Entering Queendown Warren

The bathroom fitters have the day off so I’m not stuck indoors and am back in the studio today. After spending all week on market portraits, I was pining for watercolours and for landscapes. And rather than trying to impress TV judges with posterised watercolour portraits or soft pastel landscapes, I killed two birds with one stone with a watercolour landscape.

I picked out this scene from Queendown Warren with part of a gate in the foreground because of its simplicity and because of the opportunity to enjoy myself with colours. I thought about doing a series of three paintings of this scene using the three sets of Schmincke supergranulators but decided to pig out on everything all at once with a climate change painting, dividing the page into three and using a different second supergranulators in each.

After putting down a pencil outline, carefully measuring out the page and putting down some masking tape, I got down to painting. I worked from the back to the front and switching between the three subpaintings. The view on the left uses tundra supergranulators, the view in the middle the Shire supergranulators (with cerulean blue for the sky, green apatite genuine and forest green for dark greens and burnt sienna to keep the greens under control) and the view on the right the desert supergranulators. I also used cadmium yellow in all three to create some sunlight and to harmonise the three subpaintings. It’s in some of the highlights in the trees and on the fence but, crucially, also all along the crest of the foreground hill. And I used a bit of titanium white at the end to dot in some grass seeds, highlight the wire around the fencepost and (using the titanium white trick) add some texture and light along the horizontal bar in the gate. And that was me done.

If you ever feel you’re not improving at watercolour landscapes, my tip is to take a break. Paint landscapes in other media; paint something else in watercolour. Because that’s what I’ve just done. My last watercolour landscape was in November, the one before that in September. And then I come back to watercolour landscapes today and paint this. It’s not picking up where I left off: it’s a huge improvement. I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to get colours like this out of the Schmincke supergranulators. This looks like a professional painting. The use of cadmium yellow as a unifier feels like genius. I’ve included empty holes in my tree foliage for once. And the distant hills really are pushed back by the cool colours I’ve used. I’m going to drop the mike here and walk off the stage.

This one is up for sale, with the price to be found here.

<This is one of a number of local paintings that have been lent to the Rose & Crown in Hartlip to display on their walls. It remains up for sale whether via me or via the R&C. There’s no price difference.>