I decided to do this BobBlast because I received many questions and comments about how I get started with my daily warm-up exercises: How do I prep, measure, cut apart and tape together. So... welcome to my Studio Practices - the Burridge Atelier!  Painting these  Little Gems can be a very fun exercise to get started in the studio, to experiment and try out new ideas. And - just to see how loose you can get!

As a reminder, I am teaching a "Little Gems" class at the upcoming  Trade Show - Artisan Expo in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  My final trade show of the year is the Art of the Carolinas in November . The links for both are below.

In this Blast I start with a full sheet of 300 lb watercolor paper - and the first thing I do is apply gesso, then a mid-tone of orange. Why orange first? Because I was taught that way to paint. In art college, the first day in painting class, we wiped our canvases with an overall warm tone - orange or red. At that time, we painted with short, choppy strokes, á la French Impressionists. The technique was to leave some of the under color peek through. For me, the effect was sparkling!

In this video, I apply the first coat of gesso and orange with one product: Holbein's Orange Gesso in their cool package. Generally, this is my preferred color & gesso combo base. FYI - Holbein has 22 different colors of gesso! Of course, you can use a coat of white gesso and brush on orange acrylic paint all over the surface. 

To start - Precut all the pieces and tape back together. Or - simply mark off the full sheet with the same size painting, this lesson is 10"x10" - all on one sheet.

The mid-tone color is already there, so all I have to decide is where the darkest darks and the lightest lights need to be. I sketch with my brush, keeping it fast and loose!

By now, I am off and running... and continue painting with more color, building up layers, negative shape painting and re-establishing the contrast - still leaving a bit of orange peeking through.

Orange you glad you asked???

To view more of my favorite art materials, go to my website and click on my "Studio Resource List" - you can download it as a PDF.