take 3 colours

I had a wonderful response to a stag painting I posted on Facebook yesterday so I thought it may be of interest to some people if I explained the process behind it. Now no two paintings are ever alike and I painted the first stag a while ago but I am happy to share today's doodlings with you.

Firstly I am just using 3 colours yellow ochre, cadmium red and cobalt blue 

 

I do a simple sketch, much of this painting is in my head but the stag needs to be drawn properly. Then the first thing to do is completely wet the paper, many people who see this are surprised at how wet the paper is 

 

 

Then I drop yellow ochre onto the wet paper and move my board around until I am happy with the background wash. This always dries much lighter but make sure the yellow ochre is nicely mixed in a puddle on your pallet before you begin painting if you use it too thickly it can look very muddy. The yellow provides the background for the whole piece

 

 

Now while the paper is still wet but drying I mix some cobalt blue and cadmium red together and make a purple. I use this purple a lot for shadows and shading, but for this purpose it will be the distant trees. Paint them using a thin brush in the background of the wet paint.

 

 

See how much lighter the yellow ochre is . Now time to paint the stag, sticking with my 3 colours and starting with the antlers.

 

 

Then moving into the face and body using red to darken the yellow and the blue to darken the red. It is always a pain when you mix yellow into the purple and it goes all muddy and horrible. So always drop the colour into the painting .

 

 

Now it is time to start on all the foliage and texture. I am still just using the 3 colours and water. I like to use the brush sideways

 

 

I am thinking about random shapes, flicking the brush, adding water and salt, be experimental. Don't worry if it goes wrong ,you will still learnt from the experience, I have thrown so many paintings on the fire I loose track. I think good painting comes from confident brush strokes, be bold, and have a go.

 

 

I hope you enjoy these blogs, if you could see me trying to hold my phone and paint a tiny bit at the same time you would giggle. What  I hope to do is to  convey something of how the painting came to be. I think we all learn from each other and as a very good friend always says sharing is caring x