Nellies Glen Lookout

Couple of months ago, on a Sunday afternoon, we went for a short drive up to the Blue Mountains and somehow we ended up at a location known as Nellie's Glen. The place is very close to where Explorer's Tree is found, just before you enter Medlow Bath and where one also finds the beginning of the six foot track. The day was warm but cloudy with the occasional shower and thunderstorms, just a typical summer afternoon.What inspired me in the scenery was the intermittent light coming from the broken clouds, especially the warm afternoon light.
 

Materials used:

• 45 x 90 cm stretched 10 oz cotton canvas
• Brushes: Flat 10 - 12 for underpainting. A selection of long flats, 4,6,8 and long filberts 2 & 4
• Oil paints (Art Spectrum, Landgridge, Norma), liquol for underpainting, Langridge Oleogel:

Titanium/zinc white, sap green, Burnt sienna, Australian red gold, Australian grey, raw and burnt umber
Blues: Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt blue, Manganese Blue
Reds: Permanent alizarin, Pilbara red, Vermilion, Indian red
Yellows: Lemon Yellow, cadmium yellow light,  cadmium yellow medium, cadmium orange, yellow ochre

Under-painting (Blocking in)

First I sketched briefly the outline of the main shapes in the painting. From the photos that I had as reference I completely changed the foreground of the painting by adding two trees one on each side of the painting. Using a very diluted wash with liquol the main shapes were blocked in. Liquol (Art Spectrum) is similar to liquin and helps the paint to dry very quickly.

Blocking in the main composition

The next step was to start establishing the form and light. As shown in the picture above initially I was going to place the light source as if it is coming from the right hand side (as seen by the highlights on the right front tree). However I changed the direction of the light later on to the middle part. Since the sky was pretty much grey and cloudy it was very difficult to see where the sun was. I also started adding some clouds using a mixture of ultramarine blue, permanent alizarin and raw umber. At this stage I use big flat brushes to quickly cover the canvas and avoid the temptation of fiddling too much. I also found that the colors I used initially for the underpainting were a little bit too light and so I darkened the overall picture, with the exception of where I wanted the highlights.

Establishing form and light

Mid- and fore-ground
Now the real work and fun started...adding the details. I wanted this painting to have lots of details, after all I love detail. From here on wards I used smaller brushes usually very long small filberts (Art Spectrum series 1100 brushes). These brushes are excellent, they keep their shape and they are relatively soft making it easy to apply layers of colors by softly touching the canvas. I started using the gel medium from Langridge, which gives more texture to the paint while at the same time makes the paint flow easier on the canvas. The rock formations on the right hand side were painted using a painting knife and a mixture of Pilbara red, ultramarine blue, vermilion and burnt sienna.
Cliff faces of distant mountains were painted using white and Pilbara red (tinted with more white for the most distant ones). Yellow was added to highlight objects directly hit by sun while for objects lit by day light, white was added to the base color.
As in any other painting, distant objects are less defined, lighter and cooler (more blue added) when compared to the ones closer to us. Nearby objects are well defined, darker and warmer.
I also used what is known as negative painting to define better objects like the front tree on the left. Using a slightly darker version of the sky (or background) colour, I painted over parts of the foliage to open up space and define more branches.

The finished painting

 

The end of another day (acrylic painting)

I am going to demonstrate a different style of painting, this time painted in acrylics. One of the main differences between oils and acrylics is their drying time. Acrylics dry up by evaporation of water while oil colours react with the air in what is known as oxidation. The fast drying time of acrylics can be of a disadvantage but also of an advantage. It is an advantage if I want to paint several layers of very thin paint (glazing) without having to wait for a long time for the previous layer to dry up. Atelier Interactive acrylic paints are not only especially formulated to prolong their drying time but also they can be reworked after couple of hours if becoming wet again after the paint was already touch dry. This helps you to blend colors into each other in a way similar to oil colors.

The subject of this painting is a sunset and view over a typical Australian farmland. Painting sunsets is fun creating a lot of interesting colors in both sky and land. I decided to keep the colors as much as possible vibrant while making the best out of the complementary colors. Red, green, yellow and purple/violet are the main colors used in this painting.

Materials used: 101 x 50 cm stretched 10 oz cotton canvas Brushes: Normal 1 inch and 2 inch house painting brush, selection of medium and small flat Taklon brushes A selection of painting knives Color palette (Atelier Interactive Acrylics & Derivan Matisse): Titanium white, Olive green, burnt sienna, raw sienna, Burnt Umber, brilliant violet, dioxazine purple, Payne's Grey, Pthalo green Blues: French Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue, Cobalt blue Reds: permanent alizarin, Brilliant Magenta Yellows: Naples Yellow, cadmium yellow light,  cadmium yellow medium, cadmium orange, vermilion Under-painting (Blocking in) For this painting I decided to use a vertical canvas, unlike most landscape paintings. The horizon line was set to slightly above the middle part of the canvas. When painting sunsets, one needs to remember that the warmest colors are those around the light source, in this case the setting sun. The further we go away from the sun the cooler it will become. The easiest way to remember this is to look at the color wheel, take cadmium yellow light as the warmest color and just move anti-clockwise towards the purples and blues. This order needs to be followed when painting both sky and land. The first layer of underpainting was done using a 2 inch house painting brush with not too thick but neither too thin layer of color. Cadmium yellow light was used for the area around the sun, followed by cadmium yellow medium, vermilion, permanent alizarin and ultramarine blue with the addition of alizarin at the top. Starting from the most distant land mass using horizontal brush strokes and using a tint (with the addition of white) of brilliant violet plus some cobalt blue. As progressively as I advanced into the middle hills, I increased the amount of permanent alizarin, ultramarine blue and dioxazine purple. To the darkest part at the front I also added burnt umber with ultramarine blue. The next step was to start adding more detail and form to the sky and landscape. This time I wanted to apply a very thick layer of pigment and to do so I started adding pure color directly from the tube onto the canvas and mix the colors on the canvas itself. I also decreased the size of the flat taklon brush to 1 inch. The sun was painted using white and cadmium yellow light. In the same order of colors as used for the underpainting I started to add more pigment and moving the pigments into each other using the sides of the flat brush. I also started adding the next darker color into the lighter one to create the impression of clouds and shadows in the sky. Since the darkest upper part of the sky seemed to look like a dark cloud, I added brilliant magenta to underside of the cloud or the area where the sun hits.  I space in the cloud was opened to give the impression of broken clouds, by painting the sky with a mixture of Pthalo blue and white. Lucky accidental brush strokes that gave the impression of clouds or the broken sun itself, played a significant role in the development of this sky.  Mid- and fore-ground The next step was to start adding more detail to the land starting from just below where the sun is. Along the horizon line I started by adding cadmium orange followed by alizarin and magenta, especially to the central part underneath the sun. The glow on the ground of the two fields in the middle ground (on the right) was painted with Naples yellow with touch of olive green. White was added to the more distant one. The trees in shadow were painted using Payne's grey plus some cobalt blue to the distant ones or else with the addition of some Pthalo green to the closer ones. Using a painting knife I painted the grass on the closest hill using a mixture of ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow medium, alizarin and red gold. Burnt sienna and burnt umber were also used for the ground at the front. Finally I painted the sheep, blocking them with purple and highlighting them with Naples yellow, titanium white, alizarin and a touch of cadmium yellow/cadmium orange. I find sunsets very inspirational due to their colors and drama, especially if the sky is cloudy. I named this painting "The end of another day", because I find that the time when the sun sets behind the horizon is also a time of reflection. When the sun sets marks the end of another day, meaning another day less from our journey of life on this planet. It is a time to think about the importance of time, since very day, minute and second that passes we cannot get it back. So it is very important that we use every second of our life wisely.

Last Lights on Tumut Valley

Step 1 This is one of the most recent paintings showing Tumut Valley in NSW. What attracted me to paint this scenery was the game of warm light and shadows through the whole view. The linen board was primed for oil painting and underpainted with a tint ultramarine blue and burnt umber. Materials used: 60 x 30cm linen board Brushes: Long Flat brushes 12, 10, 8, 4, 2 liners (0, 00), Very long filberts (2, 6) (Art Spectrum Series 1100KLF) Odourless mineral spirit +  Liquol (Art Spectrum) Color palette: Titanium and zinc white, French Ultramarine Blue, permanent alizarin, viridian, sap green, burnt sienna, raw sienna, , raw umber, Flinders red violet, Australian red gold (Art Spectrum), Cobalt blue deep, yellow ochre (Norma Professional), Van Dyke brown, ultramarine rose, cadmium yellow light, medium, deep (Masterclass), cadmium orange (Old Holland) and lemon yellow (Michael Harding)

Under-painting (Blocking in) I wanted to start off this painting over a very dark underpainting, so using a number 12 flat brush I blocked in the sky with a mixture of Flinders red violet and French ultramarine blue. Cobalt blue was used to block in the background mountains, adding permanent alizarin and a touch of yellow ochre to the closer mountains. The middle ground including trees was blocked in with a mixture of French ultramarine blue, permanent alizarin and yellow ochre. The foreground is the darkest part and so I used  a mix of French ultramarine blue and Van Dyke Brown for the ground and Van Dyke Brown with viridian for the trees. Step 2 The next step was to start giving more form to the relatively abstract underpainting. Using number 10 and 8 flat brushes I started adding more clouds using titanium white mixed with touches of permanent alizarin, lemon yellow and yellow ochre. Dark areas in the clouds were darkened with ultramarine blue, alizarin and raw umber. I gave importance to create contrast between the darkest and brightest parts of the clouds using complementary colors. The distant sky was lightened up using a tint of cerulean blue with lemon yellow added to the left hand side of the painting, the side from where light is coming. The mountains were given more shape by darkening the shadows. The highlights in shadows were painted using a tinted underpaint. The areas lit by the sun on the mountain were painted with a tint of lemon yellow and a touch of permanent alizarin + yellow ochre. Finished painting Mid- and fore-ground A mixture of ultramaine blue and yellow ochre was used to paint most of the ground and trees in the middle-ground. The ground is darker and cooler (with the addition of more ultramarine blue) as you move to the right of the painting since light is coming from the left. Parts of the underpaint was not painted over to give the illusion of shadows, that at that time of the day are very long. The mixture was tinted slightly as one moves into distance. The areas that are hit directly by sunlight where highlighted with the addition of yellow ochre and some lemon yellow in the mid ground. The trees were painted with darker shade of the same color used for the ground. For the foreground used the same base color of ultramarine blue and yellow ochre with the addition of a warmer yellow for the highlights. I used different mixtures cadmium yellow deep, medium and light or/and Australian red gold with sap green, sap green and burnt sienna or permanent alizarin. The details were added gradually over a number of days, thus allowing the previous layer to dry. For most of my painting I used liquol which dries very quickly but for the final highlights and details, paints were used without the addition of any medium. During each session I continued to enforce the dark shadows and adjusting the saturation, hues and values of the highlights.

Painting Blue Mountains

I did this painting from a photo taken at a location in Blue Mountains.

Colours used:

Cerulean Blue, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine Blue, lemon yellow, cad yellow light, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, rose madder genuine, alizarin crimson, titanium/zinc white, vermilion, viridian, Australian red gold.

I started with the underpainting, where I used pure gum turps to dilute the paints.

I mixed first grey by mixing equal amounts of cobalt blue and white, rose madder and touch of lemon yellow. From the darker colour I also mixed two tints. 

Using a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue I blocked in the rock on the left while the front grasses on the right and foliage were blocked using a dark mix of burnt sienna and viridian. 

Another grey (ultramarine blue with some white, vermilion and touch of yellow ochre) was used for the tree trunks. 

I then blocked in the background using the first grey starting from the darkest color and using the lighter tints for the more distant cliffs.

The sky was done using various combinations of lemon yellow with white to the areas from where light is coming and a mixture of cerulean blue and touch of alizarin to the left hand side area.

I left the painting to dry a little bit for around an hour, since I used turps the paints will dry quickly and becomes tacky. 

The I started from the back adding details and highlights. I used a mix of white with lemon yellow and madder, from which I prepared two tints. The lightest tint was used for the background grasses on the top of the cliffs, getting darker as I move forward.

Using a palette knife  and the same colours I added the trees in the background on the side of the cliffs. The distant trees where blended using a mop brush to soften the edges. 

Using the darkest background colour, and by adding some white to it, with a horizontal brushstroke I added the cliff faces in the shadowy area of the closest cliffs.

The other cliffs were added using a mixture of white and rose madder.

Highlights and more details to front trees were added using cad yellow light/viridian and for the foliage shadow burnt sienna/viridian with alizarin.

Highlights on teh front tree trunks where added using a mix of white with cad orange.

The lighter part of the rocks were added using various mixtures of yellow ochre, alizarin, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.