep brushes always turn out to be my favourite for adding texture, do you guys have a natty looking brush you use all the time?

“I have searched”

Originally done for inktober with Acrylic paint and watercolor

i worked my ass off for this but i think it looks sick

My life just had a missive overhaul and when this happens, I get painting. I used acrylics, paint pens, and prismacolor pencil crayons. Silver thread for the web the spider is dangling from. Inspired by all the creepy movies I've been watching BC you know, October.

does anyone know what it is called when a certain element of a painting ties all the components together, for example, a certain highlight or use of mark making that is used on all parts of the composition.

please let me know if this isnt the right subreddit to ask this, thanks!

What do you think? Don't be cruel 😅

I've painted as a hobby on and off the past few years for the love of the process, and I'm at a point where I want to invest my time and money into learning about proper techniques, materials etc. I mostly paint with acrylics, although I would like to try oil when I have more control over the paint. I'm doing research into what makes a painting 'high quality' and learned about isolation coats and removable varnishes. Throughout my research, I realized I was skipping some steps in canvas prep and sealing which led to my old paintings deteriorating with time. I compiled the following list of steps to follow on my next paintings. The goal is to make paintings I feel confident in submitting to art shows, so I am trying to be more professional. Would love your input and more advice or tricks you're willing to share!

Steps:

1. Cotton or linen canvas. No synthetics.
2. Prime canvas with 2-3 coats of Gesso. Use high grit sandpaper (250+) in between dry Gesso layers for smoother finish and better adhesion.
3. Tint the Gesso to avoid white streaks (unless you want the white background)
4. Seal back of canvas with acrylic medium to prevent sagging and moisture seeping in (is any acrylic medium ok for this?)
5. Paint, don't forget the sides (I love playing with texture but noticed the paint cracks if I make a layer too thick, is using thicker paint the way to go? How do you get that really thick texture without the cracking? I've only used student grade paint so far and just ordered some golden heavy body paint to experiment with)
6. Apply isolation coat before varnish (protects paint in case painting needs cleaning or restoration in future) - Do I have to buy this? I read you can mix 2 parts gel medium 1 part water - Brand recommendations needed!
7. Apply removable acrylic varnish (protect against UV, dust, etc and also allows future restoration) - Brand recommendations needed!

I'm looking for mentorship and have been looking into joining an art community in my area. If anyone is willing to tell me about their process, please DM me I would appreciate it!