Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

78 Artists & Illustrators

MASTERCLASS

DEMONSTRATION

GRAHAME BOOTH TAKES YOU THROUGH THE TRICKY SUBJECT OF PAINTING

BACKLIT SUBJECTS AS HE CREATES A BEAUTIFUL SEASIDE WATERCOLOUR SCENE

BACK TO THE LIGHT

1

The first step in almost all of my paintings

involves what the wonderful watercolour

painter Jack Merriott called a ‘controlled

wash’. Beginning at the top of the paper, with

it inclined at about 45 degrees, I apply a very

wet continuous wash from top to bottom

using the soft, flat brush, varying the colour

as I go to give a slight degree of local colour. I

do not allow any hard edges to form and try

to avoid cauliflowers or runbacks – not

always successfully as you can see.

grahame’s materials

•WATERCOLOURS

Winsor & Newton Artists’ Watercolour: Winsor

Red, Quinacridone Magenta, Cobalt Blue, Burnt

Sienna, Cadmium Yellow

•BRUSHES

32mm soft hair flat (like a hake), large Jackson’s

squirrel mop, Kolinsky sable size 7 and 10

•PAPER

Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour

paper, rough, 640gsm

P

ainting backlit subjects in watercolour

is something I enjoy. Backlighting has

the effect of softening and blending

tones and colours, which suits watercolour

very well – as long as you’re prepared to paint

using wet, juicy washes and not worry.

Watercolour is at its best when allowed to

do its own thing. Too much control stifles,

and you lose the excitement and spontaneity.

This subject is a coastal scene in

Donaghadee, near Belfast, and we are

looking down the pier towards the town. I love

the way the sunlight picks out highlights

along a promenade, which is mostly in shade.

And, of course, a few figures and some

vehicles are a vital part of creating a

believable painting. This treatment of

backlighting is fairly straightforward but

needs a logical and disciplined approach to

succeed. The important factor is that

highlights must be light in relation to the rest

of the buildings, and the simplest way to

achieve this is to darken the buildings apart

from the highlights: when you want light,

add dark around it.

I painted on Winsor & Newton Professional

paper, a range made in France, which was

very receptive to wet washes and wet-in-wet

technique, but also allowed overpainting

when dry without any significant disturbance

to the underlying washes. It was also easy to

lift pigment when dry and was forgiving when

I abused it by over scrubbing.

http://www.grahamebooth.com

LEFT Symonds Yat, pen and wash, W&N

Professional paper, 21x15cm

78 Graham Booth.indd 78 06/04/2017 12:46