Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics with Paul Taggart
“Welcome to Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics with Paul Taggart.
Acrylic painting has been with us since the 1950’s and despite its versatility is vastly misunderstood by the majority of would-be artists. It is not merely a substitute for working with oils or watercolours, although the techniques used in both can be adapted for use with acrylics.
Acrylic painting should be seen as a medium in its own right, with its own strengths and weaknesses and you must set about discovering these if you are to exploit its potential to the full.
The challenge for many is which route to choose, for the medium can be used opaquely (as in oils), or transparently (as in watercolours), The answer is to experiment and, in so doing, you will come to understand how to maximise and interweave these properties.
I hope that by introducing you to myriad possibilities this will inspire you to seek out new ways of working with the medium, thereby increasing your enjoyment of using acrylic paints.
You will find tutorials in which I use the medium opaquely, others in which transparent mixes are key. Tutorials where I have adapted traditional techniques from oil painting. Tutorials where I have exploited watercolour techniques. Tutorials in which I have combined different techniques to suit the subject and method.”
Paul Taggart
[Module 1] Paul Taggart's Essential Sketching & Drawing Guide
eighteen-videos, box-set total running time 8hours 12minutes
We are breaking down the art of sketching and drawing to the bare essentials, so that whatever your level - whether a complete beginner- or someone who wants to develop your sketching & drawing further - you will enjoy working-along with the projects.
The art of sketching and drawing can range from the simplest of quickly rendered sketches, through to the most detailed of tonal drawings – the choice is yours alone to make - using a wide range of possible equipment – from the simplest pencil to an exciting range of water-based tools.
Sketching and drawing sits alongside painting – as an equivalent art-form in its own right or as a companion to painting.
We kick off with Module 1, in which a 2B pencil is our drawing tool and this box-set featuring three step-by-step, work-along projects, in which Paul shares three specific techniques.
Work-along at a pace to suit you - and let your pencil take you on this journey of discovery.
[Series 1] Topical Techniques for Acrylics
eleven-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 41minutes
In which each video covers one particular technique to enhance your experience of painting in acrylics. Acrylic painting is a medium that has multiple possibilities – it can be used thin or thick, transparently or opaquely; it can be used for collage and decollage and in myriad other ways. As a fine art medium you can exploit its own unique characteristics, as well as adapt traditional oil painting and watercolour techniques. By adding to your painting repertoire in this way you will be able to develop your own unique method and style and it is only through being given the fundamental basics that you can do this.
Out and About with Paul in Acrylics
five-videos, box-set total running time 5hours 19minutes
This painting should be viewed as a practice project, to help you get to grips with painting a variety of different elements in changing conditions – such as the play of light, the darkest of recesses, ripples across running water, vanishing points of a structure, stones and boulders that stand above the waterline and those submerged beneath, towering rock walls and myriad textured surfaces. As with all of our tutorials, this dedicated step-by-step is filmed in real-time – no editing, no time-lapse – packed full of handy hints, tips, techniques and so much more By peeking over Paul’s shoulder through the eye of the camera, you can watch every colour mix, every stroke and every technique, accompanied by Paul’s running commentary in which he describes his every action, his thought processes and his ultimate goal in this composition.
Paul demonstrates watercolour techniques exploited for use in acrylics – working in the traditional watercolour technique of working from light to dark. As such this tutorial would therefore prove suitable for watercolours.
[Series 1] Masterclass
six-videos, box-set total running time 6hours
Followers of our tutorials are fascinated to have a greater understanding of traditional techniques and so it is we film a selected number of Masterclasses, focusing on one particular painting at a time. However, to film each and every stroke as I paint would involve a monumental amount of filming and viewing time – which is why in these Masterclasses we focus on one particular section (perhaps one other), so that you can watch that develop from start to finish.
This box-set takes you through my traditional layering technique of working from dark to light; you can watch as Eileen’s camera tracks every brush-stroke, every colour mix, every detail – with close-ups revealing the results of maximising specific techniques such as glazing and tinting. Through my running commentary you will pick up a host of techniques, hints, tips and more as I describe my actions, my thought process, my method, my colour mixes. You will learn about glazing, about tinting, about sgraffito, about tonking.
Nothing is left out, for I do not believe in holding anything back. You are right there with me at my Masterworks easel.
[Series 2] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics
fourteen-videos, box-set total running time 14hours 33minutes
Acrylic is a medium that has multiple possibilities – it can be used thin or thick, transparently or opaquely, worked with medium or with water. As a fine art medium, you can exploit its own unique characteristics, as well as adapt traditional oil painting and watercolour techniques. In Series 2 Paul demonstrates working with opaque paint mixes of various consistencies, the only ‘medium’ used for thinning down the paint is water and in layers from light to dark to light.
CHECK OUT the companion box-set 'Painting Topical Techniques for Acrylics with Paul Taggart [Series 2]'
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Yellows
five-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 44minutes
Box-Set No. 2 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make YELLOW Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different yellows – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of yellows for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of yellows, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which yellow is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the YELLOW colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Blues
six-videos, box-set total running time 7hours 32minutes
Box-Set No. 4 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make BLUE Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different blues – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of blues for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of blues, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which blue is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the BLUE colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
Learn to Enjoy Painting Portraits & Figures - Features
nineteen-videos, box-set total running time 9hours 46minutes
Do you want to take those first steps into painting portraits and figures? As with all of Paul’s tutorials, the sixteen specific lessons and three Problem Solvers in this pick’n’mix box-set are packed full of helpful hints and tips and illuminating facts that will encourage you on this journey into the world of painting portraits and figures.
Nothing is held back, as Paul takes you right back to the basics on the various Features that make up the human head - for as he explains, to fully enjoy the rewarding experience of painting figures, or portraits, you do need the bare facts; for how else would you know what to do to correct something that is going wrong - or for that matter know when something is going right.
But this set of tutorials is so much more than that, for each video provides detailed instruction on how to paint and draw.
Workshop in Oils : Techniques to Transform and Enhance your Artworks
eleven-videos, box-set total running time11hours 10minutes
Ever wondered how to make your paintings zing? Do you want to rescue an unloved painting? Exploiting traditional techniques is the answer and we’re here to share with you the secrets of how to get the most out of your painting experience. In this workshop we share the art of traditional oil painting techniques, as used in my own Fine Art oil paintings – techniques that will transform and enhance your artworks.
Watch the two, stage-by-stage reveals in the Trailer for this Box-Set and you will see the transformation of a painting that was perfectly acceptable in ‘Series 3 Learn to Enjoy Painting in Oils with Paul Taggart’, become something more developed and consequently, even more stimulating for the viewer to appreciate in this Workshop.
Although demonstrated in Oils, the techniques in this Workshop can be EXPLOITED for USE with ACRYLICS – for which we have already produced an impasto painting, the perfect base for working up.
[Series 3] Topical Techniques for Acrylics
seven-videos, box-set total running time 7hours 32minutes
A box-set in which Paul concentrates on the role of texture paste in creating texture and impasto mixes. Often mistakenly believed as purely for the crafter, texture paint is anything but; for it fulfils an invaluable function in painting with acrylics and just as importantly, can fulfil a specific function when working with oils. Every tutorial in this box-set is equally suitable for oils, where the underlying impasto textural layer can be worked in acrylics before applying subsequent layers of impasto and glazing in oils – this not only serves to speed up the painting process in oils, but can also yield some interesting results.
Every tutorial in this box-set is equally suitable for oils, where the underlying impasto textural layer can be worked in acrylics before applying subsequent layers of impasto and glazing in oils – this not only serves to speed up the painting process in oils, but can also yield some interesting results.
[Series 2] Masterclass
ten-videos, box-set total running time 10hours 4minutes
Although produced in oils – this masterclass can be adapted for use with acrylics – for Paul often exploits his traditional techniques for use across other media, as demonstrated in all of his online art tutorials. Another in our occasional series, where we film Paul at work on a section of one of his Masterworks Paintings, as a detailed Masterclass, accompanied by Paul’s running commentary. Light and water are the two elements in our world that excites Paul most as an artist.
Light – for its effect on our surroundings, its ability to deceive the eye and how formes seem to alter with the change in direction of falling light, its creation of the deepest and richest of shadows – a source of continual change in any subject; one that requires the artist in us to observe and analyse what we see before us. Water – for its luminescent and reflective properties, its movement and mysterious depths, its chameleon-like qualities in taking on the colours of its surroundings – a source of constant change in any composition.
Even here in Masterclass, you will see every brush-stroke, the process of colour mixing on Paul’s palette and every technique.
Out and About with Paul in Acrylics (suitable for opaque media)
eleven-videos, box-set total running time 9hours 46minutes
Although painted in acrylics, the traditional technique of working in layers from dark-to-light, can be applied to all opaque media, exploited as it is from the method that Paul uses for his oil paintings. Each of the eleven videos is an object lesson in how to paint a landscape : trees : figures : horses – for this is an all-encompassing vista of a landscape that tells a story, filled as it is with moving figures and vehicles going about their business.
Filmed in real-time, with close up shots so that you can see Paul’s brush-strokes, colour mixes and more, you not only get to peek over Paul’s shoulder as he works; you will also pick up a host of hints and tips as you are guided from the first marks through to the final super-highlights – nothing is left out.
Creating the Elphen Masterworks 'Starway to Shimmistra'
thirty-five-videos, box-set total running time 2days 23hours
The purpose of this box-set of videos is to share with you the traditional oil painting techniques and processes that Paul exploited to produce this unique Masterworks oil painting ‘Starway to Shimmistra’, created specifically for the wraparound jacket for his illustrated book, ‘Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer’ from ‘Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles’. So do please join us on this journey that takes Paul from the first drawing out of this oil painting, to the final brush-stroke; all of which was filmed in real-time and most of which is shared in this box-set.
‘Starway to Shimmistra’ is one of the twenty Masterworks oil paintings that chronicle the Elphen Folklore of ‘Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer’, a collection that took over five years to complete.
[Series 4] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics
eighteen-videos, box-set total running time 18hours 9minutes
Traditional oil painting techniques can transform your experience of working with acrylics. You will learn about working in layers, gradually building through the mid-tones, from dark to light. You will learn how to exploit brush-strokes, along with blending and to experiment with techniques such as tonking scuffs and scumbles. You will learn how to exploit the subtle arts of glazing and tinting, to enrich the subject and add depth to the composition. Showing my colour mixes from a nucleus palette of six colours, plus the two whites, will help you take control of those subtle colour changes which are present in every subject. Close-up shots also allow you to see how colours react when applied over each other and against each other.
Adapted from traditional Oil Painting Techniques, this box-set is equally suitable for oil painters, following as it does the layering technique, working from dark-to-light, using impasto, glazing, tinting, tonking, scuffs, scumbles and myriad other techniques
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Purples
eight-videos, box-set total running time 7hours 28minutes
Box-Set No. 6 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make PURPLE Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different purples – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of purples for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of purples, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which purple is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the PURPLE colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
Out and About with Paul in Oils : making GREEN work for you
four-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 46minutes
In this Alla Prima oil painting workshop Paul focusses on ‘Making GREEN Work for You’ in a landscape. On our first visit to this location we realised that it would make the perfect subject for a start-to-finish oil painting workshop, in which Paul could help make greens work for you in a landscape; which can prove challenging to some artists, both in terms of identifying them and in creating the many varied colour mixes.
Painting out-and-about brings many benefits. It teaches you to study the subject, to look for the variety of colours in every element and, it helps you understand the changing nature of light, as it moves across the landscape. To create light in the landscape you need to work out the hue of any particular colour and how to achieve the colour mix to match that hue, both in sunlight and in shadow - which is what this workshop is all about; guiding you through the process from beginning to end.
Line, Tone & Glaze Workshop in Oils
seven-videos, box-set total running time 6hours 57minutes
Featuring Paul’s unique Line, Tone & Glaze method, developed for his Elphen Chronicles illustrations, here applied to a pastoral scene. The versatility and beauty of this method being that you can be as loose as you want, or as detailed as you feel the subject requires. In this workshop Paul has opted for a mixed approach, reacting to the individual elements within the scene, in terms of not only the linework and the tonal underpainting, but also in regard to the manner in which I exploit glazes and tints. Don’t think of this as a tutorial simply about the method, for it is much more than that. This process will also help you learn about tone and value, the underlying acrylic layer in which you will ‘sculpt’ volume and form; essential in effecting the three-dimensional quality in your painting. Your knowledge of colour mixing will develop, both when mixing very specific colours on the palette and on the surface, as coloured glazes are laid over each other.
This method would suit anyone wishing to produce oil painting sketches, or more detailed paintings and is one that would also help anyone wishing to make the transition from acrylics to oils.
Workshop in Oils (suitable for opaque media)
twelve-videos, box-set total running time 12hours 10minutes
Does the idea of painting horses and figures terrify you? It shouldn’t – all you need is a guiding hand and some friendly encouragement to help you gain the confidence. But don’t think of this as merely as a tutorial on how to paint horses and figures – for this is so much more than that; it is an invaluable demonstration of myriad traditional techniques that can be utilised with oils and with acrylics. See it for what it is; a tutorial that will add a host of hints, tips and techniques to add to your painting repertoire and as such, will help you to gain confidence and thus get far more enjoyment out of your painting experience. Here Paul uses the Alla Prima method to demonstrate the dynamism of working in layers using the Impasto technique to create structure, texture and a composition filled with detail that is, in fact, very suggestive in nature.
Line, Tone & Glaze Workshop in Oils
four-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 22minutes
Featuring Paul’s unique Line, Tone & Glaze method, developed for his Elphen Chronicles illustrations.
Although this particular workshop centres on one of the artworks produced for Paul’s unique collection of Oil Painting Vignettes produced for one of the books in his Elphen Chronicles, the method can be applied to any subject – landscapes, figurative studies, portraits, still-life, botanical artworks – there is no limit.
The process takes as its inspiration the rich, traditional technique of glazing in oils and as with all of our work-along tutorials; this is filmed in real-time, accompanied by my detailed running commentary throughout. You get to see every brush-stroke, every colour and glaze mix in this step-by-step, start-to-finish work-along workshop.
This method would suit anyone wishing to produce oil painting sketches, or more detailed paintings and is one that would also help anyone wishing to make the transition from acrylics to oils.
Workshop in Acrylics : Layering (suitable for opaque media)
twelve-videos, box-set total running time 12hours 41minutes
The method of working in layers from light-to-dark-to-light, used for this composition, is adapted from the very same traditional painting techniques that I exploit for my own work. By working through from the first washy underpainting and the dark accents to the lightest highlights, you are gradually building the tonal layers that are present in every aspect of a subject. Combine this with the ability to identify light and shade and you are in essence modelling the landscape and sculpting objects such as the figures, buildings and boat. I show you how to manipulate and exploit thick and thin mixes of colour, how to maximise the technique of glazing to add depth and richness to your paintings.
CHECK OUT ‘[Series 2] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics with Paul Taggart’ – for another example of this light-to-dark-to-light layering – a still life composition filled with light and a distant view through one of our studio windows.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics
eight-videos, box-set total running time 6hours 50minutes
In this painting project, Paul uses techniques adapted from his traditional oil painting method, that of working in layers, from dark-to-light – making this project equally suitable for those whose preferred medium is oil paint. As with painting in oils, you can also exploit other techniques such as glazing, tinting, tonking, sgraffitto – all intended to enhance and enrich this acrylic painting.
CHECK OUT the companion box-set 'Painting Topical Techniques for Acrylics with Paul Taggart [Series 1]
Equipment Focus for Acrylics
seven-videos, box-set total running time 1hour 40minutes
In which each video concentrates on one painting tool, how to exploit its characteristics and how to maximise its usage. It has always been Paul’s belief that being shown how to work effectively with a limited painting kit is far more fulfilling than possessing vast quantities of brushes, paints etc. Which is why our acrylic tutorials are based on a core kit of seven paints, stay-wet palette, a couple of brushes and a surface.
Out and About with Paul in Pastels
four-videos, box-set total running time 2hours 24minutes
In this workshop, Paul introduces you to the technique of working pastels over an underpainting layer – a perfect introduction to this technique and in preparation for the more worked-up painting ‘[Series 2] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Pastels’. Working through in layers from dark to light, Paul nevertheless keeps the process simple, using directional strokes to suggest the lie of the land, the structure of the buildings, the direction of the sand on the beach and so on.
Although the underpainting here is done in acrylics, it could equally be carried out in watercolours – which is the purpose of this workshop, experiment with different types of pastel as well and you will add to your painting repertoire and enjoyment of working in pastels.
Even though the process is simple, Paul’s demonstration is as detailed as ever, accompanied by his running commentary throughout.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Basics & Nucleus Palette
six-videos, box-set total running time 3hours 8minutes
Box-Set No. 1 [Series 1] - begins with the BASICS of the COLOUR CIRCLE and shows how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Colour Mixing is just as important, in the process of painting, as brushwork and techniques and is equally enjoyable and rewarding – acquiring the know-how does not need to be complicated, as Paul demonstrates. There are seven box-sets in Series 1 - a comprehensive and detailed series, Paul’s easy-to-follow guide to colour mixing. Ideal for complete beginners and those who already paint, wishing to control their paint mixes and extend their painting repertoire.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
[Series 2] Topical Techniques for Acrylics
seven-videos, box-set total running time 5hours 43minutes
Each of these videos was prompted by the various techniques and processes used in ‘[Series 2] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics with Paul Taggart’, but it is not only a companion to that comprehensive box-set; everything featured in this box-set is a stand-alone technique or process in its own right. Even if you feel you are familiar with the technique or process featured, you might find there are myriad hints and tips that could help – so don’t dismiss the idea of working-along with me.
Even if you do not wish to paint in a traditional manner, you can exploit and adapt these techniques to further develop your own particular style and painting method.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Reds
five-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 39minutes
Box-Set No. 3 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make RED Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different reds – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of reds for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of reds, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which red is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the RED colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
Line & Wash Workshops in Oils : Acrylics : Watercolours : Pastels
four-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 14minutes
Do you want to take those first steps into painting? Nothing could be simpler than scribbling some linework and adding a few washes of colour. Let Paul take you on a journey into the world of ‘sketching’ and ‘painting’ – otherwise known as Line & Wash. Do not think of these as workshops specifically suitable for each of the four principal mediums of oils, acrylics, watercolours and pastels. Instead, use these as a way of getting the feel for these different mediums.
By experimenting in this way you will enjoy your sketching and painting experience all the more.
Workshop - Drawing
five-videos, box-set total running time 2hours 10minutes
Looking for help with starting off in drawing? Let Paul start you off in the Equipment Focus with an introduction to graphite pencils and sticks. Filmed in real-time, with no editing we take you on the first steps of a journey into this world, following-up with an Equipment Focus on paper wipers for graphite, an essential element for your drawing kit. The accompanying Workshop shows an unusual approach to drawing, using graphite shavings and a kneadable putty erase. Adapted from one of the methods Paul uses for working out the tonal values of a painting, this can be exploited as a stand-alone technique. Have you tried blending mediums for use with graphite? The Equipment Focus and accompanying Workshop may prove thought-provoking and provide you with even more ways to manipulate graphite for different results.
As with all of our tutorials, you are taken through each and every stroke from beginning to end - accompanied by Paul’s running commentary throughout.
[Series 3] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Acrylics
fourteen-videos, box-set total running time 13hours 54minutes
In which the method and technique is equally suitable for working in oils – building up the impasto layers with acrylics and texture paste, over which you can subsequently apply layers of oil paints, glazes and tints. Perfect for those who wish to work quickly and dynamically, as this method speeds up drying time. Paul introduces you to a dynamic method of achieving impasto when working with acrylic paints - which involves working with Texture Paste. Often mistakenly believed as purely for the crafter, texture paint is anything but; for it fulfils this invaluable function in painting with acrylics, which cannot be achieved by working with acrylic paints on their own. The method used here by Paul is vital in demonstrating how texture paste has a role in the fine art of acrylic painting and is adapted from traditional painting techniques as used in his Masterclasses and oil painting tutorials.
CHECK OUT the companion box-set 'Painting Topical Techniques for Acrylics with Paul Taggart [Series3]'
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Metals
four-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 47minutes
This box-set of three complete step-by-step workshops is filmed in real-time, so that you can watch every colour mix, every stroke and every technique. Red, White and Yellow Metals are currently available as three stand-alone workshops and we have filmed a dedicated fourth video, an invaluable companion to demonstrate how to achieve each of the three principal metal colours – [1] Copper & Red Metals [2] Silver & White Metals [3] Gold, Brass & Yellow Metals. A fourth video concentrating on how-to achieve the varying colour mixes, completes this comprehensive box-set.
Although demonstrated in acrylics, these detailed workshops, are equally suitable for oils and other opaque media, as the process is identical - for Paul is using the traditional layering technique of working from dark-to-light.
You will definitely find yourself wanting to work along with Paul as he helps you discover the delight in achieving ninety-five percent of the colours you will ever need from a core palette of six colours.
Out and About with Paul in Oils (suitable for opaque media)
four-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 7minutes
A complete step -by-step oil painting, started in situ, when out and about in this landscape, full of moving figures and vehicles. This comprehensive workshop is completed in the studio, demonstrating how invaluable it is to [a] make thumbnail sketches for the composition, whilst at the venue and [b] take a correspondingly wide range of reference photographs. Although a busy composition, the point of this Out and About is to demonstrate that the addition of figures to a landscape need not be a daunting prospect. Paul approaches the entire painting as an oil painting sketch, keeping the approach as loose as possible.
Although approached in this manner, the tutorial is nevertheless based on tried-and-tested traditional techniques, as explained by Paul throughout in his running commentary.
Out and About with Paul : Line & Wash in Watercolours
three-videos, box-set total running time 2hours 37minutes
The second of our ‘Sketching Companions with Paul Taggart’ box-sets -- in which you can watch-along with Paul as he works en plein air (in the field) on two different subjects; for which he uses two quite different, but equally traditional Line & Wash methods. Don’t think of this purely in terms of watercolours, for everything shown here can be exploited for use with other media. For example, the tonal underpainting method used for the figure sketch could be rendered in oils – see this in action in Series 4 of ‘Learn to Enjoy Painting in Oils with Paul Taggart’, in which tonal underpainting is overlaid with transparent glazing mixes.
Use the two techniques demonstrated in this box-set as the inspiration to experiment with the media of your choice – be it acrylics, oils, pastels, inks, watercolour pencils, oil pastels etc.
Topical Techniques : Composition Matters
five-videos, box-set total running time 4hours 43minutes
Ever wondered what to paint? How to decide on your composition? How to make your composition unique to you? How to accurately transfer the composition to your painting surface? Ever started in the middle of the blank surface and run out of space, or ended up with too much space to fill? Let Paul guide you through the techniques that he uses to map out his own paintings, through this box-set of five detailed tutorials; which, as ever, are accompanied by his running commentary and a basketful of hints and tips which will make your painting experience all the more enjoyable.
Some of the subjects covered here in drawings are then followed-through into step-by-step painting tutorial box-sets, such as [Series 4] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Watercolours, [Series 4] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Oils and [Series 4] Learn to Enjoy Painting in Pastels.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Oranges
eight-videos, box-set total running time 7hours 14minutes
Box-Set No. 5 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make ORANGE Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different oranges – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of oranges for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of oranges, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which orange is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the ORANGE colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
[Series 1] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Greens
five-videos, box-set total running time 5hours 23minutes
Box-Set No. 7 [Series 1] – helps you learn how to make GREEN Work for You - how to control your colour mixes, rather than let those pesky mixes control you. No need for all those tubes of different greens – instead, here’s how to mix an infinite variety of greens for yourself. In this box-set Paul shows the basics of mixing a range of greens, how to identify the colour in your subject, how to adjust colours, how to correct colours and finally two detailed step-by-step studies for you to work-along with, in which green is the colour bias of the subject.
A box-set of detailed demonstrations showing how, with only six colours, you can achieve most of the GREEN colour mixes that will serve you well in any composition.
Practice the basics learnt in each tutorial and you will find that you are prepared for the next stage.
[Series 3] Masterclass in Oils (suitable for opaque media)
eight-videos, box-set total running time 7hours 26minutes
The focus and purpose of this Masterclass box-set is to share with you the method for rendering a ‘moving’ figure within a landscape; to share with you my thought-process and the traditional techniques/method that are the basis of my Masterworks oil paintings. Just as we do with all of my online video tutorials, nothing is withheld as you get to watch from start-to-finish, each layer of the process of rendering the figure, working from dark-to-light – accompanied by my running commentary and footage of my colour mixing on the palette. Close-up footage captures those all-important layers; from the thin underpainting through the impasto layer and the rich quality of glazes, not to mention the subtle, yet powerful effects of tints, to the final super-highlights.
Throughout the eight videos, we also feature a reprise of the overall work as I complete each layer; in order that you can follow the development of the surrounding landscape as you watch the figure being brought to life through my colour mixes and brush-strokes.
Workshop in Acrylics (suitable for opaque media)
fourteen-videos, box-set total running time 14hours 20minutes
The techniques in this workshop are based on traditional oil painting techniques and the process is therefore suitable for working with oils. Follow-along as Paul works on this panoramic landscape view and you will learn how aerial perspective not only exists in a distant mountain range, but is every bit as important in correctly working up the foreground barley field. All achieved through exploiting colour mixing to create the necessary change in values. See how one-point perspective comes into play in the clouds. How two-point perspective is successfully rendered through directional brush-strokes. What about that horizontal band of dark trees running right through the middle of the composition? This was deliberately chosen as a device against which to contrast the bright golden colours of the barley field and the emerald green of the middle-distance fields.
All of which is explained in Paul’s detailed running commentary and demonstrated in real-time filming, which features invaluable close-up shots that show every brush-stroke, from the very first drawing out stage to the finishing touches.
Out and About with Paul in Acrylics (suitable for opaque media)
seven-videos, box-set total running time 7hours
This ‘Out and About with Paul’ box-set is not just about watching Paul at work, it is about working along; which is why there are seven, comprehensive tutorial videos that take you through each and every step needed to work on the fishing harbour scene painted here in Acrylics. An interesting subject, in which the distant backdrop buildings sweep up from a middle ground that gradually elevates from the foreground pier, which in turn rises above an ever-changing tidal sea level.
You will follow Paul from his first thumbnail sketches, a method used to work out the composition, right through to the final highlights; using the process of working from dark to light with opaque paint mixes – a traditional technique that can be exploited for use with any opaque medium.
[Series 2] Learn to Enjoy Colour Mixing : Whites
eight-videos, box-set total running time 6hours 47minutes
Box-Set No. 1 [Series 2]
Having broken down the Basics of Colour Mixing, into a comprehensive collection of easy-to-follow tutorials in Series 1, which cover the nucleus palette of six colours, we now move on to Series 2.
Whilst nearly all the colour mixes you will ever need can be achieved with this palette of six colours, when it comes to working with opaque mediums, such as oil painting and acrylics, you will also need white for your colour mixes. In this box-set I deal specifically with the two whites that will serve well in oil painting – Zinc White (for tinting) and Titanium White (for painting), accompanied by a couple of step-by-step practice studies.
Colour Mixing is every bit as important in making a composition work as thumbnails and perspective. With colour control you can communicate with your viewer, tell a story or evoke a mood - hence the phrase 'to paint a picture'.
How to Paint 'Webstrand the Tooth Gatherer' : Elphen Chronicles
eight-videos, box-set total running time 6hours 46minutes
The first book in my Elphen Chronicles related the tale of Lacewing and her human companion Artimus Glin. One of the illustrations in that book captured the three Elphen Warriors, Bloodsword, Serpentspear and Thunderaxe – a watercolour painting that attracted the most questions about what process I had used to depict their luminescent, transparent wings.
We are delighted to show you exactly how to achieve the ethereally transparent wings of Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer, the subject of my second book. Close-up filming will show you exactly how the techniques are applied and behave on the surface. You will see how to mix the colours on your palette, how to exploit your brush-strokes, how to make masking fluid work for you, how to draw out and ink in, how to achieve transparency through controlling your paint mixes and exploiting lift-off and losing edges.
The list of hints, tips and techniques that you will pick up from working-along with me in painting Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer will prove invaluable and can be applied to any subject.