Leisure Painter — June 2017

Back to basics

I

f you have ever watched the

movement of the sun and moon

across the sky, you will notice just

how quickly they rise and set. Position,

colour and light can change dramatically

in an instant. This is a situation where

photographs can successfully capture

a fleeting moment to be painted later.

My reference photo (below left)

was taken on Hamilton Island on the

Great Barrier Reef in Australia when

the full moon was rising over Catseye

Beach. Over a period

of 30 minutes I took a

succession of photos as

the moon continued to

rise and clouds drifted

across the sky in

changing patterns.

When I later studied

the series of photos on

my computer, I chose

this particular moment

to paint because of the

appealing cloud

formations, strong

reflection in the water,

colour in the sky and

level of light.

The reference

photograph taken

earlier (below left) was

too light and didn’t have

an interesting intensity

of colour. The later

photograph (below)

was too dark and clouds

began to obscure the

moon.

54 JUNE 2017 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

Part 6 Follow Elena Parashkostep by step as she demonstrates how

to paint a nocturne, using techniques suitable for both acrylics and oils

From photo to painting

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

nPaint sky, sea and headland

nHow to use reference photographs

nPractise using filbert and flat

brushes

The photo Elena

chose to use as

reference material

t

Reference photo (taken earlier). The earlier photos were

too light and didn’t have an interesting intensity of colour.

t

Reference photo (taken later). The later photos were too dark

and clouds began to obscure the moon.

t

LP06 54-57 Parashko_Layout 1 06/04/2017 09:54 Page 54