How to Paint With Smoke

Painting was smoke was invented by Wolfgang Paalen and utilized by Salvador Dali. Also known as "fumage," using smoke and flames, alone or in combination with actual paints, is a technique that creates a very ethereal or surrealistic tone to a piece of art. Even if it does not become the preferred technique, working with natural elements allows any artists to expand their creative range.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Canvas
• Gesso
• Matches or lighter
• Candles
• Bowl of water
• Cloth
• Fixative
• Paints
• Brushes

1. Place a stretched canvas on an easel and brush surface with Gesso, an acrylic primer available at most art and craft stores, and let dry. A heavy card or wooden board could act as substitute for the canvas.
2. Hold a candle and use matches or a lighter to light it. You may want to try several thicknesses of candle to see which gives you the best smoke effect.
3. Kneel or stand close to canvas and hold the lit candle beneath. Ensure you have a good view of the canvas surface and a bowl of water and damp cloth close by.
4. Tilt the candle flame back and forth using your dominant hand just beneath the bottom edge of the canvas. Take care not to actually light the canvas on fire.
5. Experiment with creating a variety of smoke shapes on the canvas by alternating the candle's position and flame direction. Smoke painting is not the sort of thing that turns out perfect the first time. Use finger or a paintbrush to smudge the edges of smoke shapes for another effect.
6. Fix smoke shapes and patterns permanently to the canvas by spraying with a fixative agent or art spray. The fixative spray for charcoal and pastels is most suitable.
7. Highlight smoke patterns using artists' paints and brushes to create a finished piece of art.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice smoke painting on old or reused canvas until you really get the hang of things.
• Long kitchen matches may be easier to manipulate than a candle when learning how to smoke paint.
• Playing with matches is no joke. Take care when igniting, utilizing, and extinguishing any sort of flame, be it candles or matches.

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