Myrtleville, Co. Cork.

Dark phase of painting

Just a short post to remind you to keep the initial stages of a traditional oil painting landscape dark. Resist the urge to introduce white into the mixes. The exception is the sky. This part of the landscape, down to the horizon, should be treated as a separate picture with the full range of darks to lights. This is because the sky is a single item. From the point of view of the landscape artist it should have a sense of vapour not solid which is achieved by a lot of mixing and blending of the colours. For practical reasons very bright highlights may have to be added after the initial paint layer has dried.

I have included a photo of the scene on which I’m basing the painting and also the initial stage of the painting which will be allowed to dry before completion.

The painting, when finished, will be bright and airy with a west coast (North Atlantic coast that is) feel to it. Light will be an important part of this painting, and ironically this is why the dark colours are so important.

I am videoing the process for a future post.