DEMONSTRATION
The Sound of Birds Waking Up
STAGE ONE
My reference photo was a field of mustard in the early morning sun. I prepared a canvas board with a coarse modelling paste, randomly applied with a palette knife and let it dry overnight. The texture will enhance the whole composition and give it more interest
STAGE TWO
I practised some colour mixing to begin with to ensure I could achieve a good tonal range and create the atmosphere I wanted, taking time to mix a good dark from the three main primaries, a variety of neutral greys and yellow greens to blue greens
STAGE THREE
I applied a ground colour to the board, choosing a mix of Naples yellow and a touch of permanent rose for a soft warm glow. I really liked the representational colours but wanted the painting to ‘zing’. Using a complementary colour helps to make the greens ‘pop’ and harmonises the painting overall. I applied this with a wet brush and not too thickly
STAGE FOUR A
I blocked in the main areas of the painting starting with the sky at the top right with a mix of blue violet and white and Naples yellow and white where the horizon meets the distance. The middle ground is a mix of Prussian blue and hansa yellow with a touch of Naples yellow. The foreground dark areas are a mix of dark green and violet
STAGE FOUR B
Looking into the light is what drew me to this photograph and the way the blossom is lit up so it was important to achieve a good dark foreground to begin with before I started adding the detail. You will notice that I left a lot of the ground colour showing through. This is because there’s a few more layers to add before it’s anywhere near finished and it is important to allow little chinks of that colour to show through in the final painting.
Next, I worked back over the whole painting, strengthening tones and adjusting the drawing. Notice how I’ve put in the distant row of trees but left out the copse of trees at this stage. The light needs to be right first