Painting Class. After a painting by Trevor Chamberlain

After a painting by Trevor Chamberlain. 25cm x 20cm acrylic on paper.

SARAH Hall class.

Trevor’s a fine painter who manages to record a lot of information with as few stokes of the brush as possible.

Plan the sketch and draw in the main components of the picture and darken the tones in pencil if you wish.

Block in the main shapes with a large brush and get a rough match of colour and tone. On the trees thinly block in the darkest colour first. Vary the edges of tree against sky have distant ones blended and nearer ones with some sharp edges for relief.

Using a knife put in the bridge and work with a lighter colour on the sky and trees. Allow some of the under painting to show through on the trees as shadow areas.

With a smaller brush do nothing more than suggest the shapes that make up the boat. Don’t be tempted to fiddle with perceived detail because you have a small brush.

Dry Run. An article for painters on line.

Article for http://www.painters-online.co.uk/

Dry Run

I remember when I first started painting outdoors and the enthusiasm which never seems to wane was as high as ever. I arrived on site and set up eager to complete an acrylic painting. The light was great, the weather fine and I was all alone in some distant field. I set up my portable studio when it suddenly dawned on me that I’d brought no water. I’d brought half decent brushes and didn’t want to take home dried out sticks so I was understandably gutted. I did manage to salvage something from the situation by painting using a knife which could be cleaned in the grass between colours, but had I done a dry run first, no pun intended, I could have avoided this pitfall.

It really pays to sit in the comfort of your home and set out what you’ll need and just as importantly what you won’t, as you’ll want to travel light. If you forget something here it is simply a case of popping back into the house and getting it. Make a small list of what it is you are using and write everything down, and I mean everything, even down to the painting gear you’ll wear. I’ve also had to improvise using the back of a sketchbook for a palette. Once you have the list it’s a good idea if you can keep one bag aside that’s ready to go or has the list in one of the pockets. I have a big rucksack that goes everywhere with me and has become part of the kit.

As a result of finding out what I wish I’d brought, if only I’d thought on, I now have a portable studio in my rucksack that is good to go in a really short time. In permanent residence l have a small hand held metal watercolour box, by Schmincke, a cardboard tube with a selection of brushes, collapsible water container, a collapsible brush holder, enamel plate for an acrylic palette a small selection of pencils, small box containing a craft knife blade, sponges, sandpaper etc and a couple of pads and primed cards, a roll of paper towel, a couple of rags and a baseball cap for the sun.

This is always in the bag but when I go out I will simply add to it, for instance my pochade box with the paints and brushes I’m using and my water or turps. I always take a large bottle of water for acrylics and watercolour, I can also drink from it too. The bag has a fishing stool attached if I choose to sit, but I always take the tripod to connect the box to should I choose to stand.

Have a go and make your own list, no two are probably the same although the basics won’t change much. I found most of my list the hard way at first, but a couple of dry runs were really worth it, so now it’s very rare indeed that I’m caught out on site… now where’s that paint I’m sure I packed it.

Painting Lesson. Complementary Colours and Keeping It Simple

Lesson 2
Complimentary colours and keeping it simple with oil techniques.
Materials: Stiff hog hair brushes one large one small. Red, Blue, Yellow and white. Work at an angle if possible.
The complementary colour of a primary (red, blue, or yellow) is the colour you get by mixing the other two primary colors.
If we take red then the two primaries left are blue and yellow are and together they make green, so green is the complimentary of red.
If we take blue then the two primaries left are yellow and red and together they make orange, so the complimentary of blue is orange.
If we take yellow then the two primaries left are red and blue and together they make violet, so the complimentary of yellow is violet.
The complementary of a secondary color is the primary color that wasn't used to make it. So the complementary color of green is red, of orange is blue, and of purple is yellow.
Why are Complementary Colors Important in Color Theory?
When placed next to each other, complementary colors make each other appear brighter, more intense. The shadow of an object will also contain its complementary color, for example the shadow of a green apple will contain some red.
In the last lesson we moved colour into shadow by mixing in progressively darker tones of the same colour family. For example yellow could be darkened with yellow ochre, burnt sienna right through to burnt umber. Another way to darken a colour down is to add its complementary colour or its opposite on the colour wheel.
Keep it Simple
· Avoid over mixed palette colours. The less mixing you do the richer your paint quality will be, one way is to let your colour mix on the paper.
· Have ample amounts of paint, if you finish with a clean palette you either got lucky or skimped on the paints.
· Use as few brush strokes as it takes, don’t fiddle.
· Keep it simple and don’t try to overdo the detail.

Exhibition at Home Quarter

I have some work in a fantastic space on the 3rd floor of the Home Quarter shop in Liverpool 1. We’re on Hanover Street right next to Radio Merseyside. I‘m showing work with a selection of artists from my old studios and the mix of styles makes for a really good exhibition with both prints and originals on sale at very reasonable prices.
Some of the Liverpool paintings are on offer, framed originals at £120 and Perspex prints for just £20. Pop along and have a browse, you won’t be disappointed, promise.
http://www.thehomequarter.co.uk

Painting Lesson 7. Seeing tones.

Painting tones

Recap for classes at SARAH Hall and Orrell.
Using only two colours and white, I’ve used ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Burnt sienna is like a really dark orange or complementary colour to the blue. Some colour matches will be possible. For instance if the tone leans toward cool blue or warm brown I can approximate them but I’m really interested in getting the tonal relationships in place
Find a photograph to copy the tones (not the colour). Colour supplements or catalogues offer a good range of figure studies.
Map out a plan for the painting and block in the main shapes laying in the dominant tones (not colour)
Keep squinting at the picture to get the right tone is good for seeing the relationship between values but not colour.
Keep things simple and avoid any detail. Think back to the paintings of Peggi Kroll Roberts who we looked at last week.
Some tips from Richard Schmid
Squint down until most of the detail disappears and what you are looking at can be seen in a few shapes
The purpose of squinting is to make judgements about the relationships between the values not he actual shades. You are looking for relationships.
Step back from what you’ve painted, view it from a distance to see the value relationships clearly and see what may need adjusting.
The fewer clear cut values in a painting the more powerful the visual effect.
Simplify what you see.

Now you try again at home and simplify with another photograph

On a plate.

23cm x 15cm oil on canvas.

Drawing after Schmid

15cm x 15cm graphite on paper.