Exercise 9 Building a picture

I felt that choice of outdoor subjects  had been somewhat restricted  by reduced access, mostly caused by short hours of daylight, cold wet weather and now floods. For example I couldn’t get close enough to the farm buildings I had intended to do some studies of, when I discovered the approach road was flooded. A roadside study in the car from a distance was as much as I could muster, but because of showery weather building details were lacking and other features seemed to take over – road, trees, hedgerows, hills, the buildings becoming just shapes far away. I wasn’t satisfied with my results, both technique and subject wise.

 

 

An alternative subject, using the health centre, a modern building as the main focus, came about by chance when I was waiting in the car  outside Lidl in Mitchelstown and I decided to do a quick sketch on the spur of the moment. Being mindful of the emphasis on buildings in the instructions, I decided to turn my concentration to this and I felt happier to use it, having previously enjoyed doing quick sketches of this building when in the vicinity.

Thumbnails

detailed drawing

 

 

 

 

colour samples

 

Exercise 8 Exploring greens outside

Exercise 8 Exploring greens outside

1 It’s a case of aspects of the paintings only, rather than the whole, which I find the strongest. I was happy that I finally worked out how to obtain white slashes in the paint with my thumb nail, to symbolise dry dead grasses and reeds in the mid and foreground. I must have timed better when to do them – the paint was half dry. I think the 200lb rough paper was a help as well. For some finer branches growing up above the dark mass of tangled vegetation  I used my homemade dried grass brush to pull some of the still wet paint from below, in an upwards direction which worked well.

I also like the contrast of the hard geometric shapes of the old table at lower left side with the predominance of organic shapes. In the second attempt, as opposed to the first, allowing more layers to dry before adding another seemed to work better generally to build up depth.

2 As far as weak points go, my luck with the white lines wasn’t to last in the second painting – I couldn’t seem to scratch them out successfully and in my efforts I think I made too many causing the foreground to look over fussy to the right of the rectangular shape.  Despite my initial relative success I may have overdone them here and there. There are too many lines going in all directions on both paintings and I should have reduced them regardless of what I could see in front of me. For instance I added too many pencil lines to indicate the briars in the midground hedgerow.Many of the tall dead grasses and vegetation were light brown or straw in coloured and thinking later about how I could better emulate them I think pale wax crayon or oil pastel would work to create a resist on both paintings. I couldn’t work out the best way to treat the fore ground and I seemed to struggle a lot with it. In the second painting I washed off some of the paint I considered too dark but it now seems to make it look further away than it should compared to areas behind.

3 The paint colours I was aiming for needed to reflect the murky damp weather at the time. I soon became conscious of how the grid exercises must have boosted my confidence in deciding on what colours to mix to obtain certain greens. Although I had the grids by my side I could have studied it a little more closely, so saving time spent figuring out a way to obtain exactly the right hue – and tone in some cases i.e cadmium yellow and hookers green mix would have given me the exact green I needed for the grass in the midground rather than the ultramarine and cadmium yellow I did use, though it is very similar.

No1 completed

no2 completed

No2 early stages

 

 

Part 3 Project 2 Practice and preparation: Exercises 4,5,6 and 7 Mixing greens

 

mixing greens 1(2) on A4 cp paper

 

Exercises 4,5,6 and 7 Mixing greens

Mixing greens 1,2,3 and 4

 

mixing greens 1(1) on A3 140lb cold press paper

mixing greens 1

Certain points of note when in the process of doing this exercise were that, apart from discovering a good number of natural looking green hues, it was interesting and illuminating to see how an opaque pigment affected a transparent one such as opaque yellow ochre with transparent ultramarine. These colours combined also produced beautiful granulated blue and dull yellow tinged greys.

The green labelled as just plain ‘green’ from my artist’s quality St. Petersburg pan set, I would estimate it to be the same as or very similar to Hookers green when comparing with charts on the internet. This is my favourite green for landscapes as it is strong, versatile  as looks natural alone or when mixed.

I enjoyed this exercise so much I went onto a second sheet and could have carried on.

mixing greens 2

Mixing greens 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixing greens 3

I think I was fortunate that I read through the second exercise of bottle still life compositions aswell as the first before making a start, as the first exercise seems very short on explaining the second method while going into great detail on the first. The method is not described until the next exercise.

I’m still not sure if I interpreted the instructions as intended but I certainly used two very different methods to achieve the desired depths of tone and colour, similar to the exercises using tones in several layers and tones from a single layer in Part 2.

I used two different methods as follows:

1. As per guidance notes – on the first bottle the tone was built up in several layers with a fairly weak mix of Prussian blue and transparent yellow. A red toned reflection was creeping in so I added this using a weak light red.
2. I understood this method to be using a single layer of adequate strength pigment to obtain intended results. This is a much more olive toned bottle than the first. After masking the very lightest areas I started with a mix of yellow ochre and a touch of viridian in the lighter areas where there were reflections from the blinds behind, adding more viridian towards the mid tones. Mixes of viridian and burnt umber predominate the darker areas. The only other mix included is viridian/perylene maroon. Some neutral tint was added to the mix for certain areas in the labels. The depth of tone did build up quicker than on the first bottle as there was no layering (left) and there is more variety and depth of colour as a result.

The simple background was put together mostly using complementaries from opposite (or almost) sides of the colour wheel.

Mixing greens 3, version 1

Mixing greens 4

For the next composition containing four bottles I again used the same method as the second bottle of the previous exercise, strengthening a pale colour adding slightly more pigment and darkening by using ultramarine/Prussian blue and phthalo green/burnt umber or crimson, another dark earth colour and complementary. Other complementary colour mixes included phthalo green/cad orange,  viridian/yellow ochre– both quite pale, Prussian blue/light red – for darks in far left bottle or cad orange or yellow with possible addition of burnt umber and Prussian blue and burnt umber/viridian – on right side three bottles.

Mixing greens 4, version 2

Amongst this selection there a preponderance of opaque colours such as the cadmiums, ochre and light red which I think helped to build up the tone fairly quickly. Cadmium yellow and cad yellow/yellow ochre was good for the light reflections from the light behind. Most burnt umber used in second bottle from left as it is the brownest shade. The two browner bottles also contain indigo/burnt umber.

I thought it was important to include details of what colour mixes I used as the purpose of the exercise appeared to be about how to build up colour and tone using different methods and a variety of suitable colour mixes. The perspective may not make sense in places as I sketched in the object shapes during daylight where they were place on a window sill at a lower angle from the one I moved them to. When I painted them it was on the table in front of me at night time. At the higher angle they were positioned in front of an artificial light source, just enough to give off an interesting mellow glow behind casting long shadows to the front. Also the table edge echoes  the ellipses of the bottle’s bases.

 

Exercise 3 Subject choices

1 What titles did you choose to work on and why?

For the first and third paintings the eventual titles weren’t immediately apparent. In the case of the bridge it was just Bridge Doneraile Park because it was the location I chose amongst a few other candidates in the park. The Third Eyed Bridge – the third one not being immediately apparent – came about after looking closely for something that was distinctive about it, in this case it is the arches.

The second – November Boreen communicated to me the fading daylight of a typical damp November afternoon with dying vegetation of damp hedgerows and verges along the roadside.

Melting Twilight (3) This one was purely spur of the moment and the most fun. From my lounge window I suddenly caught site of the evening sky in the south west turning wonderful greys and vivid crimson . I was intent on trying to capture an impression of this sky before it disappeared.

1 The Third Eyed Bridge

2 November Boreen

3 Melting twilight

 

2 Which of the titled paintings worked out most successfully and why?

I would say  November Boreen, what strikes me most about this one is the sense of depth emanating from the long curving road receding into the distance. The perspective and  textures and tones of the hedgerows and laneway felt like quite a daunting challenge initially, but I think I handled most aspects of it better than in many of my other attempts. For the first time I sat in the comparative warmth of my car (at the entrance of the drive into my house) to do this one, as I was fed up with getting very cold outside while painting. Apart from this advantage, I had the drawback that the painting was constantly only a couple of feet away from me at most and there was painting paraphernalia all around, so I didn’t have the motivation to put it down during the process and move back at a distance to check how it was going. All things considered I am surprised that it turned out as well as it did.

3 Which titles gave most difficulty and why? In the case of The Bridge of the Third Eye it was initially Bridge Doneraile Park, it seems such a boring sounding title as it pretty obvious what it is – to me at least. As mentioned above the eventual title transpired after trying to see something more unique about it, at the same time the title hopefully creates some intrigue, suggesting a degree of ambiguity and esoteric connotations. It wasn’t easy to arrive at this title – it was Three Arched Bridge for a while and then I suddenly thought of eyes appeared when I was studying the two small circles above the three arches.

4 How did the titles help you focus? Having even a vague idea of a title worked out beforehand helped me focus on a certain aspect of a scene more than otherwise and use more detail on the element or in that area or exaggerate directional lines to point towards it to invite attention. The parts of the scenes which caught my attention most  was quite obvious to me for 1 and after a little thought for 2 and 3, so helped me focus and then give them a title.

5 Comment on the value or otherwise of this exercise. The value is that by having a title it gave me an idea of what had helped me to choose a scene, whereas previously there may have been a number of features (each on deserving of attention in its own right) all competing with one another. So by having a title I think more interest is given to a composition and it could even follow a narrative.

 

 

Exercise 2 Sketches from different viewpoints

Because of the cold  changeable weather I completed these studies over a few visits.

1 The attraction of the first viewpoint was: the sky at this angle and time of day (approximately 3.30pm) was bright with glowing reds in the drifting clouds. Also the buildings in the distance, including the water tower, formed interesting shapes on the skyline of the hill, as well as the two rows of hedges. The tree I moved in from the right to help frame the scene and counterbalance the edge of the large dark hedge to the left. From my low viewpoint on a folding stool I also liked the dominant look of the long grasses along the wire fence from middle to foreground.

2 What aspects of the landscape did I feel were most important? The shapes of the buildings on the skyline, the right hand tree – I’m not sure if the left hand hedge is necessary, and the tall grasses in the foreground.

 

3 What special qualities does my chosen landscape possess? Most obviously for me was that it was so convenient, being a field next door to my house. I didn’t have to drag my equipment very far and I could put it off for another day when the cold became too uncomfortable, as it did. Also there are a variety of features  to be seen from each angle possessing between the four views a gate, telephone and electric posts and cables, buildings – mostly houses and farm buildings (in the distance), hills in the near and far distance, trees in the mid ground, fields and hedgerows. There was no disturbance from people or passing traffic.

 

4 The first study compared to the last one – though i didn’t feel quite as much in control of the paint in the first one and the paint was applied very wet in wet in most places, I prefer this one as to me it looks more spontaneous than the second. The second, to me, looks overworked in places – along the hedgerows and too fussy especially the sky with the other elements, although I like the way the paint dispersed (after it got rained on), the rest of the composition would probably benefit if I played the sky down more. The sky should really be visible through the branches of the tree but it isn’t, the outlining of the branches and the white paper underneath tend to give it a halo effect. The first version in comparison looks much calmer around the skyline and sky area for the above reasons and I think this is to its credit as although I like the reds of the buildings and the wet on wet paint, the red appears to pull them forward to some extent, interfering with  the look of recession, although they also seem to work as a focal point.

SIX

ONE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Changing light – was awkward at times as it would throw areas in and out of silhouette depending on whether the sun was out and how far it had moved round while I was there. Before long I started to get the habit of making a decision to stick (more or less) with how a scene or part of a scene looked at a particular moment in time, for instance the buildings on the hill went into silhouette more than once so I decided to keep them light to help them recede into the distance.

6 Describe the problems and any unforeseen advantage in moving on to the viewpoints that I didn’t choose: I found it necessary to move a few elements around to help the compostions of numbers 2 and 3. The weather changed rapidly during number 3, it started raining all over my painting while the paint was very wet turning it into a bit of a puddle. I tried to define some more detailed elements with ink but it ran on the tree branches. Then I tried waterproof ink but this looked  hard in relation to other areas. I did a second version of number 2 because I wasn’t happy with the first as it looked a bit sloppy despite my efforts. However number 4 seemed to work out much better. The view, surprisingly, became more interesting as I painted it and I didn’t see a need to adjust very much. I added a few ink lines to it but they don’t look so obvious or messy as in 3.

TWO

THREE

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 Was it harder to work on these scenes? If so say why? On number 3 it was, as the weather was windy and showery, then it started to rain heavily soaking my painting.  Other than that it was reasonably okay apart from feeling very cold after a while of sitting around in one spot. There were a couple of occasions when I would have had a problem protecting my painting  from being blown away by the wind if there had been more than one or two.

8 Looking at all of the watercolour paintings in this exercise and trying to assess which have worked best and why: I think I was more in control of the handling of the paint in number 4 than most of the others and I like the view but it had the look of just another landscape. Whereas number 5, which I wasn’t keen on at first, has grown on me. It contains some interesting elements eg the buildings to the left and right and the utility posts (I adjusted their position) the variety of trees and foliage (I edited some of them out), directional lines and pointers set up by the utility cables and the tiny point on the edge of the roof of my house to the left. They also seem to give it that lived in look rather than a twee countryside scene. I think there is a good general balance with the elements leading the eye around the composition. There are also quiet areas to rest the eye. The large sky is relatively quiet as well and doesn’t fight for attention.

FOUR

FIVE

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 The aspects of my work I think I need to develop more are to learn to sketch more quickly and successfully than at present, although I don’t think it will be easy. I think my main problem areas are often trees and foliage. Many of the tips I pick up from books and online often seem to be forgotten in my haste to complete things within a given time, it is just something I will have to become more familiar with as time goes on until, hopefully, these things will become almost second nature.

10 What have I learned about what to include and what to leave out? I don’t think the crows help in number 4 but I felt the need to include them because there  were so many flying around at the time. As I progressed I began to see details in the landscape that I judged to be unnecessary and probably would detract from the composition so I left the out. However there are still some features left in that I wouldn’t use again in combination, such as in sketch number 6 which as already mentioned is too fussy.

11 How could the exercise help me find a place to paint in the future? The idea of going very far afield was quite off putting because of the cold weather and relatively short hours of daylight at this time of year (autumn) but for this reason, as it’s turned out, I think ironically the cold weather worked in my favour.  At first I thought the views were quite uninspiring, partly perhaps because they are so familiar to me, but now I look at them differently. It’s reminded me that it isn’t necessary to locate ‘that perfect view’ to find something interesting to paint – it’s practically everywhere.

 

 

Exercise 1 Inside and outside

Project 1 Where to look and how to select

I made two attempts at painting a view from inside as I wasn’t too happy with the first one.

ONE FROM INDOORS

 

 

 

 

When I began painting the outside version of the 2^nd attempt I felt that I didn’t really know what I was doing with the foliage yet again. From the position I was sitting in on a low stool, it was also too awkward to put the board down at regular intervals and stand away from it. On one occasion when I dropped a brush  I went to put the board down to try and grab it and accidentally knocked my drink over, luckily (or not) on my painting, perhaps that would  have improved it.

 

1 and 2 Challenges: Whether working outside or inside there didn’t at first appear to be any distinct variations of colour in the scene before me, they were certainly there but I had to look really hard  to make out the different colours and tones and I kept asking myself how do I break up all that green? particularly during my 1^st attempt – from inside house.

TWO FROM INDOORS

 

 

 

 

 

3 Working inside, part of the window frame was around the middle of my scene and I had to keep looking around it – I didn’t want to include it as I think it would have broken up the picture in the wrong place and made it look disjointed. In my 2^nd attempt, the window frame, though it looks ambiguous as the foliage overlaps it half way up it helps to add depth and dimension, especially off at an angle.

 

4 The elements I would say I was most involved with were: in a good way, the 2^nd version from inside, the dark silhouetted background trees at the far right hand side went right quite easily, but involved? I’m not sure. In a not too good way, I definitely became involved in a struggle with foliage – as is usual for me, especially the round green bush and the yellow one next to it, to a lesser degree. I added several layers, which they appeared to need to build adequate depth, but this didn’t seem to help, so it felt like a lot of work for nothing.

 

5 I succeeded  most I think, with the background trees (in the outside version of 2^nd attempt) for which I used wet on wet paint, as they seemed to go right straight away, feeling quick and spontaneous. As to how I managed this so easily was down to luck, as other areas didn’t go so well. For the driveway I used rock sea salt on wet paint for texture but the texture looked too large and out of proportion so I painted over with a quick glaze, sweeping the brush in the direction of the tyre tracks in the gravel, this softened and gave movement to it. The colours used for this were raw umber the emerald green (I think) was from the pan set of mysterious colours. These two colours helped to tone down the rather bright pinky tinge it had taken on beforehand.

THREE FROM OUTDOORS

 

 

 

 

6 Areas I think I need to improve on come down to basically practice, practice, practice, I think, such as:

a Control of wet on dry and wet on wet techniques.

b To start with the background and don’t paint any of the sky in cases where I want to leave white areas in front of it, such as with the 2^nd outside version.

c I overworked the purple (lower right) making the tone too dark all over so I lifted some colour with the edge of a damp sponge but ended up with strange looking blobs, not sure what to do here apart from more practice.

d Scratching out and sgraffito – I later tried using my fingernails for sgraffito – it seems to work well, for removing paint back to the white paper, in the main but I have to watch for getting carried away…

 

7 I have learned from this exercise that the sketchbook paper, (200gsm unbranded) which was relatively cheap and quite smooth, held up surprisingly well considering the soaking it got.

As with most paintings, it occurred to me later that I could have used other techniques which may have been more effective, ie. scraping the wet paint to form lighter lines for the trees (I didn’t get the hang of this until much later on)  and experimental brush marks for the foliage and finer branches.