Jem Bowden
Photograph 1: Your main reference for this project, showing good depth and lead-in
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
■ Using soft and hard edges to create focus and atmosphere
■ Limited palette for unity; cool and warm colours for depth
■ Bold, energetic brushwork for dynamic painting
Last month I discussed how I arrived at the compositional sketch (opposite) by combining two references photos (above and right) and using artistic licence. This provides the all-important tones that we need to stick to for the painting to work. I’ll aim to use the limited palette of five colours to create depth in the painting and an effect of strong shade and bursting sunlight. I also hope to show that you don’t need much green to give a sense of summer. It’s the relationships between colours within a painting that counts and how one offsets another. I tend to think of colours as just various warms and cools.
I’ll be using soft edges in key parts of the painting to help with atmosphere, and hard edges to draw focus where it’s needed. Speed and risk-taking are of the essence with this approach.
It should be exciting to paint, which, with some luck, might reflect well in the result!