I recently visited the gloriously Gothic church of St. Mary Redcliffe. The walk to the church was one of those 'out in the sunshine, glad to be alive' walks. A good place to stop, sketch the scene and try and capture some of the sunshine. Firstly I sketched out the design over a plain blue acrylic wash on canvas. I wanted to draw a real line of vision up through the centre of the picture to the church itself. I didn't want to paint a photo realistic version of the scene but rather a quick representation of the warmth. Perspective was important to lead the eye but I didn't want it to be ' straight line' perfect. So I sketched in the basic shapes before starting to block out the colour.
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Every year we try and get to the Dorset coast. Burton Bradstock has been a particular favourite for a couple of years. The walks from the village to the beach are stunning and the Hive Beach Cafe does a great breakfast. This was on the coastal path before we dropped down onto the beach. This is one of those 'Are we there yet?' moments. Below are a few of the stages this oil on board piece went through. I first sketched the rough onto the board adding the tone in acrylic I finished the detail in oils. Any form of paid work is obviously a pleasure, especially if you're getting paid to do one of the things you love doing. But I do enjoy painting to no ones brief but my own. Digital paintings fine a blank canvas and a palette of oils always seems a bit more 'basic'. These are a few snaps to show how this particular piece evolved. At this stage I've sketched the layout, put down an acrylic wash and started to block out the basic shapes. I'm probably up to four hours worth of work at this stage, not rushing but still blocking in. The colors aren't final and the details missing but at least I'm getting a feel for the basics. It's all a bit stark at this stage but once I've blocked all of the elements then I'll go back over to refine. The paint is being applied very thinly at this stage so it can take another layer or two. Amanda, can you tell what it is yet? x Two hours work later. Still blocking in the basics whilst adding a bit of detail so that I can see what's working and what's not. I've worked up some of the detail on the wall and chair but will try and leave it alone for a day or two now and come back to it with slightly fresher eyes. It's was far too neat for the effect I was after so I've started to add in the detail of the clothing as well as the floor. It'll need probably another few hours once this layer of oils has dried out a little. It's my own fault for having three or four pieces going at once. I want to work on them all but end up losing a bit of momentum. An hour later and I'm happy with the outcome. |
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