Monthly Archives: November 2016

November Fog

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November Fog

November Fog

The greyness of fog will soon melt away in the morning sun.

I like to have fine line details in my paintings, such as in the trees or foreground grasses. I also like these details to have a natural look. This is a difficult task. Some very small details can be suggested as in the distant trees or the very small branches in the 2 trees on the left in this painting.

I use a very fine nylon brush for the details which have to be seen, the tree trunks and fence posts for example. Carrying a solvent rich quantity of paint on the brush can produce these lines on the wet under colour. The smaller details can be dragged out of these ‘reservoirs’ of liquid paint with the tip of the fine brush. As with the trees here, they were populated quickly with lots of smaller branches using this technique.

For foreground grasses the same applies – blobs of liquid paint are put in place, sometimes outside the edge of the painting and flicked upwards with the fine brush.

This painting uses 4 colours (Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Raw Umber, Cobalt Blue) plus black and white. All colours are Alkyd Fast Drying Oils, except Cobalt Blue. The medium used is Liquin and White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″ and was painted in a single session in under an hour and a half.

Here’s the painting process, see you soon.

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Morning Gold

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Morning Gold

Morning Gold

Still a little snow here and there. I have exaggerated the amount for dramatic effect.

I used low odour solvent in this painting. It did not suit my method which uses a lot of solvent, allowing it to evaporate and building up layers of paint. A bit like a watercolour method but using solvent instead of water. This solvent did not evaporate quickly but lingered on causing all kinds of issues. It would be OK in traditional oil painting where layers are allowed to dry for a few days before proceeding. These issues relate to my ‘wet on wet’ method where the under paint must be ‘dryish’ before later layers are added. I don’t like thick ‘greasy’ paint as introducing fine lines or details is nearly impossible.

The low odour solvent has a high boiling point so it evaporates much more slowly, thus reducing the concentration of vapour by releasing it over a longer time. Its probably in the interest of safety, reducing the exposure and fire hazard. This issue arose because my usual supplier of W&N white spirits is now shipping in small containers only, again to do with health and safety. These small quantities will work out expensive but I have no alternative at the moment.

This painting uses only 4 colours (Indian yellow, Permanent Rose, Raw Umber, Cerulean Blue) plus black and white. The medium used is Liquin and White Spirits. The size is 16.5″ x 12″.

Here’s the video, see you soon.

First Snow

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First Snow

First Snow

The first snow of the season. Autumn colours, not completely blanketed in white, are still there.

The under colours mix a little with the overpainted white and add so much colour in faint shades. There is always a danger of snowscapes being sterile and stark. I apply all the usual colours of a standard landscape as transparent layers with very little medium and then apply the white. Its helpful to do this ‘wet on wet’ as I have done here in this painting.

The size is 16.5″ x 12″ and was painted in a single session of about 2 and a half hours. The colours are: Indian Yellow, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Dioxozine Purple, Ultramarine Blue plus black and white. The medium used is Liquin and White Spirits.

Here is the video of the painting process, see you soon.

Blackthorn Hedge

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Blackthorn Hedge

Blackthorn Hedge

A few recent frosty nights has denuded this row of blackthorn trees and left them in a decidedly ragged state.

Most of this painting is composed of transparent shadow colours. I’m using Liquin medium in a lot of solvent to achieve the transparent effect. I would like to use solvent only in these layers for the ease of overpainting trees and leaves later on. But the solvent on its own does not form a paint film and seems to wash the paint into the weave of the canvas, exaggerating the texture.

24 hours later the painting is dry (remember I use some Alkyd fast drying paints) and very dull. A day later I will ‘oil out’ and the colours will return to their original glory.

The size is 18.5″ x 16″ and was painted in a single session of about 3 hours. The colours used are Indian Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Dioxozine Purple, Ultramarine Blue plus black and white. The medium is Liquin and White Spirits.

Here’s the video of the process. See you soon.