Work in progress

Blocking in colour

Here I am beginning to work on the sky and the hills in the distance, introducing some new colours. I’ve toned down the sky a bit adding a mix of French Ultramarine and Payne’s Grey. I’ve also started to work on the hills, trying to create a soft focus and capture the delicate changes of colour as the sun breaks through between the clouds. I’ve used mixes of Chrome Green, French Ultramarine, Naples Yellow, Sap Green and Cadmium Lemon Hue. So far I am happy with the way the painting is taking shape. I enjoy using a broad brush to block out the colour. At this point I generally carefully mix a variety of shades using a palette knife before applying the pigment. As the work progresses I will often apply and blend directly on to the canvas.

Creating an outline

The next stage in the process is where I draw a rough outline of the scene I’m trying to capture, in this case, onto a canvas board. The painting will be executed in oils using a palette of greens,yellows, blues and grays. I particularly want to capture the way the sunlight reflects on the hillside creating subtle variations in colour and form.

I generally start by mapping out blocks of colour to create a base to work on. The palette here is limited to shades of chrome and sap green, naples yellow and a mix of french ultramarine and alizarin crimson for the sky. As the painting develops I will introduce payne’s grey and touches of ivory black and lemon yellow to create more depth in the work.

And so it begins…..

My paintings generally start life as a photograph or sketch of a scene that attracts my attention. My current project is a landscape taken from a sketch that was started from the top of Loughrigg fell en route from Clappersgate to Grasmere. I have attempted to sketch this view before but the last time rain stopped play. On this occasion I was able to produce a good enough drawing to capture the main features of the view, and work it up further from a photograph. It was a fairly overcast day but, from time to time patches of sunlight fell on the hills. The patchwork of fields in the valley, which at times push up the sides of the hills, and the road from the north snaking down toward Grasmere, also drew my attention.