David N. Kitler: Reliable Results in Acrylics: A Medium Demystified

In this video workshop, David Kitler demonstrates his methods for working effectively and creatively with acrylics

You will learn how David works with materials, textures, colors, and much more from David's commentary throughout his demonstration.

David N. Kitler guides you through the technical challenges of acrylics so you can focus on your art. Using inexpensive brushes and only a handful of colors, David leads a half-dozen demos on materials, transparency, textures, mixing, and more. You'll master the essential supplies from boards to palettes to pigments. You'll learn to mix any hue using three primaries and how to pick the right white paint for the task at hand. David helps you create smooth gradations, mottled backgrounds, and delicate edges, all using basic tools. You'll explore opaque painting and transparent layering before David combines the two in his squirrel demo. He shares secrets for creating lifelike textures and helps you get the most from your reference photo.

AUDIO INTERVIEW: Listen to an audio interview with David Kitler. The video is overlayed with images from our filming sessions with David, his notebooks and a gallery of his artwork.

Read an article featuring David Kitler from Wildlife Art Magazine

About Artist David Kitler

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, David's appreciation of nature began in his youth, as he explored the Canadian outdoors.Once he realized that the whole world was only a plane trip away, David embarked on longer reference gathering trips to places such as Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, India, Brazil, Panama, and Costa Rica, as well as through most of the U.S.A. and Alaska.In the meantime, David taught himself to draw and paint, experimenting with a variety of media and techniques.

Because of his love of wildlife, David had initially geared his education towards becoming a veterinarian, believing that art could only be treated as a hobby.Still, while growing up, David received support and encouragement from his mother, who sometimes allowed him to stay up late on school nights so he could finish a drawing.David still vividly remembers one of the last things his mother ever said to him: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you are not an artist."Unfortunately soon after, at the age of 17, David lost that source of support in a tragic manner, when David's mother was killed by his father.This terrible event impacted David's life, and that of his four younger siblings, in immeasurable ways.Introduced abruptly into the adult world, David had to find ways to support himself and secure his future, so he gave up his dream of attending university, and started work at a local factory.

Soon, however, David's sketches and paintings, which he continued to work on whenever he had a free moment, began to garner attention, opening a door to a world he had not known existed.It was then that he decided to pursue a degree in art, hoping this would further demonstrate his professional commitment and enhance his credibility.Fending for himself, David overcame incredible odds and eventually graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art.

David's paintings have quickly gained recognition, and are part of corporate and private collections the world over.David is a member of the prestigious Society of Animal Artists and the Artists for Conservation Foundation (formerly Worldwide Nature Artists Group), and has been invited to exhibit in some of North America's major art shows, where he has received a number of Best of Show and Excellence awards.