The landscape is a rich green. Sunshine giving the illusion of Summer interspersed with cold Polar winds.
I tried to convey the two sided nature of the countryside at this time. The diagonal split in the sky in echoed in the overall composition.
This has the same 3 colours (Cadmium Yellow, Indian Red, Prussian Blue) as the previous painting. There is no medium used, only White Spirits. The Indian Red is very necessary in the green mixes. The Yellow/Blue mix to produce the green colour is darkened by the addition of the red, great for adding contours in the green featureless areas. The problem is the dark green colours are too warm to convey shadows. The initial blue under-painting is allowed to peep through and add a coolness in the shadows.
Similar to the previous painting, but with more warmth in the overall colouring. This time Cadmium Yellow was used, the last painting had Lemon Yellow. Two very different yellows. Lemon is a pure yellow, Cadmium has an orange tinge. Resultant mixes are warm, especially the greens.
You will remember the last painting was on ‘oil painting’ paper. I could not let this scene pass without giving it another go on the nice rough texture of canvas. On the canvas there is latitude in the brushing, by this I mean the odd, stray brush stroke is easier to correct on the rough surface. Also there is latitude in the amount of paint that can be applied and still be manipulated to the desired effect. On the smooth surface, its easy to add too much, especially in the under layers, making later additions difficult to add on top. This is always a difficulty when painting wet on wet as I do.
This painting uses 3 colours, Cadmium Yellow, Indian Red, Prussian Blue, plus black and white.
Here’s the video of the painting process, see you soon.
Its not an overnight event, the greening of the landscape, but a gradual emergence. Its more interesting for a painter than the later green overload we get in this part of the world.
This was painted on a piece of scrap oil painting paper. I’m awaiting a supply of my usual ground which is a prepared canvas sold in pads and made by “Fredrix”, a US manufacturer, available here in Ireland. Canvas has a ‘tooth’ or texture and this makes the art of painting in oils a little easier. This ‘oil painting paper’ was not easy to paint on. Although it had a ‘canvas like’ texture pressed into the surface, it was not rough enough to scrape the paint off the brush. After a few layers of very thin paint are applied the texture is saturated and thereafter the brush is effectively sliding over the surface picking up more paint than is laid down. Allowing under layers to dry really does not relieve the situation as the texture is now non-existent and you are painting on a smooth surface.
My comments on this paper is in relation to my particular method which involves placing blobs of paint on the canvas surface and mixing and manipulating to get the desired effect. The final painting will still have the canvas texture visible so the actual paint layer is very thin but way too thick for the paper.
Remember, painting surfaces sold for use as acrylic or oil painting may be too absorbent for oils. I have found this to be the the case with all such products and in the past would ‘size’ the paper with a thin coat of Rabbit Skin Glue Size, the recommended sealant for oil painting surfaces. A simple test for a surface which might be too absorbent is to place a few drops of solvent on the surface and see does it go straight through to the back of the sheet. If it does the paper will be translucent when viewed against a strong light. There should be a little bit of absorption to anchor the paint layer to the surface but too much will make oil painting impossible as the oil and solvent soaks into the surface leaving a ‘chalky’ sticky pigment very different from the paint as it left the tube.
The colours used here were Winsor Lemon Yellow, Indian Red and Cerulean Blue. No medium used, only solvent (White Spirits). I used 2 brushes, a No. 8 filbert bristle and a nylon rigger. The painting is 12″x9″ and was finished in a single painting session of an hour and a half.
PictureS 