This painting was a classroom exercise that we worked from an old black and white photograph.
The challenge was the angle of the buildings, and the foreshortening of the boats.
I drew in the major shapes and then made up my palette. I wanted a varied palette, but one that was also cohesive so the colours had to compliment each other or had to be analogous (very close in colour) so a combination of the two types of colour differences was my choice.
I used a range of brown and blue colours, some purples, both mixed and from tubes, and some maroon. I used indigo blue for the distant warehouse and a cadmium red for the light wash on the building in the foreground.
I used impress drawing to mark in the shapes of the bricks on the buildings and wall. I used a rigor brush to paint in the barks and twigs of the trees. For the water I used glazes, a light wash of blue, dry 100%, another wash that was stronger, and dry 100% before I applied a much stronger mix of blue, using a fine brush and zigzag brushstroke.
I made a wash of blue 80% and Indian red 20% for the flat wash sky. I mixed a green from Emerald green and Indian red for the green of the trees and a rose madder for the red berries.
It was great fun colourising a black and white study.
Leave A Comment