Deb's Floating Method
This article will help to explain my style of acrylic floating or glazing, as I like to call it. I also want to explain exactly what "floating" is to beginner students and "rusty" painters who visit this site. This will be a free lesson for you. I want to mention that the following terms, all mean the same thing: floating, float-shading, float-highlighting, shading float, highlight float, side- loaded float, and glazing - all mean that you are going to load one side of your brush with a designated color and shade or highlight in a designated area of a design.
I am a designer and Published Helping Artist with the DecoArt Company. I use Americana Acrylic paint in my basic palette. I don't venture away from these colors very often because they are my favorites! Most of these colors are pretty intense, so I am cautious about using them full strength. I also caution my students to use them sparingly. Two thin coats are better than one thick coat, which might end up too dark and hard to take back off. I use a thin glazing float which takes a little practice, but in time, should produce the soft floats you see in my work.
My basic palette includes: (Antique Gold,) Avocado, Black Plum, Blueberry, (Blue Green,) Blue Haze, Burnt Orange, (Burnt Sienna,) Burnt Umber, Buttermilk, Cadmium Red, (Cherry Red,) Country Red, Deep Burgundy, Deep Midnight Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Golden Straw, (Hauser Dark Green, Hauser Light Green, Hauser Medium Green,) Lamp Black, Light Buttermilk, Mink Tan, Moon Yellow, Olive Green, Pansy Lavender, Plantation Pine, Raw Sienna, (Santa Red) & Sable Brown (Williamsburg Blue). (The colors in parentheses are also used from time to time.) There are a lot of colors here, but they are just representative of the colors of the rainbow, with a few earth-tones thrown in.
Let's study floating more closely with this lesson.
I control the intensity of the paint by using more or less water. More water produces nice soft glazes and more paint produces stronger, more defined floats. For 95% of my controlled shading and highlighting, I use the soft glazes (a little paint and more water). I do not necessarily thin the paint ahead of time unless I am doing a watercolor technique. You can achieve a soft glaze by practicing these basic steps:
Prepare A Practice Area
Use a double well brush basin when possible. Fold a paper towel and lay it next to your palette to use as a blotter. Basecoat a practice poster board or have a practice project ready. Pour a small amount of paint out on a palette pad or paper plate. Use a color that will contrast with the practice board basecoat. Wash an angular or flat brush in the clean water of the basin. (Illustration #1 shows my work area and a project in different stages.)
Practice on the Palette
(A) Dip the brush in water, remove it, and lay the flat of the bristles on the paper towel. Count to three or until the shine leaves the bristles, then lift the brush and move over to the palette.
(B) With one side of the bristles, slide the brush through the puddle of paint and back out. The paint should cover 1/3 of the width of the bristles. If using the angular, slide the longer tip of the bristles into the paint.
(C) Brush the bristles back and forth on the palette (shown in illustration #2). It is important to press all of the bristles against the palette, not just the tip with the paint.
(D) If you see puddles of water forming, that means you have too much water. Touch the bristles on the paper towel for one second, wipe the puddle away, and continue to brush back and forth in the same place. If the paint streaks and breaks-up, you need more water. Dip just the tip of the brush with the paint, in the water, blot for a second on the paper towel, wipe the area clean, and continue to brush back and forth in the same spot.
(E) Your goal is to see the color "float" about 2/3 of the way across the bristles on the palette. There should be a soft transition between the tip with the paint and 2/3 of the way over. At no time do you want the paint to float all the way over to the other side of the bristles. There should only be clean water on the other end. If you have a faint halo of color on the water end, try pinching the bristles to remove a little water.
Sometimes, you can get away with this "fix". If there is too much paint to pinch off, start the process over from the beginning. Use one side of the double basin to wash the brush out and the other side to dip your brush in to float.
Use a Practice Board or Small Project
(A) Once you have achieved a nice float on the palette, you are ready to move to a practice board with a drawing or a project. Press all the bristles down and move the brush across the area (see illustration #3). If you are not happy with the float, you may go back over the area while it is still wet, but leave it alone if it starts to dry. You will only pick up paint instead of leaving it. You may also lay the floating down with small strokes of the brush as if you are nudging it along.
(B)You should see a soft transition of color from the hard edge of the float out into the basecoat. If you see the halo or a line, you can soften it by pouncing it with a fabric scrubber. Wet the scrubber and dry it on a paper towel. It only needs to be damp. Pouncing is like stippling but harder and faster. You must do this before the halo dries completely.
(C) Notice the very soft transition of color in illustration #3. If I wanted more color, I would let that dry and go over it again with the same color. If I wanted to darken it, I would go over it again with a slightly darker color, but keep the float more narrow. You don't want to cover up the first float, totally. The opposite is true when floating a highlight color: use a slightly darker highlight color for the first glaze, let dry, then use a brighter, but more narrow float of color to punch up the highlights.