MATERIALS
• Sketch Phase
• Pebeo Indian ink wash
• Dahler Rowney 1″ flat brush (watercolour)
• Dynasty round brushes (watercolour)
• Oils Phase
• Simple, limited palette: Winton paint, unless otherwise specified
• Naples Yellow (Art Spectrum, significantly more intense/bright than W&N Naples Yellow)
• Naples Yellow
• Burnt Umber
• Raw Umber
• Burnt Sienna
• Payne’s Grey
• Titanium White
• Cerulean Blue
• Canvas Board, cheap and great to practise on, acrylic primed (important for initial ink phase)
• Dynasty brushes
• Archival Oils Odourless Solvent. Better when working in less-ventilated spaces, turps being quite unhealthy!
Note: For exhibition work, you want materials that will last. Particularly make sure inks and papers are archival and canvas stretchers are not inclined to warp.
STEP ONE
Working directly from life means I can start with minimal preparation. This also teaches us to work quickly and adapt to changing situations (particularly when plein air painting). In this case, working indoors meant having a more controlled environment for the sake of this demonstration.
The initial step involves sketching using a large brush and broad strokes. I stay at arm’s length and remain standing while I paint, which allows me to step back with ease, keeping things in proportion by getting a good overview.
I sketch using a thin ink wash. For this to work, the canvas board must be primed with water based paint, typically acrylic (as opposed to oils). This had a fast drying time, allowing me to proceed quickly.
STEP TWO
Here we proceed to work in more detail, nailing down the defining features of the subject using a slightly darker wash.
STEP THREE
With the line-work clearly marked, I proceed to lay the image out tonally, determining where the lights and the darks will fall. This is easier to do when working in monochrome, but I just as often do this with oils with Payne’s Grey or Burnt Umber.
STEP FOUR
Here I have added some final heavy lines to clearly mark out the sketch, which has been changed slightly towards the end of the drawing phase. Once the final inks are dry, I block the major colour areas. I do this using oils, thinned to the level of a wash, simply giving a tint to the painting, rather than a thick oil base. In doing so, the underpainting can be used to guide subsequent stages.
STEP FIVE
The light and dark areas are further developed, showing the nuanced lighting of the subject. With oils, one tends to work more towards the dark end of the tonal range, allowing us to punch out the lighter areas and highlights as we progress. (This is the inverse of watercolour, where the dark areas and shadows are the last marks we make. The inverse of highlights, basically.)
STEP SIX
Care is taken in developing the surface textures and effects of direct and indirect light falling on the subject. Painting from life allows us to develop our observation of a subject, to interpret light and colour in a way that translates on an instinctive level. When working from photographic reference, the colours are locked and can be slavishly duplicated, while working from life, we are forced to really consider the colours we are looking at. Our eyes are capable of perceiving far more tonal and spectral detail than a camera.
FINAL STEP
For the final step, emphasis is placed on the focal area of the painting, details and highlights are more pronounced in areas where we want the viewer’s eyes to go. Peripheral areas are given a broad, soft treatment which draws less attention, softening the focus. Now I simply fill in background and place the final highlights.
It is always tricky deciding when to finish a painting, as the risk of overworking it and doing too much can kill the vibrancy of your brushwork. I tend to back off early rather than going too far, trying instead to capture a scene or a likeness in as few strokes as possible.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• Ignore detail. Use the biggest possible brush for the longest period of time when tackling a painting. This allows you to keep a broad perspective and not get sucked into overworking a small area.
• We learn to do by doing. Art materials are not cheap, but they do not need to be overly expensive either. Cheap canvas pads and brushes and student paint will get you very far down the road to develop your skills. We are far more inclined to make a mess and use materials that we are less precious about, and it is in this sense of abandon that we learn the most.
• “The Blank Canvas Should Fear Me”, to quote Van Gogh, one of my key inspirations. Do not dwell on an impressive piece you have completed. Put it away out of sight and set a fresh, clean sheet on the easel or drawing board. This begs for us to make new marks and break ground, rather than working something to death and stagnating our creative development.
• Exercise your own quality control. You have to be able to judge your own work in order to move forward, so always strive to improve, to get better. More often than not, feedback from others will be positive, but in your heart, you must know how much you still have to learn. You must always have the hunger for deeper knowledge of your craft.
• Neophytes to hommages, artists steal. Use what you can from those who have gone before you. Incorporate what works for you, and discard that which does not. If you are merely copying the work of others, it will be immediately apparent, but using the technique of another as a building block in developing your own practise it part and parcel of how we grow. . There are no mistakes. Every mark made should be treated as a positive addition and either built upon of worked around. Erasing lines and backtracking serves little purpose other than to slow us down. Keep moving forwards, learn to maintain momentum.
• Be careful not to work your paintings to death.
