Leisure Painter - UK (2019-06)

http://www.painters-online.co.uk JUNE 2019 47

t

Step 2
1 The next area to consider was the hill. Remember, the original
posters only used five to eight colours or colour mixes (see last
month) and I already thought that I would need at least six colours
for the sea, beach and buildings so I had only two possibilities for
the greens in the hill.
2 Like the sky, the hill needed at least three coats for the even,
flat colour you associate with posters. I maintained a fairly accurate
line where the green met the sky, but the lower edge was again
quite loose.

t

Step 3

The next prominent feature was the church tower. An unusual feature of

this church spire is the horizontal stripes so special attention is needed in

the painting as viewers will home in on this element. I made an accurate

drawing using a T-square, ruler and measure. Freehand painting need

never be quite as precise as a technical drawing, but it helps if the

guidelines are accurate. I liked the crisp dividing line between the spire

and the sky. On my final reference photo, the church was at a slight angle

to the buildings along the sea wall. I showed a hint of the side of the

church, but wanted to keep the simplicity of a full frontal view.

t

Step 4
1 Next came the rooftops and a few gable
ends behind the harbour-side houses. As
I had already used six colours, I was careful
how I coloured the remaining areas. The
beach had to be orange, but fortunately,
I used a good orange in the brickwork of
the church, which was perfect for the beach.
2 The cluster of rooftops, gable ends and
attic windows behind the seafront houses
are very much a part of Ilfracombe’s
character, and it was important to show
as much of this detail as possible while

t

retaining the characteristic simplicity

of the posters.

3 The many buildings in the background

mainly comprised whitewashed and raw

brick, cement or stone walls. The dark

brown shadow for the orange had already

been established on the church so that

went through to the small houses.

I still had only used five colours plus the

white of the canvas so I was confident the

painting could be completed within my

self-imposed limit of eight colours.

Step 5

1 After a day off painting I came back with fresh

eyes and realised the orange was far too crude and the

shadowed orange areas much too dark. I added more

cadmium yellow medium to the orange mix and went

over the relevant areas. I also added a good helping

of white to the dark shadow colour and overpainted

those areas. The new colours were now closer together

tonally and more in keeping with the green and grey.

2 To delineate the buildings behind the harbour wall

I introduced a sixth colour: pale blue. The blocking

in continued with just the buildings on the right-hand

side to complete before I added details.

t