Teacher
Richard is a talented full time artist, who loves painting and teaching.
"The Dancing Pine, Lake Ohau" 11x14" Oil on Board by Richard Robinson
Some paintings seem to have a united 'feel' about them.
How do they DO that?
Sometimes that's about colour, but what you may not have noticed is harmonious shape repetition which can be just as powerful.
This demo is in oils but it's fine for acrylics too.
I'll take you step by step through this whole process. Just a couple of hours and you'll have a beautiful sunset beach painting.
Just 5 steps
I’ll guide you all the way.
Get the best paint experience
Make sure that each colour on your palette has the same thickness. That way they'll brush out onto the canvas easier, making painting more fun and less struggle. They'll also mix together easier. Simply mix more painting medium (walnut oil in this case) into the thicker paints with your palette knife until they're the consistency you want. I like a warm margarine feel.
Build shapes that sing the same song
In this painting the tree has a wonderful swishy shape to it. I wanted everything in the painting to work in concert with that, to have a similar feel to it. So you'll find swishy shapes everywhere throughout the painting. This helps unite the painting, just as a tune repeated by various instruments in the orchestra can bring the music together as one. Give it a try!
Character is everywhere
Trees and every other thing you might paint, have character. They have an ‘it-ness’ about them. You’ll find that each object has a specific character about it, and a broader character that is indicative of its species or category.
For example the branches of a pine tree tend leave the trunk at a certain angle, but a specific pine tree will have its own way of expressing that tendency. It’s your job as a painter to recognise this character and try to capture it, and even exaggerate it for effect.
Moving mountains
Your artist's licence can shift very heavy loads. These are not the same mountains. These were just down the road. They were more interesting so I used them instead.
The lighting was changed too. I left them more in shadow so they would steal the spotlight from the tree as much. Once you know how to paint things in shadow and light, you can move that spotlight wherever you like in your painting. Enjoy!
Finishing Touches
A fence post, a red cabin, some lupin, a few warm accents, and we're done. Those finishing touches can make or break your painting. They say it takes two people to paint a painting - one person to paint it and one person to tell them when to stop.
I'll take you step by step through this whole rich process and you can choose which parts you'd like to try out in your own work.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
—Walt Disney
Enjoy!
