Demonstration
The Castle at Veléz Blanco
Step 2
Squeeze out the paint – about the size of a pea will do – into the wells of your palette. Use a spray bottle if necessary to keep these moist during your painting time.
Step 1
1 Draw a rectangle the same ratio as your photo, in this case 16x12cm.
2 Apply masking tape around the edge of the rectangle so that you can paint without worrying about keeping the edges neat. You will achieve lovely straight and clean edges when you remove the tape at the end.
3 Draw the image with a soft pencil. You do not need much detail, just the basic outlines.
Step 3
Mix a little blue with the white to make a pale blue for the sky and, using the flat brush, paint the sky in horizontal strips. If it looks a bit streaky as you do this, blend the lines together with vertical brushstrokes. You are aiming for a nice smooth, even, flat sky. You may need to add just a small amount of water to your paint mix to help it flow, or spritz the paper with water before you start to dampen it.
Step 5
Step 4
1 Add the darkest trees. Mix a dark and dull green by adding a little yellow ochre to ultramarine blue. Add a drop or two of water, if you need to help the paint flow, but not too much or you will over-dilute it and loose the opacity. 2 Use the flat brush to paint the background trees. Use the flat edge and corner of the brush to create the edges of the trees. 1 Add touches of yellow ochre into the tree mix on your palette to make a lighter and greener colour, and paint one or two more trees. 2 Add white to this mix, and perhaps a little blue, to create a third type of green and paint more trees. By mixing colours like this you retain harmony between them. All the colours are related to each other as they all come from the same initial mix and yet you create a variety of greens that make the trees look interesting.