Welcome to
Happy Town

5

project one - happy town

prepare your canvas

prepare your canvas

I hardly ever paint on a white surface and I do take a good moment to reflect what ambiance I would like to give when choosing the base color. A happy summer town I would choose, yellow ochre, red-orange or a bright blue for example. Apply a base using a palette knife and variate in tones. I leave some unpainted bits that I cover later on with diluted paint. This is just one way. Be creative about it. On top of that base, I do my drawing in charcoal or dry pastels.

Take out all your thumbnail sketches and let’s see who will come alive!

collage on your base color

collage your base color

Before I start painting, I add some collage paper. I like when little motifs peek out of my painting later. Take out your stack of collage paper and choose what you think will fit best.

I glue the paper with Lascaux Acrylic glue but acrylic binder works well too.

I sketch the outlines of the houses with charcoal. Be attentive do variate houses in height and width. Place roughly windows doors and anything that has inspired you.

start painting houses

start painting houses

Working with the palette knife I apply many different layers. Do not hesitate to go over to the next house with your color it will look more harmonious. Choose how much you want to show of your collage paper and if apiece really doesn’t match just paint over it. At the moment I don’t worry yet about the details of the windows etc. That will be my next step.

adding details to your houses

adding details to your houses

Get your sketches or pictures out for inspiration, it is time to play.Add now window border, curtains chimneys, whatever inspires you. A few ways of adding details

By using collage paper
Line work with, oil pastels, paint, crayons or even ink

I used in this video a bamboo to add the white ink.

painting your character and finishing touches

painting your character & finishing touches

I personally paint my characters for the most part with a paint brush but also use collage sometimes.
Brush off the excess of charcoal and start painting.  Use layer and make it as realistic or whimsical as you like. This could also be the moment to add you own way of working into it and give it a new twist or even add one of the ladies with character if you have taken the class last year.

Click the images below to view more detail...

Let's continue to project two...