Sketchbook Painting | Practicing the Fundamentals of Acrylic Painting with a Series of Fruit Studies

Creating a series of studies in your sketchbook is a fabulous way to practice the fundamentals of acrylic painting in a short period of time. When you are trying to improve your painting skills, painting often is important, but it’s not always possible to complete a large painting on canvas everyday. That’s where sketchbook painting comes in handy. Each study in this class is designed to take no more than 20-30 minutes to complete. I also keep things simple by using a limited color palette and a couple of paint brushes so the set-up time is minimal.

When you’re painting in a sketchbook, think of it as practice. Feel free to play around with color and values. Try new compositions and different paint brushes. If your painting didn’t work, try to figure out what went wrong, turn the page and try again! I think you’ll find that small successes build confidence and the more you practice, the faster you will improve! Create a few studies a week or one a day and you will see your painting skills develop faster than if you were to toil away at one large painting over the course of a month.

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I have attached a pdf with reference photos but feel free to use your own.

For your class project, paint one or more fruit studies and upload a photo by clicking on the "Projects & Resources" tab below the video. I can’t wait to see what you create!

My Supplies:
5.5” x 8.5” inch mixed media sketchbook
Flat and filbert paint brushes sizes 2-4
Water to clean brushes and thin out paint
Paper towels
Palette paper
Acrylic paint

Paint colors I used but use whatever you have:
Quinacridone Red
Titanium White
Hansa Yellow Medium
Turquoise Phthalo
Payne’s Gray

You can find all of my Skillshare classes here:
https://www.skillshare.com/user/ellebyers

You can also find me here:
www.ellebyers.com
www.instagram.com/ellebyersart
www.pinterest.com/ellebyersart

Dana L.

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