LANDSCAPES IN DETAIL
If we want to capture the essence of
a subject, we must first consider what
exactly what we mean by “essence”?
For me, it is what I consider to be the
most important aspect of the subject
and the part that first catches my eye:
a gate, the light, a splash of colour.
However, my essence may not be your
essence, which is one reason why
paintings vary so much.
Whatever that chosen essence is,
there is no doubt that this is best
seen in real life. Photographs, useful
as they are, will never replicate the
excitement generated by reality.
When painting, your entire focus
should be on trying to capture and
spotlight these strong initial feelings.
Try to not be distracted by parts of
the subject that you barely noticed
initially. If something wasn’t important
to you at first glance, then don’t make
it prominent in the painting.
If you want to ensure the viewer’s
eye goes to a particular place in your
painting, apply the greatest contrasts
and hardest edges there. There may
be no identifiable objects here, but
the eye is naturally drawn to the areas
of strong colour and tonal variety.HOW TO... Capture an essence
give an opportunity for plenty of line
work, as it is the drawing that is the
major element here – the wash really
is just a quick decoration.
I like to use a relatively smooth
paper so as not to inhibit the flow of
the pen. Hot-pressed (HP) watercolour
paper is the obvious choice for more
considered pieces but, for a quick
sketch, a decent cartridge or sketch
paper works perfectly well. Again, I
prefer a smooth surface – there are
some quite rough textures available.
(Did you know cartridge paper is so
called because it was originally used
for the paper tubes in gun cartridges?)
I tend to use pen and wash for a
sort of vignette, letting the painting
disappear as it approaches the edge
of the paper, so I generally begin the
drawing with whatever is in the centre
of my desired composition – in this
case, the porch over the door. I then
simply draw out from this and stop at
a point that I feel is right. I strive for
an almost unfinished look to apen-and-wash picture, as if it has
been painted in five or 10 minutes.
In hindsight, looking at my painting
on page 50, I see that my wall colour
is really too red for true Cotswold
stone, but I must have been seeking
a complementary colour contrast with
the green trees. I must confess that
I rarely worry about matching true
colours and nor should you. While I’ve
included a photo in this article, the
viewer of your painting is unlikely to
have the original subject to compare.PAINTING ON
CARTRIDGE PAPERCartridge paper is generally
lighter and less physically robust
than watercolour paper. It is
perfectly possible to produce
clean, transparent washes on
cartridge paper but rather
counter-intuitively it is important
to paint quite wet. Dry strokes
tend to be absorbed slightly and
dry quickly leading to problems
with unwanted hard edges.
Also, the physical dragging of
a damp brush across the paper
will quickly cause the surface to
degrade, whereas a light and
minimal touch of a wet brush will
produce the best results.
The key is to lay the paint on
gently, ideally in one stroke, and
leave it alone at least until the
wash is completely dry.A single wet stroke of watercolour can work perfectly well on cartridge paper......whereas overworking can damage the surface, leading to unsightly paper particlesArtists & Illustrators 49