How do I paint like this?

March 19, 2015 1:41 PM

I haven't painted since I was in school, but then I saw this and was inspired to try. What supplies and techniques would I need to paint in this particular style?

For instance, would I be fine with a starter set of a dozen acrylic paints or would I want certain specific colors?

Artist is Katie Batten, by the way.

posted by acidic to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Best answer: Why not do a study of that particular painting? You can get a projector like this and trace it onto a canvas. Obviously you wouldn't ever want to represent the finished product as your own work, but it's a good learning experience. Once you get familiar with that particular style in that particular painting, you could apply it towards your own original work.

And yes, a starter set of acrylics would work just fine. I would get artist quality rather than the basic, or student quality. The better-quality acrylics have more pigment and you'll be happier with the results.

When I took a painting class in college, one of our assignments was to cut pictures out of magazines and make a collage on a 4" x 6" index card. Then we had to paint that composition onto a 4' x 6' canvas. I think that this would also be a good strategy to get something that looks like Katie Batten's work. You could make your composition on a small card and then use the grid method or projector to put it onto a larger canvas. Maybe even find some funky patterned scrapbook paper to include -- she's got a good eye for pattern.
posted by Ostara at 2:17 PM on March 19, 2015 [4 favorites]

The only thing I can definitively say is that you will want good quality paints. Cheaper ones will not have enough actual pigment to get colors that rich. As for technique, look into blocking things off with painter's tape to get clean outlines and make geometric patterns like the ones in a few of her paintings.
posted by Nomiconic at 2:21 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Learn the basics of the colour wheel, just google. Get yourself a handful of artist quality acrylic paints. I'd start with:

titanium white
Cadmium red med
Alizarin crimson
Cadmium yellow
Lemon yellow
Ultramarine blue
Pthalo blue
Burnt umber
Burnt Siena

This will give you a warm & cool for each primary & you should be able to mix a satisfactory range of colours. Use the umber & pthalo blue to mix a deep colour that is your 'black'.

Get a set of soft synthetic brushes. Montmartre make nice cheap brushes & sets. Think about the size of your work when buying brushes, don't get lots of tiny ones if you're going any bigger than A4.

I like paper more than canvas. Paper is cheap and can be whatever texture you want, but a stretched canvas looks nice and is easy to hang afterwards.

For the style of painting you've linked to, maybe try painting some stuff then collaging other bits.
posted by stellathon at 2:54 PM on March 19, 2015 [6 favorites]

Best answer: It doesn't look like that artist uses tape for any edges except a few absolutely straight ones. If you paint on paper and use tape, you must be sure that the tape won't rip up the paper. Tape can also pull up layers of paint that you previously put down. Ask for the proper tape/paper at the art supply store.

As mentioned, you'll need to look up basics of color mixing. You can't use color right from the tube, not for long anyway, unless you want to buy a bunch of colors you'll use hardly any of, and have paintings that all look the same.

Since that style has so many hard edges, you'll have to be aware of the opacity of your colors. The colors stellathon suggested are excellent, but you should know that some of them are pretty transparent out of the tube, they really are meant to tint another color, mostly white(titanium). Like alizarin: that stuff is almost clear, but makes a brilliant, covering pink when added to white.

Another thing about white: you'll need at least twice as much of it as your other colors. I'm probably understating that. So don't buy a kit with the same amount of each color. Get a bigger white. And that's true, said above about black; you don't need it. If you must, get a tiny bit of mars black.

Again, stellathon's list is right-on. There's a transparent blue and an opaque one, same with the reds and the yellows. Find out which is which, and use the transparent one for lighter shades/mixed with white.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 4:18 PM on March 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Stellathon gives a very good list. Mix one or more of your blues with the burnt umber for "black". If you can afford artist quality paints do it, but if you can't student quality is fine. Just don't buy paints or brushes at the dollar store.

Block in large areas of color and light/shade using lighter/darker versions of the same color, not white or brown or black, before getting into pattern or detail.

For more inspiration with space, color and pattern look at Matisse and Mickalene Thomas.
posted by Cuke at 4:32 PM on March 19, 2015

But be warned: a main defect of cheaper paint is transparency: it won't cover what's underneath. And with those hard edges, you'll usually want it to.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 4:41 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, don't tape on paper. Even painter's tape, the expensive stuff with longer sticking/lift off time, will take off layers of paper and yes, as Rich Smorgasbord said, layers of paint too. Tape is fine on canvas and canvas boards. Even cheap masking tape. But maybe that's fiddler than you'll want or need to be?

Rich and I are twin parrots :) Yes to everything he said about transparency, mixing and cheap paint. Most artist quality paints will show you on the tube whether they are opaque/transparent. And yes big time what he said about titanium white. Buy a jar of that and just tubes of everything else.

Do a few studies just to work out some of the problems you might encounter. For something with lots of bits like this, I would do the background first, then big shapes, then details.

Enjoy yourself.
posted by stellathon at 7:31 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mixing color is like mixing drinks: you don't want to serve just wine coolers and margarita mixes, do you? No! Those colors are are like hard liquor, and white is like water: it makes up most of the recipes. The colors are 80 or 100 proof, except pthalo blue, which is 180 proof. Thunderation, that stuff is strong! And versatile, and georgeous with white! By itself, it reads darkness more than black does! I miss the smell.

I could go on (further), and about the others as well.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 9:49 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would like to go on and on about mixing too.

This is important for you if you want to paint things with lots of different colours like Katie Batten.

If you're just starting out again, it would be a great exercise just doing some mixing before you paint anything. Start a colour journal; write what you mixed with what and leave a swatch for future reference. You'll quickly see how different pigments behave, and therefore what Rich is talking about re pthalo being 180 proof and alizarin being almost see through but makes a gorgeous pink. Learn your complementarities; amazing what a touch of an opposite colour can do, the beautiful neutrals you can make.

Okay okay, going now. MeMail me if you want to talk painting :)
posted by stellathon at 11:53 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]