|
Every
month there will be a photograph or sketch on this page for you to convert into
a painting. Accompanying the photograph will be some thoughts on the subject
plus some tips on ways of tackling the painting. My painting from the photograph
will appear at the beginning of the following month, giving you a month to do
your painting.
Monthly
painting project 1
BROWN’S
CASTLE,
PORTOFINO,
Italy
How
did you get on painting Brown’s Castle?
Here
is my painting of the castle.
I’ll
use the 5C’s to analyse my approach to the subject.
cONCEPT
The
photograph shows a rather dull version of the subject; my recollection was of
almost blinding light and hot Italian sunshine so I’ve painted it that way.
This was what I wanted to say in this painting.
The
centre of interest is the right-hand end of the castle with the tower and its
white roof standing out against ultramarine blue sky with touches of permanent
rose dropped wet-into-wet into the sky. The shadow of the tree on the left-hand
end of the parapet ensures that it doesn’t distract from the centre of
interest.
I’ve
blurred the trees and bushes in the foreground to focus attention on the castle.
COMPOSITION
I
have stuck to the composition of the
photograph with the tower on the right upper third lines of the grid. The viewer
has to look up and this gives the impression of a castle on a hill, which is
what it was.
CONTRAST
The
tonal version of the painting in Fig 2 below shows how the eye is focussed on
the roof of the tower and the adjoining roof because it has been left the white
of the paper. The sky and the castle walls are the same tone with the foreground
bushes a tone darker but homogenous in tone to play them down, with just a few
darker tones for trees to give variety.
COLOUR
I
initially painted the stone walls of the castle a yellow gray using cobalt blue
mixed with light red to get a grey and then adding raw sienna. When this was dry
I decided to warm it up by applying a thin glaze of cadmium red all over the
stonework.
The
foreground bushes and trees were various mixes of winsor blue (green shade) and
cadmium yellow, raw sienna and burnt sienna.
The
complementary colour scheme of greens against reds helps to highlight the centre
of interest. I’ve also added some pure viridian green to add some interest.
COMPLETION
You’ll
see that the painting was completed in 2007. When I came back to it for this
monthly project it still said brilliant Italian sunshine which was my original
concept.
A
NEW CONCEPT
I
asked myself ‘what if’ I changed the concept to Brown’s Castle at
twilight. This new concept produced a totally different painting as shown in Fig
3.
Again
the formula is complementary colours but this time the purple silhouette of the
castle is set against a predominantly Indian yellow sky with hints of permanent
rose and ultramarine blue.
Same
subject - different concept = different painting.
I hope
you enjoyed painting this month’s project.
Monthly
Project 2 awaits you below:
Monthly
painting project 2
As
we near Remembrance Sunday on 9th November this month’s project shows a rather
unusual war memorial in a stone village near my home.
War
memorial at Emberton, Buckinghamshire
The
war memorial is on the right hand side of the stone tower with an attractive
couple of cottages in the right background and a row of cottages on the left in
shade. It’s not a difficult subject to draw as there is only limited
perspective.
You can print the photo by clicking on the image - this will take you
to a pdf file which you can then print off.
I’ve
added a 3 x 3 grid to the photograph to help you draw the subject accurately. If
you need to, transfer the grid onto your paper to scale up the photograph.
Remember
we don’t paint the photograph; we paint from
the photograph, giving the subject our own unique interpretation. I’ll use the
5C’s to raise some issues for you to consider in painting your interpretation.
I’m
going to paint it in Impressionistic Line and
Wash
(see the Virtual Gallery) but you can paint it in any medium you wish.
CONCEPT
What
do you want to say in this painting? The obvious centre of interest is the tower
but there are other possibilities. Are you going to try to convey the sense of
sadness and loss associated with this subject? It’s a good idea to write down
your concept on a piece of paper and stick it where you can see it while
you’re painting the subject.
COMPOSITION
Why
have I photographed it in a vertical portrait format? You could make it a
horizontal landscape format and have the tower running out of the picture at the
top to focus on the base of the tower or the cottages in the background. Is it a
good composition with the tower in the position shown? How are you going to
treat the cottages to the left and right of the tower? Will you leave the cars
in? Does it need some people to add life to the scene and, if so, where are you
going to put them?
CONTRAST
Where
are you going to create maximum tonal contrast? And how are you going to do it?
COLOUR
Try
painting the picture with just three colours – an excellent discipline for
learning about colour mixing. Possible combinations are cobalt blue-light
red-raw sienna or paynes gray-burnt sienna-raw sienna. Either combination will
be perfectly adequate for the range of colours in this photograph. Use colour to
create a mood of optimism or sobriety.
COMPLETION
When
you think the painting is finished look at your written concept and ask yourself
if it says what you wanted to say. If not, what can you change to make it say
what you want to say?
On
the first of next month I’ll put my version up on this page. Watch this space!
| 
