MATERIALS
• Stretched primed canvas, 600 x 900 mm.
• Black and white gesso.
• Flat and round soft Taklon brushes of varying sizes.
• Fine rigger brush.
• Palette knife.
• Coloured pastel pencils.
• Genesis Heat Set Oils: Cobalt Blue; Ultramarine Blue; Burnt Umber; Burnt Sienna; Black; Titanium White; Yellow Ochre; Alizarin Crimson; Indigo; Genesis Yellow.
• Genesis Thinning Medium and Genesis Glazing Medium.
• Paper towels.
• Heat gun.
• Glass palette.
STEP ONE
The first thing I do when confronted with a white canvas is give it several coats of coloured gesso. In this case, because I had already determined the mood and setting, I decided to merge a black gesso at the top into a white gesso towards the bottom of the canvas. Using coloured pastel pencils, I drew in the subject and placements of the key features.
STEP TWO
I went over the pastel outlines with a thinned mix, using Genesis Thinning Medium and some of the Genesis colours, applied with a rigger brush – this helped to preserve the drawing to some extent. I set the outlines with the heat gun and removed the surplus pastel with a damp tissue. I worked up the sky areas – drying, layering and reworking as necessary. I dried the sky, then blocked in the tree colours and the sunlit grass area with broad brush strokes.
STEP THREE
I worked up the foreground, adding some Genesis Glazing Medium to the colours so that they would glow through each other. I dried each layer with the heat gun, allowing a wonderful glowing effect to come through the layers without producing ‘mud’. I worked up the trees so that the foliage almost reached a finished state. I formed the shape of the sandy track with the intention of directing the eye towards the building; and placed the posts at either side of the cottage to prevent the eye from leaving the picture at the top of the track.
STEP FOUR
After drying all sections of the painting, I applied a dark mix of blue brown to the sides of the track with a rigger brush, in random expressive calligraphy-like strokes, using the thinning medium. Onto the suggested shapes which emerged, I dabbed some of the light mixes used for the track. I warmed up the track with a pink mix here and there, and warmed up the grasses with a touch of sienna; then I heat-set the painting again.
STEP FIVE
I painted a base of creamy white onto the cottage – here and there allowing the brush to run out of paint, to give a scumbling effect (this helped to enhance the weathered look of the boards as I layered the colours later). Using the Genesis Glazing Medium, I glazed the random shapes with various colours; and also glazed the ruts on the track. I added some warm colour to the track and the areas where I had been working, and again set the paints with the heat gun.
STEP SIX
I worked on the foreground areas – the stony and bushy sides and the tangles – and again set the paints. Being able to rest my hand on the painting was a real benefit. I lightened the track somewhat under the cottage to hold the viewer’s eye where I wanted it, and worked up the light grasses some more. Using colours from around the painting, I scumbled over the chamferboards to help the cottage to ‘sit well in the landscape. I also worked up the fence posts.
STEP SEVEN
Painting detail, for me, is a real buzz … and I strive to perfect it. I love to lose myself in the grasses. The last stages of a painting are a delight. I worked up the grasses with the help of the thinning medium, wiping off my strokes and repeating them if they got a bit messy (this is a great advantage of using Genesis Heat Set Oils). I indicated some old glass panes and painted in the trunks and branches of the trees.
FINAL STEP
With a glaze of shadow colour, I gave the cottage its third dimension. I glazed the purple/blue mix of colour over the cottage after the area had been thoroughly heat-set. I glazed the shadow colour under the roof line, over the end of the cottage, and over the interior darks. I checked to see if the light grasses were strong enough to give the impression of those last shafts of light before an impending storm. I heatset the whole painting again, and signed it. The entire picture took a day and a half to complete. I appreciate the speed of working with Genesis Heat Set Oils, and I value their non-toxic, odourless and allergy-free qualities too.
MASTER HINTS AND TIPS
• When heat-drying Genesis paints, a good test is to place paper towel onto the surface. If the slightest bit of colour comes off, zap the area again with the heat gun.
• For drying large areas quickly, use two heat guns at the same time – waving them from side to side as well as up and down.
• Use pastel pencils for sketching onto gessoed supports. They take better on the surface, and they are easier to see and easier to remove.
• Genesis Heat Set Oils do not dry until you dry them by applying heat – so use paper towels for wiping (not rags). Rags will hold the paint wet, and it will smear everywhere each time you try to clean up.Paper towels can be used and thrown away.
• Genesis paints will remain on your palette indefinitely, and only need to be mashed down with a palette knife to return to a buttery consistency. If you want to save some of your colour mixes, simply place them in jars.
• I use a brush for each colour. Because the paint stays wet on the brushes, they don’t have to be cleaned constantly.
