MASTERCLASS
W
hen I was looking at
the work of artists that
I admire recently,
I realised there was a common
thread that ran through almost all
of them: they lose edges and merge
shapes together. This not only helps
the atmosphere of the painting, as
things are suggested rather than
stated, but also the design
(composition) becomes stronger
as the shapes become larger.
The painting can then work on two
levels: as a representational image
(a location or figure, for example)
and as a group of shapes that can
have an abstract quality to them –
a design, or a pattern if you like.
I decided that I needed to remind
myself of this basic approach and so
I wrote it down on a piece of paperand stuck it to my easel: “Lose
edges, join shapes.” The phrase
became a kind of mantra.
A second mantra developed –
“It’s the painting, not the place” –
that was a reminder not to be too
literal and illustrative by trying to
include everything in front of me.
For this masterclass, I chose to
paint a scene from Venice that could
easily have been very descriptive as
it was filled with crumbling textures,
distinctive architecture and canal
reflections. I wanted to get across
the mysterious side of the Italian
city, however, so I kept tempting
detail down to a minimum and
focused on losing edges and joining
larger shapes to give the painting
a stronger design.
http://www.paintingsbymarkharrison.comTop tip
Contrast horizontal
and vertical lines
with diagonals
togive movementtoa compositionMark’smaterials
•Oil paints
Permanent Orange, Burnt
Sienna, Lead Tin Yellow
Lemon, Yellow Lake Deep,
Emerald Green, Prussian Blue
and Ultramarine Violet,
all Michael Harding Artists’
Oil Colours; Winsor Violet
and Cadmium Yellow Light,
both Winsor & Newton
Artists’ Oil Colours
•Canvas
Winsor & Newton stretched
linen canvas, 30x41cm
•Brushes
Pro Arte Series 204 Acrylix
flat brushes, sizes 1/4” and
3/8”; Pro Arte Series 61
Prolon filbert brushes, sizes
6, 8 and 10; Daler-Rowney
Series B48 Bristlewhite flat
brush, size 1 and 2
•Liquin
•Lukas Medium 5
painting butter
medium
•Turpentine
•Palette knife
•Rag
•Mahl stick2 Refine the drawing
Once happy with my rough, I drew it again more accurately.
I ran the brush along a mahl stick for the straight lines
and used the “rule of thirds” to determine where I placed
several key things. This included where the building at the
top left met the sky and where the illuminated pavement
met the painting edge in the bottom right. The two mooring
posts were a nice counterpoint to the verticals in the rest
of the painting.
I relit this scene from my imagination. I chose not to include
the streetlight on the right-hand side and instead have the
light source just outside the picture. I wanted this to create
a large shape, different in value and colour to the rest of the
picture, that would emphasise the element of design.1 Sketch roughly
I started by very roughly drawing out the
composition, just to see how it would fit in
the canvas format. I adjusted the placement
of the buildings and key elements slightly to
get a better composition and roughly drew
it in with a small Bristlewhite brush,
using a mix of Burnt Sienna and
Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin
and (to get it to dry quicker) Lukas
Medium 5. When I needed to remove
or correct lines, I erased them with a
rag dipped in clean turpentine.