Painting the Outback in Oils

Painting the outback.

Ayer’s rock, or as it is known “Uluru” is not only one of Australia’s major landmarks but also it is one of the most sacred and important aboriginal sites. I travelled to the “Red Centre” of Australia in the Northern Territory couple of years ago, and visited some of the most beautiful places I’ve been to so far.

In this painting I wanted to show the vastness of the land with this massive sandstone monolith occupying a dominant position in the painting. A big sky will complement the subject.  

Above is one of the reference photos I used for this painting. I also prepared some sketches (to scale with the canvas) and then I chose the one that I liked most. Following that on my notebook I did some planning of the colors to use and of the various color values. To do this I use a value comparative which helps me a lot to judge my values correctly. My aim is that during the first phase of the painting I get as much as possible close to the end product in what has to do with values and color. Then when the canvas is entirely covered with paint I will be able to judge by comparing one color to the other next to it and adjust accordingly.

For myself the first stage of the painting is the most important one and most labour intensive. By the end of this stage I will need to have all the canvas covered with paint and establish shapes and form of most of the elements. I also try to get as close as possible to the right tones and values. By the end of this stage I want to see most of the painting only lacking detail and minor adjustments. Since the sky plays a very important role in this painting, I decided to start from the sky by blocking in the clouds leaving empty spaces for the sky. For the sky I usually use an old big brush so that I can literally scrub the paint all over. When painting the sky I try not to paint it as a solid object always keeping in mind that I am painting air. 

The next step was to block in the foreground and the rock itself. The main rock formation was painted using a mixture of cobalt/ultramarine blue, white and Quinacridone Magenta. Using a cloth I softened edges and lifted paint of to expose the underpaint while establishing where to place the highlights in the next step. 

 The next stage was to start adding the details. Using various mixtures of white with burnt sienna, cadmium scarlet, alizarin, yellow ochre and ultramarine blue, I gave more form and detail to the ground at the front and middle parts of the painting, giving the impression of cracked ground washed away by water. More form, details and highlights were added to the trees and bushes all across the painting. Using a warm and cooler version of the base mixture described above the details and highlights were added to Ayer’s Rock. Reflected light from the sky was painted using a mixture of white with ultramarine blue.  
Gradually I always do some minor adjustments and add more details during the first couple of weeks until I see that there is nothing else to add. 

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

 

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.

Oil painting - Near Warrenbungles

This is an oil on canvas I finished a week ago. The original photo was taken while on my way to Lightning Ridge and I was driving on a road crossing through the Warrenbungles National Park. 

The sky was painted using titanium white and raw sienna for the lower part and cerulean blue for the top and closer sky.

A mix of cobalt blue and permanent rose was used as an underpainting for the mountains (adding more titanium white to the distant mountain). The same mix was used to under-paint the mid-ground. Underpainting of the mid-ground trees was done using a darker mix by adding more cobalt blue and rose. The underpaint of the front three and ground was painted using a mix of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Highlights on the mountain were done by adding white to the underpaint plus addition of lemon yellow for the side facing the sun. The same was done for the highlights on the trees to which I added raw sienna and cadmium orange.

The ground in the distance was painted using a flat brush and horizontal brush strokes with white, cadmium orange, lemon yellow and a touch of viridian.

As moving towards the foreground more viridian and yellow ochre were added for the ground. The grass at the front was painted witha painting knife using cadmium yellow, viridan and Australian red gold.

Highlights on the front tree were painted with cadmium yellow mixes with ultramarine blue and white. Details such as house and cows were added later on.

Misty Gum Trees

Original Photo

Misty Gums, Oil on Canvas, 45 x 90cm

This is a painting I did some time ago from a photo I took of gum trees on the Murray river banks. The photo is a little bit dull and boring and so I wanted to create a vibrant painting out of it. For the composition I only used the four main gum trees and the setup next to the river in order to create reflections in the water. 

When coming to decide the colour scheme of this painting I chose the majority of my colours from the warm side of the colour wheel starting from yellow to red. Then I used two complements, ultaramarine blue (for the shadows) and green. 

I started by creating a gradient of colours in the background. Using a two inch house painting brush and a vertical brush stroke I applied titanium white to the right hand side of the canvas. From white I went to yellow, using raw sienna which when mixed with white gives a very bright background yellow. The next colour was vermillion to burnt sienna on the sides. Using vertical brush strokes I blended the colours to create a gradient. 

Using a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue I blocked in the darkest trees, river bank and water reflections. For the water reflections I initially used a vertical brush stroke, followed by a horizontal one to create a water effect. 

The background trees were painted using a vertical brush stroke, bottom to top with various values of vermillion mixed with burnt sienna. White and raw sienna was used for highlights. The highlights on the front trees were added using a painting knife and mixes of white with Naples yellow and vermillion. Water ripples were also added using pallette knife and a mixture of white and ultramarine blue. Grass on the river bank was painted using cadmium yellow light and ultramarine. Same colour tinted with white was used for foliage, together with cadmium yellow light and cadmium red medium.