MATERIALS
• Paper: I use 140lb rough watercolour paper, Arches, Saunders mainly in either natural or bright white. I use a masking tape to keep the paper in place onto a plywood board upon an easel. This weight of paper tends to dry fairly flat and so I avoid stretching paper.
• Brushes: For washes, a large filbert. For washes and detail a No. 16 round that points and a No. 8 round that points both of which are sable and good quality. For detail I use a rigger called a sword liner.
• Paints:
-I use Winsor & Newton Artist quality watercolours and Maimeri watercolours.
– Raw Sienna
– Burnt Umber
– Raw Umber
– Ultramarine Blue
– Cerulean Blue
– Alizarin Crimson
– Light Red
– Cadmium Red
– Cadmium Yellow
– Lemon Yellow
STEP ONE
I sketch out my composition, taking care to get a composition that I am happy with. It is important to get the scale right and key elements before you proceed to paint. I will change the drawing several times if need be to achieve this.
STEP TWO
Using a large Filbert, I wash in the sky, continue down over the building in the background that is in shadow and put in the lightest of the cool tones I see. I continue adding the lightest colours and subtlest tones of the buildings and foreground. All this is done in a fairly loose fashion.
STEP THREE
Once my initial light washes are dry I now put in the main block washes. The building at the back is in shadow so my wash for that is cool and I vary the colours within that wash keeping it as simple as I can to avoid overworking it. As the wash is cool it creates the illusion being in shadow, giving depth to the painting. I strengthen tonal washes in the warmer colour areas and cooler shadow areas. I then put in the shadows over the ground. Now the painting has depth and you get a sense of the light and atmosphere. At this stage I am using a Filbert, a round No. 16 and round No. 8 brush.
FINAL STEP
Again, I wait until all my washes are dry and then working from the back I add loose detail, not overstating, just enough to give an impression. Stronger tonal values are added as needed and figures introduced to give life, colour and scale to the scene. Some highlights are reinstated using an opaque white but this should be used sparingly. Then the tape comes off the paper edges and the study is complete. At this final stage I am using a round No. 16, round No. 8 brush and sword liner (type of rigger) for detail.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• Find subjects that inspire you to paint; this makes the painting a real pleasure.
• Work hard to get your drawing and composition right before
you do any painting.
• Build up the whole of the painting in bold strokes, washes and avoid fiddling with detail and overworking areas.
• Try to think through the painting process before you start.
• Get to know your paints inside out, how they mix with each other and react on paper. Avoid muddy colours by not mixing too many colours together.
• Use the best paper and artist quality paints you can.
• Paint with daylight or daylight bulbs
• I prefer to stand at an easel, this suits me best.
• Develop your artistic eye, always looking for potential subject matter and looking at what’s around you.
