A Brush With Art.pdf

Painting Exeter QuayWhen Ifirst saw this scene with the tall poplartree, the house at its side and the gorgeousreflection made by the tree in the water, 1wait to start painting! Sadly, when I revisitedExeter Quay recently, the white building wascouldn'tbeing renovated and it is now all red brick! So, ifyou see something you like, do paint it as soon asyou can.But let's get back to my painting. 1 put the skyin first as usual and, when it was dry, 1painted inthe main group of trees. Notice how the poplartree is the darkest 'dark' on the painting and itnext to the lightest 'light' - the white house. Thismakes a very powerful focal point.When I came to paint the reflections in thewater, they no longer showed. Reflections arefunny things and seem to defy all logic. Sometimesthey're there in all their glory, other times thereisn't a reflection to be seen. And sometimes theyeven seem too long or too short for the object theyare reflecting! The simple answer to reflections isto spend time observing them. You will graduallyget a feel for the way they reflect in water. Then, ifyou have a 'poor' reflection in your scene whenyou are out painting, you will have the experienceto alter it, to help your picture.Notice how simply I painted the reflections inthis scene. When the first wash on the water wasdry, I painted in the reflections over the top. You'llsee that I left the house reflection unpainted,except for the two windows. You need confidenceto do something like this, so keep practising thosereflections.isPainting Tips• If water is moving, don't let your eyesfollow the movement, keep looking atone spot to pick out the reflected shapes• Half close your eyes to help you see thepatterns formed in the water byreflections of the surroundings• When painting water, strokes must belevel, otherwise water will be runningdownhill64