MATERIALS
• Art Spectrum artists’ oil colours: Ultramarine Blue, Golden Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Light Red, Permanent Crimson, Titanium White.
• Gum turps as a medium.
• Tara 70 loose canvas.
• Brushes: Sizes 2, 4, 6 and 8 long, flat bristle brushes.
STEP ONE
The initial block in. Just the most basic lines. This is only to position them on the canvas. No details. Drawing will be adjusted and corrected as I move through the painting.
Light Red and Ultramarine Blue in a thin line for the outline.
STEP TWO
Here I block in the darkest darks of the horses in shadow; and the cast shadows on the ground. By getting these important tones in first, I immediately set the lighting direction.
Light Red and Ultramarine for the horses; Ultramarine, Golden Yellow and Light Red for the cast shadows.
STEP THREE
Now I cover the background area of mid tone, still keeping all edges soft and workable. Any drawing error can be adjusted easily when the edges are kept soft. Ultramarine Blue, Golden Yellow, tiny amount of Light Red for the background.
STEP FOUR
Now I have covered the area of grass. I have been working from the darkest darks, through the medium tones; and now I am setting the stage for the lightest lights. These will never work until the other tones are taken care of first.
Golden Yellow, Light Red; a little white for the foreground grass.
STEP FIVE
Here the warm sunny sides of the horses come around into the sunlight. Still in the medium tones; and leaving the lightest lights until last.
Golden Yellow, Light Red for the sides of the horses in sunlight.
STEP SIX
Now I have placed in the white parts of the horses that are in shadow. These appear blue in the shadows and will be a good stage to set the lights against.
Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Crimson; a little Lemon Yellow for the shadowed sides of the white areas.
FINAL STEP
Now, when the dark and medium tones are all in place, I can finally place the lightest lights, the whites of the horse in sunlight and the parts of the mane and nose that are impacted by light.
I always add a dot of yellow to pure white highlights … it gives a feeling of sunlight.
MASTER HINTS AND TIPS
• My method of working any painting, no matter what the subject, is to state the darkest darks first; work through the medium tones; and, when the board is covered and the tones can be judged correctly, then I “turn on the lightest lights’. It is a well used and reliable method of working that rarely lets the painter down.
• My initial drawing of the subject is made up of the most basic lines only. I find it is better to keep the drawing soft, and adjust and correct in paint as I go along.
• I like to complete a painting in one sitting and find that it is possible to keep working wet into wet if the brush is not dripping with medium. If the paint is applied very lightly onto the surface, no matter how wet the painting is, the brush strokes will sit well without pushing into the underneath paint.
• I work very quickly when I paint – but that is my personality and there are no prizes given for speed. Everyone finds their own comfortable pace, but I do believe that there is no advantage in applying 17 little brushstrokes when three or four big ones will do the job just as well. Having said that though, we shouldn’t become so clever with monster brushstrokes that they will overwhelm the subject matter with their importance.
