STEP ONE
I’ve dragged out an old canvas with a couple of paintings already underneath. I like the fact that it has a little bit of build and texture in it already. I lay a nice thick coat of Napthol Red Light over the top of it, and let that dry. I then roughly chalk in the outline of the pandanus leaves.
As a surfer and someone who loves water, one of the most exciting things is a glimpse of crystal clear water through the trees. It suggests all of the imminent possibilities. This image is designed to give a sense of that moment. It’s a pure moment, free from concerns about day to day life. Perfect escapism.
STEP TWO
I rough in the leaves using a mixture of Forest Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Dioxazine Purple. The trunks are roughed in using Burnt Umber and a touch of Dioxazine Purple. This helps me get an idea of the balance and spaces. I block in the water from the top to the bottom of the canvas, using a mix of Pthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, and White. As I work my way down the canvas, I reduce the Pthalo Blue, adding more Cadmium Yellow Light and White. This process takes all of about 10 minutes. It’s designed to start the process, and then give me an idea of which adjustments to make in the tug of war that is making a painting. At this point I’ve noticed the painting seems a little empty in the bottom left corner.
STEP THREE
I re-establish the background water colour using the same process as before. When it’s dry, I add a nice healthy layer of impasto gel, and apply it mixing up my brushstrokes to add build and body. I use a lot of tactics, like atmospheric perspective and structural perspective to create the illusion of depth. I love the idea of creating the illusion of depth actually on the surface, and love to separate layers of paint with a layer of clear or impasto gel.
One of the most compelling things about clear water and a bright sunny day is that spectacular pattern that is thrown on the sand. It’s a result of light refracting through the surface of the water. To me, this is one of the most sensational things about water. This pattern can suggest the clarity of the water, how much wind there is, and the depth of the water. It also gives the painting a lot of movement.
Using the same colours I used to paint the background water colour, I roll my brush from side to side, strategically over the canvas, in loose “diamond” patterns, to create this illusion. Towards the bottom of the canvas, I add a lot more white, and a little Cadmium Yellow Light so that it will stand out in the paler areas. Time for another layer of impasto gel.
STEP FOUR
Over this base I suggest ripples and a bright blue sky reflected on the surface of the water. I use pretty much French Ultramarine Blue and White for a nice warm contrast to the cool blues underneath. To my eye these colours, warm and cool, seem to move when placed this way. At this point I create the illusion of waves amongst the ripples by increasing the amount of White, and the “tightness” of the brushstrokes towards the tops of these little waves. A few strategic dry, very soft brushstrokes of Burnt Umber, mixed with Pthalo Blue, placed at the base of these waves gives the water a little depth.
With a dry brush, I drag across the faces of the waves, a little bit of Cadmium Yellow Light, White and the tiniest hint of Pthalo Blue. I do this to suggest looking through the face of the wave at the sand underneath. This gives the wave a little more depth and “solidity”.
STEP FIVE
Before I get back to the trees, I place a couple of flecks of White here and there to suggest either or reflections, bits of whitewash etc, that just add to the illusion of “reality”. Time to get back to the trees. I go back to my Forest Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Dioxazine Purple mix, and re-establish the leaves. I then block in the trunks using the Burnt Umber and Dioxazine Purple, and add another trunk in the bottom left corner to fill that hole.
And you guessed it! Time for another coat of impasto gel.
STEP SIX
Up until now all the work has been fairly easy, and I’ve been able to work fairly quickly and loosely. This is where it all changes. I now have to make allowances for the light of the sky moving into the shadows, the light being reflected back up off the water and onto the undersides of the leaves, the twists and turns of the leaves, the highlights; and of course where the leaves are backlit. This is where I have to think. I have to make decisions about whether leaves and trunks are coming towards me or going away from me.
I mix a touch of French Ultramarine Blue, Forest Green and White, and highlight the areas on the leaves which I think will reflect the sky. I then mix a combination of Forest Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium and a touch of Napthol Red Light, and suggest the light being reflected onto the undersides of leaves. This requires close observation of pandanus trees, and where I justify spending hours and hours at the beach. (It’s work. Truly).
Now is where we do a bit of a dance backwards and forwards, adding colours to the highlights, and suggesting volume and form in the leaves. Time to start on the backlit leaves. I tend to focus a lot on the backlit leaves, when I want to place the viewer inside” or “under” the tree. This places you in the shade, and in the painting. (I hope!). With the backlit leaves as a general rule, I use Forest Green and Cadmium Yellow Medium, and to create the illusion of volume, gradually add more Cadmium Yellow Medium to the areas where the light is more intense.
Just for kicks we’ll throw on another coat of impasto gel.
FINAL STEP
Now that I have the leaves backlit, there will still be some light filtering through the trees and striking the leaves and trunks directly. This requires a different approach colourwise. I mix White, the tiniest hint of Cadmium Yellow Light, and the barest hint of Forest Green, and add the highlights to the leaves. Some of the edges of the backlit leaves will have this colour on them, and other leaves will have large areas where the light finds its way through the maze. I add White and gradually less Cadmium Yellow Light, and build up these highlights, creating volume in the leaves and trunks. This is actually a useful process and shows how you can still solve minor compositional problems with flashes of an intense white, to either diminish a dark area, or draw attention to an area which has little interest.
I get back to the trunks now, mixing Burnt Umber, Cadmium Yellow Medium, and shape the undersides of the trunks. It’s incredible how much light bounces back up. I gradually add White and Cadmium Yellow Medium to this mix, and build up the volume on the undersides of the trunks. The upper edges of the trunks also often reflect light, so French Ultramarine Blue and a touch of Burnt Umber with a little White “rolled” over the trunk creates that illusion. I build this up by diminishing the Burnt Umber, and adding more White.
Now for the highlights on the trunk. I use a similar process as the highlights on the leaves, but come back and put a Burnt Umber glaze over parts of the highlights, to suggest volume and aroundness” in the trunks. Many of the tips of the leaves are dead or dying, so I paint that in with Burnt Umber. I brush the highlights down over them. Often where leaves die there is this wonderful change of colour from yellows through to reds and into the browns. This is the part that I use to finish the painting, and loosely and strategically put these flashes of colour. This image, without them, could be a little “green” and a little cool – so I’m able to balance it with these flashes of warmth. These trees have a tough existence, and are often quite beaten up. So I have a wonderful time placing these flashes of yellow and orange to simulate the scratches and battle scars.
These little touches and subtle flashes of colour throughout the painting are the final elements that go to creating this image. Often the process of creating the highlights and volume and depth in the leaves, makes the painting a little “tight”. Loose application of these colours goes someway to negating that, and also brings a wonderful realism to the image. There you have it. A glimpse of the water through the trees, start to finish. Simple, but still somehow compelling and wonderful, AND each of those coats of paints is beautifully suspended in a layer of clear. Layer over layer.