The Artist - UK (2021-04)

40 artistApril 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

DRAWING INTO PAINTING: 1ST of 3

You can use any black and white oil paint for

this exercise, although some blacks will give

a subtle hint of blueish-purple, as you see in

my demonstration. In this oil sketch I used

titanium white and ivory black; the black may

give a subtle blue hint to each mix rather than

a fl atter grey.

This small, still life of a shell placed on top

of sheet music provides many contrasts of

the more organic, curved lines against the

straight sharper defi ned edges of the music.

The still life is lit by natural light and the shell

casts a soft-edged shadow leading to the

p STAGE TWO

Using a larger fi lbert-shaped brush, the fi rst areas of tone were patched, selecting

greys that had been pre-mixed on the palette as shown (above). These fi rst

applications are very simplifi ed as light, mid and dark tones, and taken directly

from the palette

p STAGE ONE

The fi rst lines of the composition were made with a

fi ne rigger brush with the mid-grey mix diluted a little

with Sansodor. This sketch, made by drawing directly

with paint, focuses on positioning the main shapes

and angles of the objects within the rectangle and is as

much concerned with the space around the still life as

the objects themselves

 Before beginning to paint, pre-mix a number of grey tones on the palette. Here,

white was placed on the left, and black on the right. Using a palette knife, a mid-

grey tone was mixed and placed in the centre. Judge the mid-tone visually, as using

exactly half white and half black in equal measure doesn’t make a ‘mid’, it tends to

be darker. Make quite a generous amount of this mix as it will be used for the lighter

and darker grey mixes. These are placed in between the white-mid, and mid-black

so that you have a total of fi ve tones that can be used during the early stages of your

oil sketch.

The tone that has

been placed beneath

the main row is a

small amount of the

mid-tone diluted

with a small amount

of Sansodor. This

thinner mix is used to

make the fi rst marks

when drawing out the

composition.

p This shows the four grey mixes that were made

from the initial hierarchy of fi ve greys. A small

amount of each grey has been mixed to extend

the palette, resulting in seven mixed greys

right of the composition.

All drawing will be made with a brush

and paint from the very start, no need to

use charcoal or pencil to draw out your

composition. It’s always worth making a

small exploratory drawing in a sketchbook

if needed to gain understanding of the

basic shapes and weight of composition

before you begin to use paint.

Any studies made in oil in preparation

for a longer sustained painting of your

still life may be quickly painted, with a

spontaneous and direct response. The

paint that you apply on the surface may

be a little thicker than it would be for

a longer painting, so that it is opaque

from the start. You may prefer to layer

the marks, applying thicker paint over

earlier thinner applications. Let each mark

describe and provide as much information

as possible: it’s scale, direction, shape,

length, speed and pressure will all

broaden the language of your mark-

making.

The surface I used for this oil sketch is a

gesso wood panel, which is incredibly

smooth to work on. There is no tooth

on the surface so the brush glides over

the primer. The gesso by nature is very

absorbent so the paint tends to sink in

quite quickly. This helps to apply the paint,

and layer areas if needed quite quickly.

THIS MONTH’S EXERCISE