The Artist - UK (2021-04)

http://www.painters-online.co.uk artist 39

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April 2021

I

am using the same still-life

arrangement throughout this

series; in the first two parts the

oil sketches will demonstrate how

very simplified palettes can be mixed

to explore tone and temperature

relationships before beginning to use

colour. In the last part I will incorporate

colour. Analysing the tone values

through using a palette of black, white

and mixed greys is a helpful exercise

for the painter who wishes to study and

understand the relationships of light

through to dark within the composition,

before beginning to work with colour.

Working with black, white and a

hierarchy of greys will give you time to

closely observe the shifts of tone over

the surface of an object, or the tone of

one object when placed against another

and the relationship of tones of the

background, surface, drapes or wall that

your still life will be positioned against.

Using only black and white oil paint

allows you to quickly mix a range of

contrasting tones to use as you explore

how light falls on and describes your

objects.

DRAWING INTO PAINTING: 1ST of 3

Make a tone study

of a still life

In her new three-part series Adele Wagstaff explores the fundamentals of

making the transition from drawing into painting. She begins by focusing on

tone, using black and white to make a still-life painting in oils

Hyacinth, oil on board 113/4 3 8in (30 3 20cm).

When painting this oil study of a hyacinth, I replaced black with raw sienna. When mixing a

range of tones with white it gives a warmer and softer range of tones, much more like sepia than

black and white, which I prefer to use when making tone studies. You may prefer to use another

darker pigment to mix with white: umber, Payne’s grey or blue black

Adele Wagstaff

trained at Newcastle University and the

Slade School of Fine Art. She has taught in

Belgium, Germany, Italy and the UK. Adele

has been shortlisted for the Jerwood

Drawing Prize and the BP Portrait Award,

and her work has been exhibited in the

National Portrait Gallery, ING Discerning

Eye, Royal West of England Academy and

the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Adele has published two books. For more

details, see http://www.adelewagstaff.co.uk