Paint the landscape background using a block-in technique. Consider a simple setting, such as a bull and cow elk grazing in tall grass. Mix colors in the palette to create gold, green-gold, blue-green and varying hues with a No. 12 flat brush. Use a No. 8 filbert to add background colors. Make green shades by mixing C.P. cadmium light, raw umber, ivory black and ultramarine blue. Use subtle color and shading techniques to reflect light. Your composition doesn't need to include the sky.
Paint the elk using a block-in technique. Blending colors isn't important yet. With a No. 12 flat brush, paint the outlines of the elk with a mix of titanium white, raw umber, raw sienna and ultramarine blue. Elk's dark mantles contrast with glowing light body fur. Paint the dark fur with a No. 5 round brush with a mixture of titanium white, ivory black and raw umber. If your composition calls for painting the elk's rump, mix a tiny amount of raw umber, titanium white, ultramarine blue and napthol red light.
Add details to your composition. With a No. 3 round brush, shade the bull's head and body with dark colors. Scumble the layers of paint to provide texture and contrast of the colors, suggests Frederic Taubes in "Acrylic Painting for the Beginner." Rather than simply veiling one color with another, allow some of the underlying paint to peer through. If your perspective includes a view of the the elk's rump, use a No. 000 and No. 1 round brush to add the narrowest highlights of titanium white and raw sienna. To highlight a cow's rump, add a tiny amount of burnt sienna. Highlights should allow the underlying color to show through.
Use a scumble-and-glaze technique to bring the elk into high definition. Combine titanium white, ultramarine blue, napththol red light and raw sienna and apply to the elk's body. Define the musculature by adding the thick or thin glaze to the elk's back. Acrylic paints deliver the beauty of color and transparency. Painters can take advantage of the glaze's texture, according to "Art Class: A Complete Guide To Painting" by Simon Jennings and Sally Bulgin. Consider your composition's light source before deciding where the place the glaze. The bull's antlers provide the greatest opportunity to reflect curves, light and shadow.