Landscape in Acrylics
It was a pleasure to have Mark back to the Art Group, particularly given the short notice. The demo was an opportunity for Mark to show how to create depth and movement in a landscape.
Before commencing, Mark briefly explained how he loves to work outside creating sketches, using a rigger brush and thin washes of paint rather than drawing with a pencil. These sketches often spread over two pages, and frequently working vertically. He showed us many of the sketches he produces along with a selection of his framed work on display.
His demo painting would be created using two different but similar images as reference, explaining how mixing items from several images can produce original and exciting work, missing out anything you do not like or want in a landscape view. The work does not have to be an exact interpretation. He uses professional heavy bodied paints (Winsor & Newton, Liquitex and Golden being his go-to paints) and synthetic acrylic brushes, particularly Pro Arte brand.
The board had been pre-coated with gesso and a thin layer of Sienna to take down the white. Using his favourite colour of Cerulean Blue (CB) this was mixed with Aquamarine Blue (AB) and white (W), working in thin layers from the top down to the horizon and painting with the side of a small brush to create texture and movement in the sky by pressing down hard and “tickling” working in angles instead of plain sweeps across the surface. Clouds would be added later. Mark prefers to work with mid-tones first before adding darker and lighter tones.
Mark likes to mix his colours using the same CB to create a base green and each time incorporating the previous mix into the next to bring harmony to the work. Adding Prussian Blue (PB), Naples Yellow (NY) and Hooker’s Green (HG), painting in the land working from top down, and becoming darker near the bottom (the foreground) to create depth and texture, using only the edge of a flat brush. Each paint mix was tested first on scrap paper to ensure the colour was right. At this point no detail is added, embellishments come nearer completion. The underpainting is all about shape, tone and lay of the land. Where needed, Burnt Umber (BU) was added to the mix, again each time using the previous mix of colour, keeping softer, lighter tones in the background and darker in the foreground. Each layer added was in a slightly thicker paint than that beneath.
All his brushstrokes are very much a scratching, scrubbing and dragging the paintbrush, working at various angles to create shapes, painting in a loose style working with a rigger for the most part. Where mistakes were made, or unhappy with the outcome, Mark showed how easy it is to change, one of the joys of painting with acrylics.
More definition was added using a small brush for distant fields, again using the previous mixes to add hedgerows, fields and trees, then a thicker mix of paint to sharpen up edges and shapes, basically making it up as he goes, emphasising it is useful to have gaps between things, ie light behind dark, or a clear area around people of objects, eg a car or building, always playing with light against dark.
The clouds were the last thing to be added. Using pure W with a tiny amount of PB and a flat brush he “scraped” the edge of the brush in a curved sweep up across the sky brushing at different angles and pressing hard, emphasising the further away a cloud the smaller it is, and larger nearer the observer/overhead: this creates a 3-dimensional effect along with the illusion of movement. Minutes amount of Crimson was added to the cloud mix and teased into bottom edge of the cloud, at each point Mark steps back to look and check on the result, tweaking and added until he was happy with the effect.
Another excellent demo which kept the 46+ members of audience captivated.
Members who missed the demo or want to revisit, the video will be uploaded asap to our YouTube channel.
Links to Mark Warner
Website: https://www.brushmark.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markwarnerartistandtutor/
FROME VALLEY ART GROUP 
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