The Artist - UK (2021-03)

46 artistMarch 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

WATERCOLOUR

DEMONSTRATION Autumnal Meditations

p MY SET UP
Working on my thoughts about an autumnal subject I put together
some objects. The fl owers are past their best and the mushrooms
were too rotten to lay out, so I used photos of them instead. It was
time to work out how to put together a composition

p THE SCHEMATIC

As a result of having some shells in the composition, I researched the

Fibonacci golden spiral to use as a basis for the design. I decided to do

a layout that would have the diagram as a background line drawing. I

experimented with techniques for representing the various elements.

I wanted them to be pattern like, hard-edged and almost hyper-real.

Various layouts were sketched to illustrate the bare bones of the

composition

TOOLS

Here I have carefully drawn out the Fibonacci golden spiral in

pencil using a variety of compasses, including a hand-made

beam compass. I would be doing a lot of masking so used

ProDec low-tack tape (I didn’t have any Frisk Film). The painting

would be quite detailed so the brushes are small, the most

useful being the 10mm one-stroke by Cornelissen. The dish

contained a mixture of fi ne and coarse salt for texture

p STAGE ONE

I was aiming for very crisp edges with high tonal

contrasts. To achieve this I used the 5mm tape for

extensive masking. The intricate shapes were cut out

using a retractable scalpel. The abstraction process

involved using panels and banners to present the

objects with textured backgrounds, including the

mushrooms. I laid out the fossils and shell in their

positions to check for tonal balance and see their

relationships with the faint spiral

 STAGE TWO

I needed a strong red highlight to act as a keynote for

the other reds in the composition so a small cherry

tomato was chucked in among the shells. I started

to peel back the masking tape to reveal the items

furthest back in the overlaps. I was treating the basket

in a geometric manner to avoid it looking too ‘rubbery’.

It adds contrast to all the other cyclic shapes