How to paint

an Owl with
Dimension Acrylic paint

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 at e
M ... ri a ls The materials for this lesson can be found at a Gold or

List above art centre.

Go to www.montmarte.net to find the one nearest
to you.

PMDA0002 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Zinc White

PMDA0003 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Cream

PMDA0004 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Naples Yellow

PMDA0006 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Medium Yellow

PMDA0018 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Yellow Deep

PMDA0023 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Monastral Cerulean

PMDA0032 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Raw Sienna

PMDA0033 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Yellow Ochre

PMDA0036 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Burnt Umber

PMDA0037 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Raw Umber

PMDA0040 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Paynes Grey

PMDA0041 Mont Marte Dimension Acrylic Lamp Black

BMHS0016 Mont Marte Gallery Series Brush Set Acrylic 5pce

BMHS0017 Mont Marte Gallery Series Brush Set Acrylic 6pce

CMMD6090 Mont Marte Double Thick Canvas 60 x 90cms

MPB0054 Mont Marte Taklon Flat Wide Artist Brush 75mm

MCG0009 Mont Marte Oval Wood Palette

MAXX0019 Mont Marte Plastic Brush Washer

MAMD0001 Mont Marte Acrylic Medium Gloss

Also Required:

Water

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 1 Step 1. Transferring the image
Refer to the first image in this PDF and, with a
pencil, transfer the drawing as accurately as you
can. You can do this directly or the grid system
could be used also. The third method is to project
the image onto the canvas with an overhead
projector.

2 Step 2. Under painting

The under painting comprises 2 colours: 1 for the
timber and 1 for the Owl. The timber tone is made
up of 2 parts Monastral Cerulean, 1 part Burnt
Umber and 1 part Zinc White. Mix in an equal
proportion of gloss medium and then scrub this
into the proposed timber area. Use a large wide
flat Taklon brush to apply this. Once the Blue tone
is on, create another mix for the base coat for the
Owl. Create this mix with 1 part Zinc White, 1 part
Naples Yellow and 1 part Burnt Umber. Scrub this
over the Owl. The next stage is to paint the area
around the Owl, and the shadow cast from the
piece of timber above the window with Paynes
Grey. Add a little water to help the paint flow nicely.
Let this dry. The final step in the under painting
stage is to lay a wash of 1 part Burnt Umber to 3
parts Medium and cover the blue coat. Vary the
strength of the coat in areas to provide tonal
nuances. This reason for this will be apparent
when the top coat is laid on. Let this dry.

The ratios I suggest are a rough guide, so one may have to make
fine adjustments. In the under painting stage it is imperative to
ensure that the under drawing is visible beneath the under
painting coat. If the line work cannot be seen add more medium.

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 3 Step 3 Top coating the background
a) The first step is to lay in the dark grain lines on the
area that will be timber. Create a mix of 1 part
Paynes Gray and 1 part Raw Umber. Add a touch of
water so that the paint flows smoothly. Use a
medium size flat brush held on its side and create a
series of lines parallel to one another down each
panel. Try to make the lines as consistant as you
can. Add knot holes and fasteners at this stage
also and vary the line weight slightly.
b) Next create a mix of 2 parts Cream to 1 part
Medium and using the same Brush lay this colour in
between the dark grain lines.
c) Using Ivory Black paint in the wording and logo on
the sign. Use a small flat brush and when finished,
let this dry prior to the next step.
d) Create a mix of 1 part Zinc white to 3 parts
Medium and lay the colour over the sign face. Use
the large flat taklon brush and ensure that you can
see the underlying Black writing and logo. If you
cannot see it then add more medium. Let this coat
dry.
e) Next create a mix of 1 part Burnt Umber to 4
parts medium. Paint this over the Zinc White. Let
this dry.
f) Follow the steps in step (c), but instead use
Paynes Grey. Don't forget to paint the edge of the
sign. Let this dry.
g) Paint the inside of the logo with Brilliant Red. Mix
in a little water so that the paint flows smoothly.
h) To suggest surface rust, apply Yellow Ochre that
has been thinned with water so that it has the
viscosity of milk. It is best to use a round brush and
make the rust spots randomly shaped. The next
step needs to be done whilst this is still wet.
i) Apply straight Raw Umber into the centre of each
Yellow Ochre shape.
J) Create a translucent mix from 1 part Raw Umber
to 2 parts medium and lay in a cast shadow under
the sign.

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 4 Step 4. Painting the Owl
The basic rule to follow is to start from dark moving
to light, there is of course times when one will have
to go in and reapply spot colours.
a) Start with straight Paynes Grey and paint in the
eyes. Dip the brush into the water and scrub the
resulting wash into any areas of shadow around
the eyes. Use a small flat brush and lay in the
patterning over the head. Work your way down the
head and adjust the size of the patterning
accordingly as you move over the shoulders . Lay
in the primary feather lines at this stage. Switch to
the filbert brush and lay in the dark markings on
the chest. Take note of the shape of these as the
top and bottoms are tapered. Use the flat brush to
add the pin feathers on the chest also. Dip the
brush into water and scrub any areas of shadow,
like around the feet and the inside of the left wing.
b) Next use straight Burnt Umber to add more
markings into the breast area. Reinforce the
shadow areas as well. Add little bits of the Umber
into the markings on the head and around the
face, and then lay the markings onto the shoulder
area.
c) Create a mix from 1 part Raw Umber, 1 part
Paynes Grey and 2 parts Cream. Paint this into the
facial disks around the eye. Ensure the strokes
emit from the eye in the appropriate direction.
d) Use Yellow Deep paint to paint the beak in. Tint
the side in shadow with Raw Umber and create a
highlight on the leading edge by painting it with a
tone mixed with Cream and Yellow Deep. Paint in
the feet with this mix as well.
e) With the small flat brush lay Cream in to the
plumage on the head inbetween the Paynes Grey
patterning. Add littles areas of colour around the
face. Lay Cream into the facial disks. Ensure that
the strokes emit out from the eye in the appropriate
direction. Paint the other facial disk. Switch to the
large Flat Brush and block in the markings onto the
top of the wing. Work down the wing and lay in the
markings on the primary feathers. Pay close
attention to the reference photo regarding the
shape and size of these markings.
f) Lay in Burnt Umber in between the Cream
markings on the wing.
g) Start to lay in the fine pin feather plumage into
the breast region with Cream. Use the medium flat
brush on its side to ensure the strokes are thin.
Using the same method lay in Burnt Umber strokes
also, and then some Yellow Ochre strokes also.
H) Create a mix from 1 part yellow to 1 part Cream
and glaze over the feet.
Air Dry Clay can dry very quickly. To combat this it can be given a
mist from a water sprayer. It is also important to wrap any work in
cling film to halt this drying, if you wish to leave it a while between
work sessions.

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 5 Step 5. Detailing
Obviously with a project like this there is many little
details that must be finished so that the painting
looks complete, so here is a list of the details that
need to be finished.
a) Black glaze into the window area.
b) Cream highlight on the claws.
c) Raw Umber shadow under the feet.
d) Ivory Black in any deep shadows
e) A Grey single spot in each eye to suggest a
highlight mixed from Cream and Paynes grey.

It is very important to watch the accompanying video to familiarise

yourself with the steps in this project. Keep a second blank canvas
beside you to test any colours before you apply them to the actual
canvas.
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