Leisure Painter - UK (2019 - Summer)

30 SUMMER 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

Watercolour

Magpie Cottage is another

example of a subject produced

using just three colours.

Step 1

Using Sennelier Rough 140lb watercolour paper, I quickly

sketched out the subject. The photo has the building tightly

cropped so I decided to add a little more space around it.

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Step 2

1 I began the painting by applying a very diluted wash of French

vermilion across the centre of the painting on dry paper.

2 French ultramarine blue was then applied and allowed to mix

with the previously applied vermilion. I made sure I reserved

areas of white paper around the building.

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Demonstration

Magpie Cottage

Youwillneed

nSurface

lSennelier Rough

140lb watercolour

paper, 9x13in. (23x30cm)

n Sennelier watercolour

lFrench vermilion

lFrench ultramarine blue

lPrimary yellow

Three colours

I painted the view that’s shown

in Mill Street, St. Osyth(page 28) to

demonstrate to a group how three

primary colours can be used to create

a landscape scene. I decided to turn

the view into a snow scene, which

meant I needed to leave areas of white

paper as the wash was applied.

I began with a loose pen drawing

of the scene, followed by a sky

wash of primary yellow and French

vermilion mixed together.

While the sky was still wet I added

French ultramarine blue mixed with

vermilion to create a wintery sky,

allowing the colours to blend on the

paper. The houses were constructed

on the shadow sides from washes of

ultramarine mixed with vermilion.

The near house walls were painted

with a mix of vermilion, yellow and

a touch of blue to create a brown.

To give a late afternoon feeling

I finished the painting by adding

dabs of primary yellow to suggest lit

windows on the distant buildings.

I hope this introduction to

French vermilion and the following

demonstration helps to clarify how

different colours work with each other

and how important it is to choose the

right red to achieve good violet mixes

and other colours. It’s a good idea to

choose paints that are compatible with

one another and discipline yourself

to working with a limited palette

of colours.

Experimenting over the years, I have

found that the three colours mentioned

in this article have benefitted me

greatly and resulted in clean, fresh

and harmonious paintings.

Take your time and enjoy painting

the following scene. LP

Your reference photograph for

this demonstration: a traditional

black and white cottage.

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LPS 28-31 Fisher_Layout 1 28/05/2019 12:17 Page 30