Paint through the eyes of a child and your paintings will always display a freshness and honesty.

[piano plays in bright rhythm & tone] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ When you look at this painting, you're seeing a middle stage.

But if you look closely at this painting, you can say, "What's happening there?"

We were playing hide-and-seek.

And, I think she's peeking a little bit.

She found me too quickly.

You be the judge!

This is a primed canvas.

Six white, one Thalo Blue, in acrylics.

I put a drawing on it.

And then I outlined it.

You can outline it with a dark acrylic just to preserve your drawing.

And then as we go over to the acrylic finish stage, you can see where I've have put colors on.

And they in themselves, don't they look good together?

The pinks against the greens against the golds.

Very compatible.

So, we'll go ahead and start.

And I'm going to pick up a flat sable brush.

And this is Quinacridone Violet and white.

It's about two violet, one white.

And this will be the darks on her little overalls.

Oh gee, they look so fresh and clean, don't they?

Well, they are.

Oh, there's a couple things you can think of when you're filling in spaces.

And one would be, do you leave a line?

I would say, yes, then you know you are within the boundary.

So, I can leave that edge.

When I put on the grass I can come right against it and then they have natural boundary as they touch each other.

So that's one rule I kind of have when I do my own painting, or when I teach in a workshop across the country.

And many of you are in those workshops.

You would be amazed how many nice letters I receive.

I mean, they're all nice.

You'd be surprised how many letters I receive saying, "Buck, we just love your series.

Thank you for doing it."

Oh, there was one lady, she said something like this, she says, Buck, in these tough times, it's so refreshing to turn on the television and find you there.

So you have to thank PBS for making those shows possible.

Okay, this comes right close to that.

We have a little button there.

You can see I'm kinda circling the wagons because I will put light in the space where the light is rather than saying, put this all on and then you put the light on top of it.

It could be that way, but it works just a little bit better when the paint is going on a dry surface.

There are times we, of course, you know that, we work the wet into wet.

Isn't it nice to have a child to paint?

They are so fresh and innocent.

I've told this before, but I recall one time when a I was painting my daughter, or I was gonna paint my daughter.

She was probably nine years old.

And I was taking her over to Claude Buck's studio-- I didn't have my own studio at the time.

Now, let's take pure Quinacridone Violet, just to make a little deeper shadows.

Anyway, so I planned the whole week and-- I can say her name can't I?

I can say Donde.

She's such a sweetheart.

But anyway, so I worked the whole week, just treated her real nice like and even had a just a little modeling fee for her.

Well, she comes over, and the minute she sits down she says, "Daddy, maybe we could do this another time."

Oh, my gosh!

Well, the tough art is, of course, if she didn't want to be there it would certainly show in her countenance as I am trying to paint a beautiful painting.

Ooo, I like this just pure Quinacridone Violet.

We will be using rose when we come to the light part.

I have just a little bit more of the kind of the intermediate tone.

Gee, sometimes I feel like I should spit and speak!

Because it don't come out very clear-like.

Ooh, there you go, right like that.

Anyway, we--what did we do?

I don't remember.

Did we paint Donde's portrait that morning or not?

We started.

But we had another time where she was a little more conducive to being painted.

And I like to do that.

You know what, I suggest a lot now-- this is rose and white, Quinacridone Rose and white.

I'm using the same brush.

This will come up and go here.

What I like to use now a lot on portraits-- and even with the adults, is take a video camera and video the individual in the pose you want then--here, let me just talk to you.

So you say you take, that's the view you want.

And then you do a close-up of the eyes or the nose.

And then you do a profile.

I put them on a disc, on a DVD, and I can play the DVD, put it on pause, and you have that one pose for the whole day.

Gosh, it's a great way to paint.

You have their spirit in there because you have them on the video where it's in actual life, and then you can kinda talk to them a little bit, and have their spirit.

It reminds me one time, and oh, over here.

This will be an example where I put the light on top of the dark because it should have been left for the light.

So that gives a chance to see this too.

These was one time I painted this fellow's portrait of his wife--see, this works because the underneath is dry.

Gee, it dries quickly.

And he wanted it a surprise, so he brought me the picture.

He was a very nice, soft spoken guy.

When I got finished with it I said, "The idea of a surprise is good.

But gee, maybe I should have just one time with your wife sitting, then I'd get the true personality."

Let me just use the Quinacridone Violet again.

I'm using the same brush, but I'm using just the edge of it so I can put a touch, like that.

Well, his wife came over, and this guy-- very quiet sort of way-- and she's going It's so nice to be here and Gee whiskers!

I painted her quiet looking because of him, then I had to just add a little personality in there.

Now, I overdid it.

That's what happens when your on television and your beautiful director says, "More energy!"

So that gal didn't have quite that much energy, I just got carried away a little bit.

Alright, let's go ahead and go right to the face, the flesh, early so we'd be sure to get those in because a lot of the other is just kinda scrubbed in.

What I have for that-- I might have to mix just a little bit with my knife.

This is umber, Burnt Umber and white.

You can see that it's kinda cool.

So I'll add just a little bit-- let's takes some of this rose and put over here and see how much--oh, there you go.

Now you got some real flesh!

Okay, take this, like this.

And this is just put on flat.

Look at the color, how nice it looks against the blue.

It's very attractive and this is all just flatly placed on so there's no form in this, in this stage.

Again, I'm leaving the lines.

As I said that-- did you see right there?

Went outside the line.

But if I just scratch a little bit, the line's back there.

I want to make sure I'm close enough to the line, though.

And you're always conscious of anatomy.

See, that has a little fullness like a bicep.

Then this would have just a little attitude of curve there like that.

So even though I have the lines, you refine them a little bit like that.

Let's go to the other arm.

Ooh, gee.

When I do this, it appears that when I put the tree on, I'll have to do a little surgery because otherwise she's gonna have one large hand.

Looks like you just played softball and you still got the glove on.

Can't have that.

So we'll put this on and then we'll trim around when we come to the tree a little bit.

Same way here.

As I come through and do the wrist, I want to make sure that isn't too wide so I'm not quite out to the line there.

Alright, we'll quickly go to a smaller brush and we'll do around on the face.

This is the same kind of brush, it's flat, but it's smaller.

So we'll push in over on here.

I just so love the way that the color looks against the blue, it's a very rich color.

And that's often helpful-- so you can see on my palette, my palette is just off-white, so it's easier to judge a color more accurately.

When you come up, you're not-- see, if you had a white palette and it looked dark down there and then you come up here and you think oh my goodness, it didn't come out right.

This comes over there.

Again, you're saving the lines when you're on the inside.

And the little darks will work as the initial shadows.

I'll come just a little bit more with this, and I'll push more closely to the lines.

Because I want to make sure that those aren't hard in there.

I will add some lights in just a minute.

Let's see.

Okay, time's up.

We have a minute.

To do that, let's take the white with this and add-- what should we add?

I would like to add just a little Yellow Ochre to that.

That's just, you can see the comparison on the palette, on the palette you can see the comparison between the light and dark.

I'll take just a touch of rose.

I want to be sure there's a little warmth in there.

Alright, now this will come first on the nose.

That gives you that.

And you don't mind if the paint mixes in a little bit with what's there.

It'll just make it softer.

Okay, you saw how I scratched.

When you put paint on and you make a little mistake, sometimes just the scratching will soften it.

Ooh, is this nice!

See, that's the edge of the face.

And come down on the chin.

Little bit right under there.

And just a little bit along on that cheek.

Little bit, right up close there.

Okay, I think we can leave that.

You know, if there was the desire to-- see, I could have come over and put some highlights on early.

We just won't take the time to do that because we'll do it with oils.

Alright, let's go ahead with, on the hair.

I want to put on--it almost looks like a helmet, initially.

So I have some Burnt Umber and a little Yellow Ochre.

♪ She's a little blondie.

♪ And over on this side.

And then we'll take more umber to make it darker.

And notice, she has just a little pig's tail, pigtail coming out there.

As I do this and a lot of the painting that I do with the primed canvas, I allow some of that to show through.

The more you cover this with paint, the more you realize places where you've allowed the blue to come through.

You can see it somewhat on the face.

We'll have to give you a little nose job when we come to putting oil on you.

But you can see it in the hair.

And obviously you see it all through there.

Let's put just a little of the flesh before we forget down on the little ankle.

Right there.

Good, that's one foot in and one foot out.

Do the hugabuck.

Don't you like that, "hugabuck?"

Let's take white and just a little touch-- what should we do?

I'm changing my mind.

Little white and some of the pink.

Just a little bit for the off-white.

And this will be for on the shirt, we'll put just a little bit of some of the stripe showing.

Just put it on, chisel edge and than flatten a little bit as you pull it.

You know what is so neat?

I hope you continue doing it, is the amount of emails that I receive that have photographs of your having done my paintings.

And what I like to do is, after looking at them, is maybe make a little suggestion, you know, you might consider doing this or that.

I love doing that.

You try to do it in a way so the person doesn't feel, Hey, I like it the way it is!

That's fine too--like it the way it is, but if you want a little help on that, that's a good way-- through the mail.

Here's yellow ochre.

I want to put just a little bit of brass buttons on.

Boy, when I was growing up in the olden days, my daughter used to say, "Dad, what did you use for plates in the olden days?"

I said, "We just find a flat stone and use it."

But, anyway, in the olden days, I used to wear those overells-- overalls.

"Overells?"

Okay, I have just a little Yellow Ochre and white, just a slight feeling on this.

Alright, now can do some larger things.

I'll take yellow--what do I, what do I need?

Oh, here's cad yellow.

I need to make some of this.

There's cad yellow and I have a little bit of Thalo Blue and white--I'm mixing this with a fan brush.

Oh, that's a nice color.

Now, I think I need just a touch of umber.

Now, watch what I do before I put it on the canvas.

Just check, see what it looks like.

It looks pretty good there.

So let's come over then and go ahead and put this on.

This, I'm using a broad stroke.

This is a fan brush.

I'll use the broad stroke until I come near the little girl.

So we'll then take the flat sable, so I can come close to her.

This is one of the times like I explained earlier, where now I'm coming right close to the line, so you don't see as much of a line anymore, I've narrowed it.

But it was certainly there for a guide on how to come.

This goes just a little bit above the elbow, down like that.

And all along the pants.

You notice the--oops!

You would have noticed if I hadn't done that.

You notice the nice grace on that leg.

It comes down about there right where the bends.

And there will be darker there.

Over in this side.

If I were at home, the way I would do on this side would be to turn it upside down so I can carefully come against that.

Now I can do it here, because that isn't such a real strategic spot.

And I can come carefully against that.

Turning your painting around, particularly if you're right-handed you do it one way, and if you're left-handed-- it's always nice, for instance, look at the tree.

I'm working away from the tree, being right-handed.

If I were left-handed, then it would be a lot more easily done if it was turned upside down.

Okay, let's put a little water in this and push this along.

I additionally like a little bit of that, underneath-- being an effect.

It may not be completely uncovered, but you certainly can feel it through there.

Okay, we'll take some yellow ochre and we'll come down to the grass in front.

I have just a little Burnt Umber into it, too.

So it'd be about five Yellow Ochre and one Burnt Umber.

[soft scraping] Ah, the response of color next to color continually amazes me, even though I've been painting a long time.

And gee, it's fun to paint a long time.

You just don't get bored.

The more you learn, the more fun it is!

And the more you learn, the more you're willing to say, Hey, a lot of this has been learned by accidentally-- accidental strokes and so on.

But because you're willing to stand in the arena then you certainly can make advancements.

It's not saying you're not going to make mistakes, but you'll make advancements.

Let's take pure Burnt Umber.

And the pure Burnt Umber-- I'll put a little water with it.

This is a fan brush.

And I'm coming over on the tree.

This, as much as anything, will be where I want the blue to be felt through.

This is very simple, very simple application, nothing fancy on it.

As I come over to the edge, I better do my project of... a smaller brush.

So I can come a little bit with this.

In fact, I'm gonna take even just a little, it's got a little light in it.

I want to come closer.

So we make that hand--not the hand, but the fingers smaller.

[chuckles] Oh, yes!

Now.

Now we can do it.

Same way there.

Okay, while I have the paint on this brush, let's just go right down here.

And notice, I just kinda scrubby-scrub, so there's gonna be little variations within.

So some places will be thinner and some places a little darker and so on.

That just goes with the character of this particularly tree.

I want to take some of that same dark and I'll go down, so you're seeing a little bit of the shadow of the tree right at the bottom of her legs and then over on this side.

And, of course that, you're showing kinda deep grass.

Buck didn't mow the lawn this week!

So, there you are, right in there.

And we'll do the same thing, down in front.

There, just go across there and then push up the grass a little bit.

♪ On dee-dee dee-dee ♪♪♪ Need some water on that grass.

Alright, we have another thing we want to be sure and do.

And that is taking--this is you're Quinacridone Rose, you're Ultramarine Blue and some white.

And we'll just push this in, back in here.

Ooh, it looks beautiful but we need a little more blue.

That's better.

You're going to do what?

Ooh, you're going to do careful work.

Which means, a smaller brush.

We just have just enough time to kinda wrap this up in stage one, acrylics.

Come on, paper towel.

Get a good paper towel or a good cloth.

So when you wipe, you're not gonna leave half the paper towel on the canvas.

Oh, that's wonderful!

What kind of tree are you?

Well, it's what kind of tree are you gonna be?

All that richness inside just says--oh, when you put that green over the top it will be so neat and nice.

How do they do it when they do the calf roping?

They do it, and they go, "Da!"

That means they're done, they've finished, I done roped it!

Okay, so we have just--let's glance over everything here.

I think maybe if I take just a little umber at the finals here, just maybe make that eye go out, just a slight bit, slight bit here, little under the nose, the nostril.

Little bit on the lips.

So, they're kinda just placement and then we'll find what we do when we put on the oils.

So, this is stage one on the acrylics.

And I feel very good about you.

Tree Doll!

So we'll see you next time when we go to the oil stage and refinement.

This is a completed acrylic stage.

We'll see ya soon.

Bye-bye!

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