(guitar music) - Hi, I'm certainly glad you could join me today, are you ready to do a fantastic little painting?

This is such a super day, let's do a super little painting.

I thought today we'd do something that's very simple.

We'll use a limited palette and I think you'll enjoy it.

I have a black canvas up here today as you can see and we make these black canvases by coating them with black gesso and that just turns it nice and black and it's all ready to go.

On top of that, I've added a thin, even coat all over the canvas of Sap Green.

Then around the edges here on the four corners I've put just a little touch of Van Dyke Brown so the corners are a little darker.

Let's just have some fun.

I thought today we would do a little scene, let's do a little swamp-like scene, you know, where you have a lot of trees in the background that you can't really define, but they're just there.

Let's just do it, what the heck.

I want to use the fan brush a lot today.

By the time you do this painting, you'll be an expert with the 'ole fan brush.

So let's just take a small, small amount of the Cad Yellow.

Just a small amount, don't need much paint, and just put a little on the bristles, okay?

Now, as I mentioned earlier, we have the Sap Green up here.

Now, let's have 'em run all the colors across the screen so you'll know what I'm doing here.

While they're doing that, let's go on up here and get started.

Almost forgot to tell you the colors today.

You'd have been upset with me.

Now, using just the corner of the fan brush, I just want to take, and just barely touching the canvas, just begin, all we're doing here is just sort of rubbing, just rubbing, there.

And just begin creating some basic little tree and bush shapes here.

We're just looking for very basic, little shapes.

Let the bristles sort of move, bend, there.

These are far away and we're not looking for a lot of detail and if they get a little too bright, we can take the large brush and just rub 'em and they'll go away, there.

But this is continually mixing with the greens underneath, so you get all these beautiful, dark, misty-looking colors.

I like to do these kind of little scenes.

All right.

Just a little touch more yellow and we just continually sort of look, and just sort of hunt out these little rascals.

There.

And maybe there's one way back here, you just really barely can see.

These black canvas are so fantastic.

If you've never done one, they can be some of the most exciting things in this whole technique.

There we go, see there?

With very little effort, already you're beginning to see just all kinds of little things back here, little happy things.

It's all kind of little creatures live back here.

There, and the squirrels, rabbits, and if this was in Florida, Georgia, somewhere down there, it might be an alligator or two hid back here.

When I was a kid, I had a pet alligator.

I don't know if you ever make a pet out of an alligator, but I had an alligator that lived with me, let's put it that way, and I fed him everyday, and everyday he bit me.

One thing about alligators, I don't think you can ever make a pet out of 'em.

I finally turned him loose and he still wanted to bite me.

There we go.

Just using the 'ole corner of the fan brush, that's all we're doing, and we can make the indication just tons and tons of trees and bushes.

Then we're gonna put some things in front of these, so keep these pretty dark when you're doing yours.

Don't let 'em get too bright on ya.

Against this black canvas, color stands out so strong.

Very quickly it can get too bright, and once again, should that happen, just take your large brush and very gently just go over it.

It'll dull the color because it'll mix with that green that's underneath.

There we go.

As I say, I was born and raised in Florida and I was born in Daytona Beach, and lived around Orlando most of my life and back in those days people thought Orlando would never amount to anything, but just a swamp, and now it's one of the most fantastic cities in Florida.

And Disney World's there, super place to go now.

There.

My mother still lives there, shoot, she likes it there.

She likes these kind of scenes, too.

There we go, and just on and on here.

Just however many bushes and trees that you want in your world.

Just drop 'em in.

Just want you to see how easy it is to do this just using a fan brush.

All we're doing is using the corner and just sort of scrubbing it, and when you push, that's where those highlights come from.

Can you see how that works when you push upward?

There you go, that's where it happens.

There.

And maybe down in here there's some little ones.

It has to be little bushes if it's gonna be big bushes.

There we go.

There we go, all kinds of rascals.

Maybe that one right in there.

You just make the decision, this is your world, and you have to decide where everything is in it.

Ok, now then.

See, once again, if you wanted to dull this down, if it was a little too bright for ya, just take your large brush and one hair and some air.

You're just barely touching it, and just go over it.

Just like so, just barely, barely caress it, and you can bring this all together.

There.

And the more you do this, the darker it'll become, because once again, it's picking up that color that's underneath, you're blending them together.

There.

Okay.

Now then, we can take our liner brush, going to a little paint thinner now.

I'm going to a touch of the, little touch of the Van Dyke Brown and just mix this until it's almost like ink, just very, very thin, very thin.

Turn that brush, this liner brush has long bristles.

Holds a lot of paint in those bristles.

Now then, here and there, just sort of look at it, and put an indication of just a few little limbs and sticks and all kinds of happy little things that live out in here.

You need some trunks for some of these little trees and stuff.

Some of them you can't see.

There.

Just here and there, wherever you want 'em.

Isn't that fantastic?

You can create a whole swamp, a whole forest that easy.

This does not necessarily have to be a swamp, it could be a beautiful forest out here, and you'd have basically the same effect.

There.

Just drop 'em in, and if you have trouble making this paint flow, add a little more of the paint thinner.

This thin paint will just literally slide right over the canvas, but if it's not working, chances are you don't have quite enough paint thinner into your paint, so just add a little.

I'm gonna take some Van Dyke Brown get a little Dark Sienna in there too.

Let's just pull it out very flat here on the palette.

So to mix it together, grab a little white and throw in there too.

So we've got Van Dyke Brown, Dark Sienna, and a little white, pull it out very flat, and then cut across to get that little roll of paint on the knife.

That little roll of paint really pay you big dividends.

Now then, just sort of look at your painting here and decide where there would be some land.

Maybe the land lives, oh, right in there, wherever you want it.

Wherever, wherever I go.

And all we're doing here is just sort of scrubbing this on.

There, look at all the little rascals.

All kinds of little things happen.

Little raccoons and the 'ole opposums and stuff all live up in here.

Now you've got to have a little place to sit here that all the water birds come, catch 'em a minnow.

And it helps when you're doing these kind of things, make up little stories in your mind.

Tell you what, maybe under here, let's put a few little reflections now that we have our land areas defined.

So I'll just take a little yellow on the brush.

Now then, decide where your reflections are going to be into the water, grab it, and pull straight down, and get a little of that brown added to it.

Usually if it's a swampy area, it's not very deep, it's very shallow, so you get a lot of mud.

And if you want to highlight that ever swing, take a little touch of Titanium White and just sparkle it, not much though, it'll get too bright on ya.

There.

Get too bright too quick, now very lightly, come across.

See there, instant reflections.

So on the other side, I'll get a little touch more of the yellow and let's go right over here and just drop those down, that easy.

There we go, pull straight down.

And when you're doing these reflections, be sure you pull 'em straight down.

It's most important they come straight down.

Oh green water, boy that's pretty, I like that.

Just alive with algae, all kinds of creatures.

This is where the whole ecology, the whole ecosystem starts is right here in these little swamps.

There.

Now then.

Put back some land masses.

There we go.

If this is your first time painting in this technique, these little black canvases, try one of 'em, I think you'll find that they work so well.

They'll get ya hooked.

They'll work so well you'll just, you'll get hooked on this, and it's easy to do.

It's easy to, we tell people sometimes, we're like drug dealers, we come into town and get people absolutely addicted to painting, and it doesn't take too much to get you addicted.

Here, I'll have to add a little white to my color and just highlight here and there, 'cause painting is fun, it does nice things to you, and it doesn't hurt anybody, everybody's happy.

It brings a lot of joy to people, whether you're doing the painting or whether you give your paintings or sell your paintings to other people, it makes them happy and we need more of that.

A little more of the yellow here, just same 'ole' yellow back on the fan brush and just, but not much paint, not too much paint.

Now then, let's bring some happy little bushes, just use a corner of the brush, and we'll bring some little bushes that live right out here and come right on down like that, see 'em?

There they are, and just wiggle that brush, see?

They'll come right on down to the land.

There they go.

There.

This is one of the most simple and effective ways I've ever seen of making a lot of happy little bush areas, and it works.

Look at that, see how deep it looks back in there?

Boy, there's a booger hides back in there, I'll tell ya, yes sir.

If there was a big alligator lives in there, he'd hide back in there.

There we go, just put in some little bushes.

Maybe there's one that lives right there, wherever you want 'em.

There's one.

All you're doing is just, sort of wiggling the brush, just wiggle the brush, let these things just sort of happen.

People write and tell me sometimes, they say I'm, I got a little nervous twitch and I can't paint.

If you have a little shake to your hands, you're ahead of the rest of us here.

It will really help you.

I talk too much, let me paint here.

Let's take some yellow, a little bit of Cadmium Yellow, and I'm just gonna get that little roll of paint right out on the edge of the knife.

Now then, let's just take that and just, sort of here and there, put in some happy little water lines.

Now, all I'm doing is touching the canvas, just touch the canvas, the canvas'll pull off what it wants.

Just touch, there, see?

And maybe there's some things laying out here in the water, there they are.

Let's go back over here.

We need a little touch here and here.

A fun little painting.

These are the kind of little paintings that just, they really just make you happy.

There.

And if one gets too bright, just rub it a little bit and it'll blend right in.

Once again, you have that color underneath, that base color, and you can just move things, you can create all kinds of beautiful illusions.

Tell you what, while I got this 'ole knife going, maybe, take some more of our brown, Dark Sienna, a little bit of Titanium White, maybe a little touch more white, yeah, that's nice, cut across, and get our little roll of paint again, I know you get tired of hearing that.

Maybe there's a little island that floats out here.

So first, we just put in a little bit of, a little bit of dirt, we'll just decide where our little island lives.

Maybe he is, yep, you're right, right there.

Take a little touch of the brown and white into that, we'll add a least little touch of highlight.

There.

Now then, let's go back to our fan brush, put a little more of the yellow in it.

Once in a while, you reach over here and get the least little touch of the Yellow Ochre, just a tiny bit, the tiniest little bit.

Maybe there's a happy little bush that lives out here, so let's put him in, there he is.

Just sort of scrub alone.

And you can have as many or as few as you want.

Now when you're putting this base color on, the Sap Green underneath, when you put that on, try to put just a thin coat, you'll find this most difficult part of this painting, the paint is very dry and very firm, you'll have one big arm from scrubbing it on, but just a thin coat, don't let too much get on there, otherwise every time you put any yellow on here, all that'll happen is it turns bright green on ya, and that's all right, but sometimes you want to retain some color, so just a nice, thin, even little coat, it's all you're looking for.

Now then, back to our Cadmium Yellow on the knife, and we'll just add a little bit underneath here, just sort of set that down in the water.

Tell you what let's do, let's put a little reflection under this, that'll sparkle it up a little.

Right underneath, pull it straight down.

Look at that, look at that.

Just a little and then come lightly across.

There.

See, you have an instant reflection.

Then we'll bring some more of these right over the top.

There we go.

Super.

Hmm.

Okay, now maybe, maybe in our world, yeah, let's get crazy, what the heck.

You have to have some fun.

Just take your knife and maybe there's some land that lives right here.

Just a little land that lives there, wherever you want it.

Wherever you want it.

Little bit of the lighter color, just for a touch of highlight here and there, don't do too much, just a touch.

Okay, now then, back into our yellow.

I want this to be just a little darker, so I'm gonna add a little Sap Green down here too.

I want it to be a little more into the greenish color.

In the foreground here, we'll have it a little darker, a little darker, okay, let's go back up here.

Now then, let's sort of decide, maybe, yep, there lives a nice, happy little bush right here.

Just the corner of the fan brush, just scrub it.

Just sort of let it bounce around and play, and he's got little friend here.

Wherever there's another one, see there?

Just all kinds of little things, maybe out in here some more.

There you go.

Over in here, there's one.

And these little bushes are fun to make.

You just won't believe how easy they just jump right off that fan brush.

There we go.

Leave some dark areas in here, see those little dark areas are what separates individual bushes and creates depth and distance and that son of a gun.

Tell you what, let's have a big tree.

I'm just gonna take some Van Dyke Brown.

Let's have some fun here, Van Dyke Brown, get over here and get some Dark Sienna, just load it on the fan brush, a lot of paint.

Maybe on this little island here lives a happy tree, sure does now, there he is.

See, just put his trunk in , let's give him a friend.

Give him a little friend, there we go, don't want him to get lonely.

And we can take, we take a little touch of the white with a little teeny amount of Dark Sienna, cut across, get our little roll of paint and let's just put the indication of a little highlight on the side of this tree.

Just here and there, just a little.

There it is, see?

Take my liner brush, paint thinner on it, thin like ink, turn those bristles in there, pull it out, and let's put the indication of a happy little tree limb here and there.

Just a few, we're gonna put some, let's put some leaves on this tree, some nice foliage living back here.

Okay, there we go, now, I believe we can also use a fan brush and create some nice foliage on that tree using the same basic technique, go right back into my yellow, load the bristles.

Ok, let's go up in here.

Now, decide where this son of a gun is and let's just thrown on some quick little, see, just some little indications here and there.

All kinds of little leaves and limbs that live out here.

Just using the corner of that fan brush.

Just let that rascal just sort of shake and play, shake and bake, there we go.

That a go.

Isn't that a fantastic way to make it a nice little tree?

Put a little out here.

A little more right in there.

There.

Isn't that easy?

We've got a nice little tree.

You might want to come down in here and put a little bit around the bottom of this tree and that brings it all together.

Now then, you know me, I like those big trees, so let's have a big tree over here.

Go right into straight Van Dyke Brown and I'm gonna load a roll of paint on the knife.

There we go, you can see it.

Now make a big decision, your tree's gonna live, it's gonna live, and we check ya out for bravery, this is your bravery test, this is your bravery test a little more paint, maybe there's a big bend in the tree.

See?

Boy, that tree's had a rough 'ole life out here.

There we go.

All the creatures and stuff have climbed this tree and looked out over the swamp.

If this 'ole tree could talk, well, he could tell you some stories.

Ok, now then, I'm gonna take some white, white, white, Dark Sienna, pull it out very flat, cut across, and once again that little roll of paint.

I know you get tired of seeing that, but pull it out, cut across, that's all there is to it.

And with that, let's just take gentle touch, if you've painted with me before and put snow on the mountains, this is the same thing.

You just, sort of, let it break and follow that old tree right on down.

Right on down.

Maybe the least little touch of red over here, reddish color with, see how it brightens it right all up?

Can make a beautiful tree just using your knife.

Now on the other side, just to show a little reflected light, I'll take the least, least little touch of Prussian Blue and white, almost no white in it, I want it very dark, just to show a little reflected light, and drop right on the other side here and then, sort of, bring them together, just tapping.

Okay.

You can just a little more brown now and just work these colors together and it makes a big 'ole tree there.

Really looks gnarly, hope that's a word, gnarly.

You know what I mean.

Sometimes I'm very guilty of just making up words.

Gnarly, that's a good-sounding word, though.

Ok, back to my liner brush, let's put a few arms on this tree, then paint, there we go, just a big 'ole arm on that son of a gun.

There.

Yes, I say when I was a kid I had a pet alligator and I had all kinds of weird pets, even had an armadillo one time, put in my dad's carport, er, in his little workshop house.

It tore up everything in there, boy he got me, whew.

Armadillo's strong.

If you don't know what an armadillo is, it's one of them little creatures that lives in a shell.

He carries his little house around with him.

There we go.

They're all over the south, just harmless and cute as they can be.

There, got a few little limbs out there.

And maybe, maybe, maybe, I'll go back to my fan brush.

Let's load some more of the Cadmium Yellow, little touch of the Yellow Ochre, and let's go back up here and let's put a few happy little leaves out here on this tree, still just rubbing and scrubbing, that's all we're doing.

No pressure hardly, just barely, barely, barely let the brush touch the canvas.

Just let it sort of graze.

Just let it barely touch and have fun.

See there, all kinds of happy little things.

And in your world, you decide how many leaves and bushes and stuff there are and drop them in.

Maybe there's a few out here.

And this little limb, maybe it, maybe it's dead.

Shoot, it's resting.

I'll tell you what, I think we have a painting that's about ready for a signature.

Let's take a little bit of red and let's sign this little painting.

We'll sign it right down here.

I certainly hope you've enjoyed it.

It'll show you some fantastic ways of using the light gesso and I know that you'll have fun doing it.

So until next time from all of us here, happy painting and God bless.

(guitar music)