DEMONSTRATION
Autumn Lane
I chose an autumn scene where there is both foliage and sections of trees that have already lost their leaves for this demonstration. The scene is imagined, but is typical of numerous pictures that I have painted with this design – a track leading away to a point approximately one-third up from the bottom and one-third in from the side.
STAGE ONE
Using a piece of 18324in 400 grade UART black sanded paper I roughly sketched in the design using a white pastel pencil. I could also have drawn this with the side, or the sharpened end, of an ordinary pastel stick.
It is also important at this stage to make free flowing marks and not get bogged down with too much detail
STAGE TWO
This is where I make my first tentative steps with shape and colour, rather like the blocking-in stage of an oil painting. There is no attempt at density, I simply work my way into the composition like an athlete warming up for the main event. However, even at this early stage, the dominant colours are already starting to merge – in this case brown/ yellow and blue/green
STAGE THREE
Now the fun begins. I blocked in the sky, which immediately threw the tree shapes into relief and gave the scene a sense of depth. The sky is graded from a pale yellow at the horizon to bluer tints as I move up the paper. This is one of the few instances where I allow some blending of the pastel medium and I gently pushed the pastel around the tree forms, knowing that I could sharpen them up at a later stage. I worked around the major tree branches – the smaller twigs would be added later. The intensity of the foliage was increased with diagonal right to left marks (I am right handed) and the texture of the tree bark was initially addressed. Some thought was also given to the distribution of lights and darks across the path and the adjacent bank and some of those areas were intensified
FINISHED PAINTING
Autumn Lane, Unison Colour pastel on 400 grade UART black sanded paper, 18324in (45.5361cm).
It was time to make the sunshine. In the past, artists used a term called ‘putting on the half-crowns’. What they meant by this was that, by adding light tones, or even white, to the objects receiving sunlight, the picture would come to life, have more appeal to a prospective purchaser and therefore fetch a higher price. The final stage really is an opportunity to lift your work and make the picture pop. I drenched the picture in sunlight by adding light tones all over the scene. The light is coming from the right and is catching the tree trunks, the banks and the path. These lights also have a secondary function as dark tones, which were added earlier in the composition, have now been trapped by the lights and represent the areas in shadow. I also added more detail, particularly in the branches, tree trunks foliage, and the obligatory fence
Steve Hall’s work can be viewed at Bradford Gallery, 15 Station Approach, Bradford-on-Avon BA15 1FQ, tel 01225 309332, www.bradfordgallery.co.uk For more information and details about his teaching programme, telephone 01225 868086, email info@stevehallartist.co.uk or see www.stevehallartist.co.uk
Next month: Marine and coastal scenes