Demonstration
The Start of Spring
To maximise the impact of spring’s bright greens I selected to work on an Ampersand Fine Art Panel, which I painted black. The panel is already carefully prepared by the company with layers of gesso so I could have used as bought but the black background felt the right way to go.
Step 1
This study is an amalgamation of hundreds of previous sketches, references and memories. Feeling confident in my mind of where and how this was to progress, I mixed the warm grey and titanium white and painted the first strong image (as seen in image A on the previous page), which later will be developed into a silver birch tree. At this stage, the oil paint is diluted (with Turpentine or white spirt) and is only seen as the underpainting for later development.
Step 2
Although this painting is not a full landscape, I felt the creation of depth was useful at this stage thus enabling the opportunity to show a variety of colours in the tree trunks as they recede into the woodland. The vertical marks are very easily painted with simple strokes drawn down over the support using highly diluted (thin) paint.
Step 3
Here we can see in more detail some of the colours and techniques used. Much of the time, two or more colours were loaded on the brush at the same time to achieve the effect of light and tone on the bark. Colours used here were quinacridone gold, Hansa yellow light, cerulean blue and white.
Step 4
Some tree trunks were overpainted with a fatter (less-diluted) mix to both define and give more body to the work.
Step 5
In this close-up we see how the development of the tree to the right of the main tree trunk was brought alive by the fattening up of paint, which was layered wet into wet using a long flat brush.
Step 6
Extra overpainting was done after carefully considering each tree trunk shape and colour, and particular observation to the light striking from the left.
I gave further attention to the silver birch in the foreground, and using titanium white with a mix of stand oil and white spirit I fattened and strengthened the image. Lots more work was done on this tree towards the end of the painting.
Through this series different leaf shapes and colours will be shown and explained, but at this early stage in the spring painting it is enough to make the simplest of marks to represent light foliage in the distance. The smallest and least defined the mark, the farther into the background they will appear.
The colour used was a mixture of cerulean blue, green gold and white.
Here I show the handling of the silver birch bark, using a long flat brush and stroking at a 45-degree angle to build up layer upon layer, wet into wet, using burnt umber and titanium white.
Cerulean blue was also added and the texture of rough bark was completed. Note how the detailing on the trunk is more defined and stronger lower down, with the roughness and texture receding higher up. This is because the newer branches have not yet weathered (again the job of the artist to observe closely).
Whilst not needing a full background in this artwork, the trees do need to be grounded. To paint the effect of grasses, I used Hooker’s green, Hansa yellow light and bright green lake, loaded onto a No. 4 hog hair fan brush at the same time. This was done by having the paint on the tip of the bristles and flicking upward.
Step 12
In spring, the leaves of the larch, beech and birch appear early and are quite similar in pattern, particularly those of the birch and beech.
Step 13
The focus now was on bringing in the new spring foliage and balancing the areas of distant and mid-ground by considering size and placement of each mark. For this I used a No. 2 PanArt brush (a new brand with a soft firm feel, but still maintaining spring and shape-holding ability) and with a small, light touch of the point, I applied different sizes, colours and shapes through the middle and distant leaf patterns. The distant leaves needed a gentle curved movement while the larger area of the brush’s bristles were used for the nearer leaves. A representation of these is all that’s needed. I used Hansa yellow light, green gold, cerulean blue and white.
Step 14
Still working with the pointed Panart brush, I painted individual leaves, with bright green and Hansa yellow on the brush at the same time. The smaller leaf effect was produced by applying then lifting pressure in one movement of the brush. The larger leaves, nearer to the foreground, needed several strokes and a gradual build up to achieve them. The paint used was only slightly diluted from the tube with the stand oil and white spirit medium mix.
Step 15
Completing the painting was achieved by sitting back and reviewing how it looked. I took time to evaluate if anything needed to be added or deleted to improve it. After careful deliberation I decided the right-hand side of the work needed additional foliage for balance and, once this was done,
The Start of Spring was complete.