FINISHED PAINTING

Night Lights, acrylic on board, 9½ 11¾in (24 30cm).

The refining process is like walking on a tightrope! Keeping the figures as loose shapes retains a sense of movement – if the forms had been detailed too illustratively I would have lost some of the life. I added opaque white blobs (tinted with a tiny bit of lemon yellow) where I wanted the light, which made sense of the lemon yellows and indicated that the gold in the tree was actually a warmly lit area of green foliage. I added a red-purple to the edges of the red sign and a bit of yellowed red to give vibrancy to its centre. This colour really pops so I applied it sparingly around where I thought it would work as an accent. Lastly I strengthened the shadows with thick, warm darks, browns and golds

‘Keep the focal point in mind for any strong edges and lines – if these appear everywhere, the painting will miss out on movement and a sense of place’

Jenny Aitken studied art and art history at Aberystwyth University. She is an associate member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and exhibits across the UK. Jenny is represented by the Harbour Gallery in Portscatho and Peter Barker Gallery in Rutland and tutors online workshops – for more information see www.jennyaitken.co.uk