MASTERCLASS
W
inter might not have a reputation
as being the most colourful of
seasons. It lacks the showiness
of autumn, the vibrancy of spring and the
sheer variety of summer greens.
Nevertheless, I believe winter offers as
spectacular a range of colours as any of
the other season – if you know when and
where to look.
A landscape blanketed under snow
brings its own palette and, when the
eventual thaw arrives, this also throws up
some interesting colour combinations for
the painter to consider, as the receding
snow often reveals isolated patches of
unexpected colours.
This was just the case when I went out for
a winter walk late one afternoon. Walking
around a bend in the lane, I was immediately
struck by the brightly-coloured hedge,
a dazzling orange set against the blue
shadows of the snow. Some of winter’s
most intense colours can be found at thistime of day. As the orange
winter sun begins to drop, it casts longer
shadows and seems to boost the intensity of
the hues. The complimentary pairing of that
orange hedge and the blue shadows was
an opportunity too good to miss. So, after
making a quick sketch and taking a couple
of photos on my phone, it was back to the
warmth of my studio.
http://www.moortoseaarts.co.ukRob’s materials
•Paper
Two Rivers 140lb NOT
watercolour paper
•Brushes
Fine pointed sables,
sizes 8 and 10
•Paints
Burnt Sienna, Green Gold and
Permanent Rose, all
Daler-Rowney Artists’
Watercolour; Winsor Blue
(Green Shade) and
Quinacridone Gold, Winsor &
Newton Professional Water
Colour; French Ultramarine,
Daniel Smith Extra Fine
Watercolor; Transparent Oxide
Brown, Rembrandt Artists’
Water Colour; King’s Blue
Light, Old Holland Classic
Watercolour; Permanent
White, Winsor & Newton
Designers Gouache
•Watercolour Pencils
Orange Chrome and May
Green, Derwent Watercolour
pencils
•Palette
•Kitchen roll
•2B pencil- Start at the back
After I had worked out my design in a series of thumbnail sketches, I lightly drew out the main
shapes on stretched watercolour paper using a 2B pencil, concentrating on scale and the
arrangement of key shapes rather than any small details. Using the larger size 10 brush on dry
paper, I washed in the sky using King’s Blue Light. When this was dry, I used varying mixes of
King’s Blue Light, Green Gold and Quinacridone Gold to indicate the distant, snow-covered
fields with a series of drybrush strokes.
- Drybrush the shadows
With the previous stage dry, I again used the
drybrush technique to indicate shadows in
the distant fields with mixes of French
Ultramarine and Winsor Blue (Green Shade),
strengthening the mix with extra pigment as
I painted elements in the scene that were
closer to me. If the previous strokes were still
wet, the additional passes would fill in the
unpainted gaps and the effect would be lost.Artists & Illustrators 43