TARRENCE CORBIN'S TIPS FOR HARD-EDGE PAINTING IN ACRYLIC

• If using Masonite, sand surface until it is rough so paint will adhere. Sand between each layer of gesso as well.  Sticky masking tape tends to pull it up, otherwise. For a glasslike finish, use wet/dry sandpaper with water for final finish and thin final layers of gesso with water.

 
• Block in your initial sketch lightly with an H pencil. Charcoal will act as a resist to both paint and tape.

 
• Block in, with thin washes, the large shapes. Get as close as you can to the final colors you intend, and don't use masking tape yet. The time to make any corrections to the composition is now, before the edges build up. They are very hard to sand out later.

 
• Work from top to bottom and from most distant object forward on each superimposed shape.

 
• To paint a curved shape: Lay a piece of wide masking tape on a sheet of glass. Cut out the shape with a sharp blade, reserving the negative shape. You will need the negative shape as a mask for the shape next to it.

 
• Add plenty of water to the paint so brush marks don't show. (T.C. doesn't add acrylic medium to the paint.) Don't add water to the paint as you apply it to the support--streaks form that way.

 
• Every color must be thoroughly mixed. Use a rubber kitchen spatula if you have to, to get all the color from the sides of the container. Blend thoroughly or your color, affected by the unmixed portion, will be slightly off when you get down to the bottom.

 
• Mix more paint than you need, because you will never (no matter how good you think you are) be able to match a hue to redefine an edge after a superimposed shape is painted on it. Comparing wet, newly mixed paint with a dried color doesn't work, since acrylic dries darker. He uses small glass jars with tight-fitting lids from the Bargain Barn to store his colors. Spray the surface in each jar with water from time to time to keep a dried paint film from forming.

 
• Paint must be thoroughly dry before putting on another layer or using sandpaper. Use an electric hairdryer to speed the process.

 
• Between each paint application, sand out any bumps, ridges or brushstrokes which will affect the hard edge or catch light. (Al Held's canvasses are as smooth as glass, T.C. says.)

 
• No matter how well you burnish the tape down, paint can creep underneath in the troughs of the canvas texture. (Important to have gessoed surface as smooth as glass before starting.) The back of a spoon works well for burnishing.

 
• To keep the paint from being pulled up when you remove tape, soften the adhesive slightly with the hairdryer. The more days you leave the tape on, the harder it is to get it up without damage.

 
• To paint shapes of contrasting values where the tiniest creep of paint onto a neighboring shape will stand out: After masking out the new shape, paint along the inside edges of the tape in its neighbor's color, to "seal" the edge. (Any color sneaking underneath the tape will match the area onto which it has leaked.) When that is dry, then proceed with the right color for the shape you have cut.