I have always wanted to paint this vista. It's a picture that I took earlier this year from my brother's roof top in San Joan D'Alicant, looking towards San Juan Playa and Benidorm.
I have stood and looked at that view so many times and could never quite catch in photographic form. I wanted the scene to be the basis of a painting that I would be proud of and reflect the lessons I have learnt on my way to becoming a better artist.
I have to say at this point that I'm finding that as an artist you are rarely satisfied with your work. One thing I have learnt is, that whilst we are rarely happy with our work, there comes a time when you have to stop fiddling !!
This watercolour landscape therefore was for me so I wanted to get it right. Whilst not completely satisfied it does combine a lot of the lessons I have learnt, which I hope you will find interesting and useful.
Sitting there, on the roof, watching the sun come up one morning I suddenly realised that I was making the basic error of trying to capture too much of the scene. Something we all do as inspiring artists. I have learned through many false starts that less is more. In fact this picture was taken through the fall protection bars that surround the roof space and created a framed view, through which I took this photo. Suddenly I had a reduced scene and the image I have been looking for, almost by accident. Now I had to turn it into the final painting below.
The Process of "Learning to See"
I have been an avid follower of Ian Roberts ever since I started painting. I am not a professional artist and I came very late to art after retiring. Ian's book on mastering composition was one of the first books I read two years ago and I constantly watch and rewatch his Youtube videos to this day. His video on "learning to see" is excellent and played a part in my approach to the end result shown above. When looking at the image I had taken I realised I had to simplify the composition. What to leave out, what to leave in? Another artist/teacher I have followed is Geoff Kersey his turtorials also stress the importance of not trying to interpret a photograph exactly, another mistake I used to make. Some artists love photorealism, I sort of hover somewhere between getting an accurate interpretation and making an acceptable painting and lately its more about producing a piece of art using the photo as no more than a guide. In other words take your time to create a composition that turns a photo into art.
Choosing the Composition
The temptation was to leave in the large crane arm at the top, but I decided it acted as a distraction and pulled the eye up and out of the picture. The focal point had to be the large tower in the centre, supported by the cranes. The title "Building Anew" struck me whilst developing the composition reflects the start of new building after Covid. Seeing cranes springing up across the landscape again told me that confidence and investment had returned. In previous compositions I would have left them out but that would have created a somewhat sterile scene. The theme I then decided to reinforce by adding into the composition the birds flying home to roost signifying new life and rebirth. A telling comment by a family friend having seen the finished painting of "I love the industrial clashing with nature" confirmed that I had managed to create an emotive piece.
Thanks Jamie :-)
Choosing the medium.
I tend to paint in acrylic when in Spain but as this photo was sitting for months in my camera, taking a break from commissions and currently in the studio at home in Worecstershire, I decided on watercolour because I felt it would convey better the serenity and hope that I was trying to convey by allowing me to build on a series of washes. The choice of paper when painting in watercolour is very important to the finish you are trying to achieve. For this painting I chose Saunders Waterford 300gsm (140lbs) NOT High White. I knew I wanted the finished work to be a wide panorama and had already purchased the frame I was going to use so, before taping the paper to the board, I cut the paper to size. The NOT surface finish of the Waterford paper also helped me to create the sparkle of sunlight on the water, using a dry brush technique. One good thing about the 300gsm Sauders paper is if you work quickly when laying down your washes you don't need to prestretch. I also have to admit to using a hairdryer to aid the drying process which also reduces ruckling.
Laying down the washes.
In recent watercolours I have started to us a sponge to wet the paper surface and I find it allows you to control the amount of water on the paper and covers more quickly. I wanted a really crisp line on the horizon and as the water surface was going to rely on the white of the paper I decided to mask the horizon line prior to wetting. The sky consisted of two very delicate washes (Raw Sienna at the top diluting down to nothing at the half way point then two mixes of UM Blue (UMB)/Cerulean Blue (CB)/Rose Madder (RM). Using a more concentrated mix at the horizon fading to nothing towards the midpoint of the sky by constantly diluting it with each additional visit to the pallet I achieved the finish I wanted.
A tip.
Have the board tilted at about 15 degrees, I use a roll of framing tape under the top edge of the board to achieve this, Start by applying the Raw Sienna mix and keep adding water to the mix as you lay down the wash. Once you have reached the midpoint turn the board upside down, so the horizon is at the top, and repeat the process with the UMB/CB/RM mixes, starting with the more concentrated mix then moving to the dilute, perhaps even adding more water to a point where the two washes ( Raw Sienna and Blue) now run into each other without the use of a brush other than to add more water. Have a paper towel ready to give the midpoint a wipe across the whole picture to create the final light boundary in the middle of the sky. Incidentally, for the sharp eyed ones reading this and referencing the picture of the framed painting you can see a slight reflection of the round studio ceiling lights in the glass, these are not on the finished artwork I can assure you. My photo manipulation skills don't run to taking these out and I am too lazy to take the painting out of the frame to photo it on its own, sorry. :-).
The Buildings
The wash for these was a mix of UMB, Pains Grey and Rose Madder. This was applied in two layers, the second layer being lifted out before dry to create depth to the structures. The final touch was a mix of white gouache and paynes grey to the top left hand edges to reflect the sunlight touching the tops of the building sides.
The Cranes
I have tried using rigger brushes and there are times when a line made by a rigger brush is appropriate on rigging on sail boats but to get the clean lines of the steel girders on the cranes I used Stabilo fineliner pens (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) in black and grey. The weights and other more detailed dark areas were done with a 1 and 2 detailer brush. As a member of the SAA I tend to use the Silver brush range but I am selective using, in the main, sizes 0 to 9.
The Birds
Now this is where the rigger does come in to its own. These were added in Paynes Grey having developed the different poses on a separate piece of scrap paper before applying the final images.
The Trees
These were built in several layers using different washes of Hookers Green, Raw Sienna, Paynes Grey and Rose Madder.
The Sea
A dryish mix of UMB and Cobalt Blue applied wet on dry using the side of a number 1 SAA silver brush.
A tip - touch the paper gently with the metal ferrule lifting most of the brush off the paper then slowly and gently slide the brush across the paper surface. If you get the paint mix to the correct level of dryness this will only touch the top peaks of the paper grain. This takes quite a bit of practice on a seperate piece of scrap paper to get it right.
I hope you have found this an interesting and informative read.
Marco..
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