Will Terry
Illustrator
About the instructor
Will Terry has been a freelance illustrator for 23 years. He got his start working for magazines and newspapers in the Washington D.C. area. His early clients include publications such as Time, Money, WSJ and ads for Sprint, Pizza Hut, Fed Ex, and Master Card. He has illustrated about 30 children’s books for a number of publishers, including Random House, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and Penguin. He works out of his home studio in Utah.
Learn how to dry brush using acrylic paint to create smooth transitions
Have you ever wanted to learn how to use acrylic paints to create beautiful illustrations? Many people have struggled using acrylics because they "do NOT behave like oils" or "they dry too fast.” In this video, Will Terry will show you step by step how to use the fast drying attributes of acrylics to your benefit. Dry brushing is one of the many techniques that artists have used to smoothly transition from warm colors to cool colors - dark to light. This video breaks down the materials you will need, the preparation of the surface, and the painting technique you can follow to achieve soft blending of your colors and values.
Will Terry has been teaching how to paint in acrylics for many years at UVU and BYU and brings his experience to svslearn.com. He began his career working exclusively in acrylics beginning in 1992 until he transitioned to digital in 2011. Working traditionally is sometimes easier to create "happy accidents" and will always generate an original. Art directors are always looking to a fresh style and working in a new medium can sometimes unlock new ideas waiting to be discovered.
Materials needed
Surface
Arches 140lb hot press (or heavier hot press) Liquitex heavy gel medium (or similar texture gel or gesso)
Brushes
Texture brush - Any midgrade 3-4” flat utility brush Winsor Newton Monarch flats 6, 8, 10, 12 Rigor brush
Paint
Professional grades such as Graham, Winsor Newton, Liquitex, or Grumbacher (avoid jars as they usually contain more water - I use tubes for heavy body)
Color list
- Titanium White
- Ivory Black
- Raw Sienna
- Burnt Sienna
- Red Oxide
- Acra Violet
- Dioxazine Purple
- Phthalo Blue (red shade)
- Phthalo Green
- Cadmium Red
- Cadmium Orange
- Cadmium Yellow (light)
You will learn:
- what materials you will need
- what materials to avoid
- how to transfer your sketch
- how to maintain your sketch
- how to apply texture gel
- how to prepare a toned surface
- how to block in dark colors and values
- how to add local colors
- how to get the desired paint consistency
- how to dry brush
- how to add highlights
This is an intermediate to advanced video. Experience generating a good drawing is important. Please refer to "Posing Characters" and "Creative Composition" at svslearn.com