Thistle Patch – Freemans Reach
Leanne Jones’ picture places some rustic old sheds behind an interesting foreground.
The reference photograph for this painting was selected because the artist really liked the light, the old sheds, and the interesting foreground with the thistles and weeds.
The view in this painting is from the Hawkesbury region, which is known for its atmospheric and beautiful farmland. I decided to infuse the scene with more light than the photograph and to let the viewer see that you can improve a scene with your own impression. I chose to use a limited palette because this creates a harmonious painting; and I used transparent artists’ quality pigments.
STEP ONE
I commenced by drawing a simplified version of the scene with a 4B clutch pencil on a half sheet of Arches Torchon Rough 300gsm – because I like the rough texture of the paper surface and I feel it’s great for an impressionistic style of painting.
I laid the paper down on Perspex. Starting with the back of the drawing I soaked the paper with plenty of clean water using a large flat wash brush. I then flipped the paper over and soaked the drawing side for a few minutes, before I squeezed out all the excess water from the paper with a clean dry bath towel – pushing my hands over the towel, making sure that the paper remained slightly damp and cool to the touch.
I paint on a sheet of Perspex because this allows me to paint on damp paper, which in turn allows me to paint wet
in-wet and I can obtain some lovely soft edges. As the paper dries I can then achieve some crisper edges where needed. If the paper starts to dry out around the edges, I just give it a spray of water on the back which makes it stretch and relax. I might also gently pat it down with a towel to flatten it again.
This method is ideal: If it’s a hot day, there is no need to pre-stretch or tape the paper. It allows you a bit more time for your painting process and also you can achieve soft edges easily. You must wipe up the paint from around the edges of the paper though, because you might find a back run could occur where you definitely don’t want one! And if the edges are clean, the painting can be float mounted.
I paint with my board at a 30 degree angle to allow the paint to flow down the paper using gravity.
STEP TWO
Working quickly, I started with an underpainting, wet-on-damp, starting at the top left-hand corner of the paper with a wash of Cerulean Blue, leaving some small whites in the sky for sparkle. I brought this wash down to the middle ground. Next, I painted in some Cobalt Blue Deep over the first sky wash, to create a deeper layer over the top of the sky, allowing this to blend and merge on the paper.
I returned to the middle and foreground and I left the buildings, pole and trellises as negative space – dropping in a mix of Indian Yellow and Raw Sienna (added to tone the yellow down a bit) followed by Light Red. I also added some Cerulean Blue to the yellow mix and allowed it to blend on the damp paper, wet-in-wet, to create a soft green. While the underpainting was still damp (not shiny wet), I returned to the lower part of the sky and created some distant soft edged trees along the horizon with a mixture of Cobalt Blue Deep, Permanent Violet Bluish and a touch of Sepia – to grey it off a little.
Next I mixed a selection of greens created from the Indian Yellow, Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue Deep for variety. I painted in the trees behind the sheds with these colours, leaving the white of the paper where the trellises and pole were. Before this wash dried, while the pigment was still slightly damp, I scraped back with my knife into the foliage some light areas for branches; and with a rigger brush I pulled some dark branches through the foliage with a dark mix of Sepia and Violet.
STEP THREE
I waited for the shine to go off the paper and while it was still slightly damp, I flicked and splattered into the foreground with a variety of the pigments I’d chosen – some Vegemite consistency pigments and a little water. I protected the painting with some old watercolour paper which I keep for this purpose.
I painted in the left-hand tree using a mix of Sepia and Permanent Violet Bluish for a nice strong dark trunk. I then painted in the foliage using Raw Sienna (using the side of my brush), then dropped in a mix of Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue Deep for a darker foliage area; followed by some Bluish Purple for shadows. I waited for the shine to go before scraping out some branches in the tree foliage. I allowed it to dry before continuing on to the buildings.
STEP FOUR
The roof and walls of each building were painted wet-on-dry for a rusty tin effect, with Light Red. I allowed this to dry before I painted on a pale Bluish Purple shadow on the walls of the buildings. I cut down into the yellows in the foreground, for the grasses; and using negative space I created clumps of grasses next to each building. I allowed the work to dry and then glazed another wash onto the sides of the buildings that were more in shadow. I also painted in the darks while the wash was slightly damp, with a creamy mix of Sepia, Permanent Violet Bluish and a touch of Cobalt Blue Deep for doorways and windows. I allowed this to dry and then glazed a bit more of a shadow under the eaves of each building, using the Bluish Purple mix.
STEP FIVE
I painted the foreground where I started some of the grasses using positive space. I used a fan bristle brush, and I double dipped into a creamy consistency of Raw Sienna, Indian Yellow and some of the green mix as well as Light Red. I dry brushed some texture, using the chosen colours, to create interest and to give the appearance of grasses and sticks. I also added some pure Permanent Violet Bluish with the tip of my little finger for thistle flowers and buds.
I decided to scrub out a small area next to the right-hand back corner of the large shed with my stiff synthetic bright brush – in order to place a shrub there using Indian Yellow (for a good contrast of colour). I dropped in some of the Bluish Purple colour for some shadows while the work was still damp.
STEP SIX
I decided to make the left-hand tree canopy come down a little further to create a better shape, with the same colours as before. I dried the painting thoroughly and decided to scrape out (with a scalpel blade) some wire suspended from the pole to one of the buildings.
I put the painting aside where I could view it for a day or two, before deciding that I was happy with it. I finally added my signature, with a complementary colour.
Lastly I rewet the back of the painting and placed it on a board with a clean dry towel on top; then placed another board over it. I weighted the top board with heavy books and left it to dry perfectly flat for a few days. Then it was ready to frame.