http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistDecember 2019 27
PRACTICAL
- I was tutoring a group of painters on
a plein-air workshop around Australia’s
more accessible outback. Martindale
Hall is a Georgian Italianate mansion,
seemingly in the middle of Australia’s
vast emptiness, built by a wealthy
pastoralist, Edmund Bowman, in 1879
and it once boasted a cricket pitch
TEN TOP TIPS FOR
PAINTING INTERIORS
l Choose a room or inside area that
resonates with you on some level. It
could be a library, kitchen with pots
and pans, music room or a potting
shed. (I personally enjoy books,
traditional antique furniture, lamps,
Persian rugs, heavy curtains, pottery,
wingback chairs and ornaments, so this
provides an immediate attraction to a
subject).
l Because an interior is nearly always
darker, look for the light source, which
could be a window, ire or lamps.
l Look for the shadows cast from the
light source, especially across the loor,
walls and furniture. This casting of
shadows is what makes the painting
dynamic.
l Shadows will also be cast by items
such as chairs, tables and ornaments.
l Draw up the geometric shape of the
interior space as accurately as possible
for painting traditional realistic work.
This can be tricky as an interior scene
relies heavily on perspective.
l Foreshortening of furniture is often
encountered when painting interiors,
for example across tabletops, skewed
positioning of chairs and diferent
furniture angles. It helps to think of the
scene in terms of receding planes.
l Don’t paint everything! This is the
only rule I ever adhere to.
l Don’t spend time painting the
decorations such as a Wedgwood bowl- just a brushstroke of blue will do.
l Keep the painting loose or you will
be a slave to copying everything and
will produce a stagnant painting.
l Add a personal touch such as a dog
curled up on a rug or a cat on the
window sill, or someone sitting by the
ire. Paintings of interiors are
comforting; they represent safety and
security and, on your wall, they are like
a small window into another room.
Although rarely painted these days you
will ind interiors a rewarding subject.
that hosted the English Eleven. Sixty
craftsmen came over from England to
build it. It has original William Morris
wallpaper and comfortable rooms
such as the library/billiard room and
the smoking room with its wonderful
collection of antiquities brought
back from various trips overseas. Themellowness of the light and deep
warmth of the furniture attracted me
immensely. I had a desire to paint this
room more than any of the others and
this should always be the case with the
subjects you choose to paint. A certain
amount of passion for your subject will
always make the task a bit easier.p By the Fire, watercolour on Saunders CP Not 140lb (300gsm), 17½ 3 15½in (45 3 40cm)p Inside the Ellora Caves, India, watercolour on Saunders CP Not, 140lb (300gsm)
paper, 18½ 3 23½in (50 3 60cm)w