STAGE 1

SKETCHING

I pick the tone of the mountains to sketch out the bones of the painting, which is a mix of ultramarine, white and phthalo blue. It is the only time I water down the acrylic. At this point I am simply laying down the design, with a few salient marks to help me get things right later on in the process.

Photo Reference

This is Lake Wanaka in New Zealand, and was a commission. I’d never been there myself, but I’ve spent a fair bit of time around Scottish lochs in the Highlands, so drew on memories of their light and feel.