Today we are in the Holywood hills high above Belfast
Lots of nice tree subjects around
Still a little cold to paint outside but I'll take some photographs
And bring them back to the studio
Redburn Park was the family home of the Dunville Whiskey family
At the time they owned the biggest whiskey distillery in the world
They built a 70 room mansion here in 1866
But hardly any trace of it remains
This is the photograph I will use to paint from
It has a good strong foreground tree with a good group of background trees behind
That will help with creating a sense of depth
For this method, you need a paper that will allow you to lift paint
I'm using Bockingford
Other papers such as Arches are harder to lift from
I'm using Phthalo Blue with Cobalt blue for the sky
I use long strokes from left to right
Make sure your brush holds enough paint to make a full stroke
This brush is too small so I'll change to a large mop
Same mix,
And simply continue down the paper
When you come to the position of the distant trees
Add a little Alizarin Crimson to the mix
I'm painting over the foreground tree. This will be lifted out later
For this first wash I simply want and interesting array of colour
Vary the colour. Add any colour you like
I'll add some Aureolin with Ultramarine. this will give a good green for the foreground
Continue to paint down the paper. Don't leave any gaps
Because the wash is soft with no edges
Essentially I'm not actually painting anything specific
Only when you have a hard edge do you actually specify an object or shape
Some burnt sienna helps to suggest the dried bracken
A little more of the green mix finishes the first wash
When you reach the bottom of the paper, stop.
Don't be tempted to go back up or to change things.
The first wash has now dried
Now I'll add some extra strength for the background trees
Use the same Phthalo/Alizarin Crimson mix
Use the side of the brush to give a dragged edge
This is a good way to suggest the broken edge of the trees
The brush should be parallel to the paper
Make sure you vary the outline of the trees up and down
Change the mix slightly as you work down the trees
Varying the colour will make it more interesting
Strengthen the tone as you work towards the bottom of the trees
I'll finish off with a dark mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna
Aim to get light, medium and dark tone in all parts of your picture
I am now going to use a swordliner brush
This has a very fine point and is excellent for twigs and branches
Use the same dark mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna
and paint into the damp background wash
[music]
Time now to add some variation to the foreground
The mix is Aureolin and Ultramarine
Use rough simple strokes
Use the side of the brush again to get a "rough grass" look
Don't be tempted to get too complicated - trees are the main subject, not grass
Again, vary the colour for interest
Burnt Sienna helps to suggest the bracken.
Now the background has dried
I can start on the main tree
There are many ways to paint trees and this method works well
Start with a very dark mix for the trunk and branches
I will then lift out the light side of the trunk and branches
The light side is the right hand side
[music]
Where the paint has lifted off the paper can be quite white
It is good to stain this damp white area with some warm colour
Raw sienna or burnt sienna works well
Back to the swordliner for the side branches
Allow the swordliner to skip over the paper surface
These are very dark marks but parts can be lifted out for variety
Don't paint too many side branches. Too many will look cluttered
[music]
Back to the lifting out brush
Rinse it often and squeeze it dry
As you lift paint you will dirty the brush
Squeezing the brush avoids depositing water as you lift.
It also gives a good edge for lifting
[music]
Continue to vary the colour and tone
As we approach the end of the painting
It is time to add little dark accents
Adding darks will make the lights appear lighter (and vice versa)
Adding dark effectively adds light
Mixing some stronger green now
I'm using viridian which is a hideous green colour
But burnt sienna calms it down to a lovely rich green
I'm using this for some darker details
Here I'm using my finger to roughen the edge of the stroke
This gives a similar but more controllable effect to dry brush
It works well
It does however make your fingers very dirty!
I have gone for some purple grey to suggest shadow
Again I'm using my finger to soften the edge
Back to the background trees
I'm lifting out a few suggestions of trunks and branches
Silver birch trees have a very distinctive bark
I can use a very strong mix of ultramarine and burnt sienna to suggest the bark
Using the side of the rigger gives just a hint of the dark marks on the bark
I hope you have enjoyed this demo
If you visit my website you will find information
on workshops as well as a gallery and more demos
Come back soon. Thank you and goodbye.
[music]