PAINTING SKIES
the most challenging. When working
en plein air, it can be difficult to get
the colours down onto paper or
canvas quickly and accurately enough
in the falling light.
Reaching for the camera is not
necessarily the answer either, as a
photograph can also be fraught with
the vagaries of the particular camera
and the inherent colour and tonal
bias; most cameras find the redsparticularly difficult to capture,
resulting in photos often quite unlike
the colours and tones seen in the sky.
The approach I prefer to employ is
to gather information on site through
a combination of drawing, colour
swatches, photographs and even
written notes, which I develop into
larger paintings back in the studio
where time is not such an issue.
Sunset at Sea was the result of somevery hurriedcoloursketchesand
notes madeonlocationjustasthe
sun had dippedbelowthehorizon.
Not onlydidI havetocontend
with the lightfallingawayasthesun
dropped, butalsoa breezesprang
up causingthecloudstochange
rapidly. Needlesstosay,thepainting
was madebackinthecomfortof
the studio.
http://www.moortoseaarts.co.ukABOVE Rob Dudley,
Sunset at Sea,
oil on canvas,
40x30cm
ADDING WEIGHT
TO CLOUDS
Working from drawings made on
location, I painted this small oil
study, Woodbridge Clouds [below],
in preparation for a larger work.
I was interested in the towering
cloud formations rising high into
the sky. Clouds vary in density,
some appearing as wispy veils
smudging the sky whereas others
seem to be almost solid, as if
carved in alabaster. These
summer clouds were a case in
point and my study aimed to
explore the “weightiness” of them.
Typically for late summer, the
River Deben was full of moored
boats, yet I felt that depicting so
many would detract from the
clouds – my intended focus.
I decided therefore to understate
the amount of activity on the river
in order to emphasise the clouds
above. Note how the distant
clouds reduce in size and merge
together closer to the horizon.Watercolour studyOriginal photoPencil studyFinal oil studyArtists & Illustrators 77