Painting Derrybawn
The sky’s been creating fifty shades of grey and the rain hasn’t really clocked out since early January. But when everything’s soaked, the plants are basically throwing a rave and random little waterfalls are charging down the mountains like they’ve got somewhere important to be.
Whenever life starts looking a bit monochrome, I try to flip my thoughts and imagine a brighter scenario. Sometimes it only takes the tiniest mood upgrade to let a bit of light back in. I can only work with what I have and if that’s still not doing it, then it’s time to get creative and color outside the lines.
The other day, hiking up Derrybawn Mountain (yes, on yet another grey day), I took a photo of the hillside. At first glance it was all mist and moody but then I noticed this patchwork of colors woven through the foliage. It got me thinking: how could I paint this scene but dial up the vibrancy?
A challenge? Absolutely.
Was I up for it? 🎨
Not only did the patchwork of colour harness my interest but I loved the lone larch tree slightly to the right, centre of the image and the break in the terrain under the tree. With my canvas preped with liquin gesso, several times I was excited to get going.
I always get a wave of enthusiasm from the offset, excited to be threading into the unknown. Music on. Brushes ready. I mix up my ground colour with Gamsol medium and apply with a big, unapologetic brush to covering the whole canvas. I let it dry before diving into the next mixes. From there, I start mapping out the big shapes and values, working from lights to dark. The trick? Don’t fall in love with one tiny section and overwork it to death. Keep it loose. Any problems you see that may concern you can be corrected later on. Remember this is the first layer so don’t keep moving around the paint messing up your shadows. Oil paints are very forgiving!
Step back, distance yourself from the work and observe-a lot. Many paintings up close look chaotic but when you stand at a distance it’s the ‘ahh’ moment!
When I am at the early stage of a painting I can make compositional changes although planning the composition before I start painting may help but where is the fun in that? There are compositional ‘rules’, if you like but my mind wonders and I get impatient to start the process. Check out the The Golden Ratio revealed in 7 masterpieces from Art & Object website.
At this stage of the painting I was struggling to get definition with the larch tree and the distant background was too formal for my liking. What to do? Have another coffee and step back for a while! Remember oil painting is forgiving and this is the beauty of working with oil paints and learning about how versatile they are. I starting blocking out areas of concern with more paint, not too thick but a thick enough consistency to mask the distance trees and unwanted marks on the main tree. We are our own worst critics and our want to learn, to be better gives a drive to achieve new techniques.
Making the darks darker and the lights lighter. Adding points of interest at the bottom of the water and signing it, done! It is hard to know when to finish. Mostly it’s done when you feel there is nothing more you can add to improve your painting. DON’T FORGET, ENJOY THE PROCESS!!!(:
