Cinematic sci-fi oil painting

Bryan Mark Taylor demonstrates the process of creating a moody and atmospheric science fiction scene using traditional oil painting techniques

Bryan Mark Taylor uses a range of oil-painting methods to create a moody and atmospheric science fiction scene.

Learning how to paint an imaginative sci-fi landscape in oils with convincing light and atmosphere can be a fun challenge. In this workshop, I’ll show you my process, from quickly blocking in the initial concept, to the application of the final details. The workshop will include an in-depth analysis of how to handle the challenges and capabilities of oil paint.

Imaginative science fiction scenes can often lose their spontaneity in an artist’s pursuit of detail. Here, I’ll show you how I design and orchestrate the scene while keeping the painting fresh and loose. Creating expressive strokes while developing a strong focal point can be a difficult balancing act and I’ll reveal how I’m able to achieve this goal without overworking the paint. To keep the artwork fresh and loose, I’ll introduce a variety of tools and techniques that I regularly use in my work to develop dynamic and spontaneous shapes and textures.

The way edges are used in a painting can be an important part of expressing mood and emotion in an image. I’ll show you how I create a variety of sharp, soft and lost edges in my paintings by utilising appropriate tools and techniques.

Developing depth and atmosphere are key components to any imaginative scene. By using my knowledge of outdoor landscape painting, I’ll demonstrate tips and tricks on how to build aerial perspective into the piece through the use of colour, value, scale and overlapping shapes.

I’ll discuss the reasons for my limited palette of colours and how to use both colour, value and varying degrees of opacity to create a feeling of natural sunlight. I’ll also show how to analyse and spot errors in the painting in order to make important corrections and will demonstrate how to simplify overly complex passages in order to make the painting work as a whole unit.

Bryan has recently turned his attention to creating moody sci-fi scenes based on his observations of urban landscapes and cityscapes, blending elements of impressionism and abstraction into his work. You can see more of his art at www.bryanmarktaylor.com.

1 Making a confident start

Although I’m painting in oils, I begin by using a two-inch watercolour brush. I dip the brush in Burnt sienna and Ultramarine blue, adding some Gamsol to the mixture to make the paint flow like watercolour. With quick, broad strokes I mass in the big shapes on a gessoed panel to establish the general composition.

2 Unify the shadows

I mass in and modify the strokes using a screen printing squeegee. Using the squeegee can quickly add variety and subtlety to the paint without over-rendering the shadow areas. In this stage it’s important to keep things moving quickly before the Gamsol evaporates and the gesso begins to absorb the paint.

3 Divide light and dark

I take a no. 2 long flat mongoose hair brush and add Titanium white and Cadmium orange to the leftover grey shadow mixture. Imagining the light source coming down from the top left corner, I establish the light side of the central structure and begin to develop the focal point.

4 Tackling form shadows

I modify the light side brush strokes using a oneinch flat watercolour brush and the squeegee. This results in softer transitions, giving volume to the forms by creating soft edge form shadows. Keeping the colour to a minimum helps me to depict the forms’ light and volume.

5 Generating atmosphere

Using my one-inch flat watercolour brush I pick a lighter and cooler value for the background by mixing Ultramarine blue with a touch of Phthalo Blue. Adding generous amounts of Gamsol to the mixture so it flows like watercolour, I create a light atmospheric wash while being careful not to overwork the paint.

6 Building up the light

I switch to a no. 6 synthetic hog bristle flat, then design and refine the smaller shapes by adding variety in size and shape. At this point in the painting, I begin using slightly thicker paint on the light side of the forms to differentiate the light side from the thinner shadows.

7 Introducing line work

Next, I go back to the no. 2 long flat mongoose hair brush and apply some delicate line work to break up the larger shapes and connect them to the adjacent forms. Some I leave in, while I take out others or modify them. The line work is used to indicate the presence of civilisation and adds some narrative to the artwork.

8 Increase visual interest by adding small details

With the primary, secondary and tertiary shapes established, I use a small no. 00 round red sable brush to add some tiny details and texture to the painting. The small touches of paint begin to add scale and interest to the surface of the piece. If I accidently overpaint the tiny details, I simplify with a larger brush.

9 Apply highlights with a palette knife

I then use a 3/4-inch pointed palette knife to mix undiluted Titanium white and Cadmium lemon yellow oil paint to apply thicker highlights in and around the focal area. This will add more physical and visual depth to the painting, and further strengthen the focal point from the rest of the canvas.

10 Connecting shapes

I enhance the idea of the cast shadow from the main circular shape on to the column on the right, using a no. 4 mongoose hair bright. This helps to visually connect the shapes together and reinforces the strong diagonal motion between the two vertical columns. I also refine other cast shadow shapes on the right-hand side.

11 Bringing reflected light into the composition

I continue adding interest to the focal point by adding varying degrees of cadmium red and cadmium orange paint using a no. 00 round red sable brush. The end result is that I’m able to emphasise the warm reflected light bouncing off the highlights and into the shadow areas. It’s important to be selective and subtle with these tones, so as not to distract the eye from the highlights.

12 Seeing things with a fresh eye

I select the no. 6 synthetic hog bristle flat again and work on the background elements, designing complementary shapes to the foreground columns. Up to this point the painting has been executed wet-in-wet; however, after I finish this stage I let the painting dry overnight and come back to it with a fresh eye.

13 Refining the background

I continue to refine the details by developing subtlety in the half-tones and highlights, using a combination of the no. 2 mongoose hair brush and the no. 6 hog bristle flat. I also add atmosphere in the bottom left of the canvas by making the distant structure lighter and cooler than the foreground structures.

14 Making sacrifices

At this stage I clean up the design and quiet down some of the spontaneous brushwork. After some thoughtful analysis, I begin to edit the right-hand side of the central form by painting the background colour into the darker tones. Simplifying and redesigning busy passages will strengthen the focal point.

15 Finishing up

During the final stage of the painting, I go back to a no. 3 mongoose flat and refine the distant layers of atmosphere in the lower left hand side of the canvas by using varying degrees of blue/grey paint, Diminishing contrast between the light and shadow of a given object make it recede into the distance.