DEMONSTRATION

Over Ruxton to Coppett

This is one of my favourite views out over the tall trees along Ruxton Lane down into the Garron valley and on up to Coppett Hill in the distance. The simple washes of the fields are a foil to the intricacy of the foreground trees

STAGE ONE

Having taped my paper onto a stout board I drew in the main outlines of the scene, fence lines and background hills. I don’t like overdoing the drawing as it gives me more freedom when I come to paint, rather than be restricted with too many boundaries

STAGE TWO

After a simple wash of rose madder with a touch of Indian yellow for the sky I used a warm orange edge on the top of the hills and then a darkish mix of cobalt blue and orange for the hills, before dropping in some water at the lower edge to emulate rising mist

STAGE THREE

The large hillside field behind the trees had been ploughed before the snows and this presented a lovely broken surface to the area. To capture that quality I used a dilute blue mix of cobalt and helio turquoise and dragged the side of the brush down over the rough surface of the paper

STAGE FOUR

I had established all the main shadow areas with varying mixes of blues and orange and rose madder

STAGE FIVE

I used my rigger and a blue/brown/orange mix to establish the boundary hedgerows, using the side of the brush to get an edge, then using the tip for the hedgerow trees

STAGE SIX

It was starting to get really interesting. I began to develop the foreground trees with their lovely dark and twisted textures. I used a mix of Indian yellow and a touch of rose madder for the sunlit sides of the tree, then went in with a stronger mix of madder brown, orange and helio turquoise for the central trunk and branches. Whilst the paint was wet I pulled out some of the branches with the end of the paintbrush

STAGE SEVEN

I had established some of the basic tree details. At this stage I like to keep the painting fairly relaxed; I just want a basic structure that I can work into later on

STAGE EIGHT

I started to develop specifics, such as the main trunks and branches, with the rigger. I started the stroke at the foot of the trunk and gently eased off the pressure as I moved up into the branches, thus going from thick to thin in one stroke

STAGE NINE

Moving up into the tree canopy, I used a fairly dry mix of blue and orange and, with the heel of the brush, pressed the paint around the edges to get a lovely broken surface

STAGE TEN

With the rigger I worked into the body of the tree to establish some of the more prominent branches