1. Paint textures             Penny Bearman Artlark Sep. 2010

I was asking about rendering a wall outside the gallery, trying to find out how to do it perhaps so that I could surface the walls I paint on in the future. I gather that there are different coats, one with “sharp sand” that adhere better to the masonry, and ones with smoother sand for the top coat.

The surface that you are going to paint on begins with the canvas or paper but the real message you create happens when you manipulate the texture of the paint itself.
The texture of paint is more subtle than adding sand or working on rougher canvas, even more subtle than using different tools to apply it to the painting. The texture of paint is integral to the type of pigment and how you mix it.

For example, take a colour, any colour. Make three different mixtures using the same colour on your palette:
1.For a warm, transparent mixture, dilute it with turps or white spirit -add oil if you like. Put some onto some paper or canvas.
2.For a warm, tertiary (muddy) colour mix your pigment with some earth colour, try a) an opaque earth such as yellow ochre, then b) a transparent one such as burnt sienna or umber.
3.For a cold, opaque colour, add white.

Now using an inspiring subject, and possibly changing your initial choice of pigment if you are fed up with it, or don’t find it compatible with your idea, design and colour a painting using these 3 versions of the same pigment.
Towards the end of the painting add another colour, but restricting its textural range to just one method of mixing.

Compare and discuss your results.