WHAT?
I wanted to experiment further with a way of pulling together my “gesso first painting layer” method with my “building up dilute layers” method. I also wanted to make a companion piece to the “door knob” painting – it felt as though it should be part of a pair. I chose a composition of muted colours so I could look at Sickert’s method of putting in a pop of pure colour to bring an image to life.
SO WHAT?
An initial drawing was key here, both to sort out the perspective, and also to analyse the tones of the number plate. I drew with an HB pencil on a sheet of A4 printing paper, which was all I had to hand at the time.
I chose a matching canvas size to the “doorknob” painting, and also decided that I would replicate the technique of not taking the coloured part of the painting to the edges. This time, though, I did cover the edges with a thin layer of plain gesso, before mixing in a dash of burnt umber and roughing out the bare bones of the image in a thicker layer of gesso.
Once that was dry, I worked with a small filbert on the number plate in layers of dilute oil paint using a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine. Towards the end I added a touch of titanium white to get my greys.
After leaving that to dry a little overnight, I indicated the colours of the stones. I had decided to add Indian yellow to my palette as the best yellow to create the gold on the plate, and I added this now to the umber/ultramarine mix to get the greenish stone, and to burnt umber on its own to get the browner stone. I worked into the stones with finger tips to get that splodgy effect, and also the edge of a palette knife to scratch out the streaks. I ran some dilute yellow around the number plate in places to get that faded grey/gold colour, before finally adding my pops of pure Indian yellow with a rigger to bring it all to life.
NOW WHAT?
- I think the use of my gesso method is still valid in this type of image; it is not as obvious as it was in the “gate” painting, but it still shows up here, especially in the numbers, and was useful in helping to “catch hold” of the final application of pure colour.
- I feel I have progressed in my use of complementary colours here, using them more subtly (a bluey grey with an orangy-yellow), with just a dash of pure colour at the end.
- I also feel that I have progressed over this Part in my consideration of the colours I choose for my palette, rather than just grabbing the first one. Making colour cards (as suggested by Anna, another student) has really helped and I am going to keep all the ones I have made as a reference for the future – they are ensuring that I begin to understand the possibilities (and limitations) of the particular paints I possess.
Sue J's blog 