MASTERCLASS
- Let the light in
I wanted the standing man to belostagainst
the incoming light. I did this bydrawingthe
daylight over his arm at an obliquedirection
to suggest a dip between the muscles.This
was then countered by the harderedgesof
some of the instruments in theforeground.
I used Conté hard pastels toworkintothe
softer paints below. This has theadvantage
of removing unnecessary pasteldust.
Hatching hard pastels into softalsogives
an exciting texture to the rendering.
- Pick out details
Smaller marks were added to suggesttheformoffaces,accentson
the vice, the bench, the lamp andthedistantviolinshangingup.
These marks were overstated tohelpsuggestform.Bycontrast,the
clutter in the window was left vague,encouragingtheviewertowork
things out and put their imaginationintoplay.
I used off-white hard pastelsforthelitwindow,hatchingintothe
patina below. At this stage, I feltthepicturehada reasonablebalance
between hard and soft (or lostandfound)edges,whichis important.
12.Finishingtouches
Thefarworkbenchneededwork.Theplay
ofthewarmlamplightwasilluminatingthe
areabelowthehangingviolins,andI needed
toworkonit withoutintroducingtoomuch
detail.I diffusedthelamplightbyhatching
throughthelightbeamtosuggest
atmosphere.
I liketomulloveranalmost-finished
paintingfora while,lookingatthemina
frameorsometimesupside-downtoseehow
theylook.It helpstojudgewherefinal
alterationsareneeded.Remembernotto
overstatethingsherethoughoryouwillkill
thevitalityandenergyyou’vecaptured.9.Useopticalmixing
I oftenliketoincludea bitofopticalmixing.
I dothisbyaddingspotsofa complementary
colourtoanarea.Ratherthanphysically
mixingthecolours,theseindividualdotswill
appeartoblendwhenreadfroma distance.
Thistechniquewasverymuchone
favouredbytheImpressionists.I usedit in
theshadowareasintheuppercornerand
alsointhedrawerstotherightoftheseated
man.Usethetechniquesparinglyandif you
gooverboard,hatchoverit later.Lightwas
suggestedbehindthestandingmanandon
thelampsontheworkbench.10.Fixyourprogress
Oftenatthisstageofa paintingI usean
aerosolfixativespraytosecuretheworkso
far.Thishelpsgiveaddedresistanceforthe
finallayersandalsogivesconfidencethat
pastelfrompreviouslayerswillfallaway.
Usingfixativecanslightlydarkenyour
picture,soyoucanalsouseit selectivelyto
darkena passageofthepaintingandmakeit
appeartorecedeinimportance.I rarelyuse
fixativeattheendofa painting,preferring
tojustremovesurplusdustbytappingthe
boardgentlyontheback(drawingonboard
ratherthanpapermakesthiseasier,too).Top tip
Looking at a painting
in the mirror helps you
view it abstractly and
better see errors in
proportion