Step by step oil painting - oil painting of small stream with snow covered banks

Stage One:
Basic under painting with thin washes having been applied over the drawing which had dried over night - the drawing (the dark lines) was a thinned (with turps) mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.

Stage Two:
Go over the whole painting now trying to establish more weight to each area - usually at this stage I'm looked at the darker tone or the colour of the darker tone of each element and placing that. While it cannot always be the rule the lighter elements will be painted over this darker base. Note that, even at this stage, some of the base lines still show through which helps with the placing of things. The alternative which I sometimes use is no line put work out the placement as I going along - in the end the choice is down to each artist and how they want/like to work.

Stage Three:
This stage I started to establish the far distant background trees before moving forward to the trees than line the bank of the stream. For the distant trees it was a case of painting the lighter snow cover branches over the under painting done in stage two.

For the foreground trees, first it was paint in the dark areas followed by the branches that were catching the sunlight - these were painted wet over wet. Additional dark elements were also added to the foreground banks.

Stage Four:
This stage was all about painting snow. A range of both warm (sunlit) to cool (shadow) colours were mixed and then in some cases it was paint the snow on each branch, some having both sunlit and shadows sections or the bigger areas of snow which had limps and bumps plus cast shadows.

When all the snow was painted, the darker dried grasses and other vegetation was painted plus if need some of the tree branches.

Detail from "Covered with soft snow", Nottinghamshire.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021350

Stage Five:
The final part to be painted was the stream. In this case a rather simple one compared to some. It was all done wet into wet, again working dark to light but most of it had been established already so it was really more mid to the lights that were being reflected on the water surface that need to be painted. The last bits to be added were the snow covered twigs etc that stick out over the stream from the right hand bank.

More Marine Oil Paintings started

Some of the next group of marine paintings started - the above shows four of them with the line work done...

Above, the same four but now with the under painting done and ready for the further work.

Step-by-step oil painting demonstration of boats in a harbour - St Ives, Cornwall

As the tide went out on what was a perfect sunny morning, the dinghies and fishing boats are left on the sandy bed of St Ives harbour. I really liked the ribbons of water in the sand combined with the collection of boats with the backdrop of the harbour wall and buildings.

Part one:
This is really stage three as the top left buildings have had their details applied over the underlying base. The rest of the painting shows the complete base layer, see previous posts on oil painting where this is shown in more detail but is lines drawn (oil paint which is thinned with turps and allowed to dry) before the base colours are applied.

The usual method is dark bits painted first working towards the light, this doesn't always happen as sometimes it's easier to paint the dark over the light - I usually paint using thin layers so the think over thin rule doesn't matter. The windows and dark side of the buildings were painted first before working on the areas of the roof - in this case also covered in lichen which gives the orange effect plus the warm light of the morning. The white walls, mostly in shade at this time, were painted next plus adding all the small details on the windows (frames etc), drain pipes...

Part Two:
Detail has been applied to the harbour wall, being in shadow it provides a nice contrast to the rest of the painting which was in the morning sunlight.

The painting of the building on the harbour wall followed the method above. The wall was getting some reflected light but it's best feature and common to many of the Cornish harbours are the great lumps of local stone used to build them.

Part Three:
A really interesting stage of the painting - painting the sand and small streams of water in the harbour as the tide went out.

This whole area was worked wet into wet over the dry base layer with the only real sharp edges bits being the ropes and chains. Working from the background (below the building) towards the foreground, in this case in horizontal bands as this allowed for the small but vital details (ropes, chains and the pools of water or wet sand) to be added. If there could be a tricky area it's when small pools of water have reflections, as seen to the left of the foreground boat, but then it's paint what you see as that's how it is...

Detail from "Early at St Ives", St Ives, Cornwall.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021340

Part Four:
The last remaining elements to paint were the boats. Being of different colours they were painted one at a time, working from left to right, distant boats to foreground ones. As before working dark to light mainly, although if any part is going to have dark section within light it's going to be now - dark ropes, masts etc.

Next Lake District oil painting - Buttermere, Cumbria - step by step demonstration

Detail from "Footpath around Buttermere" Buttermere, Cumbria.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021323

Finished oil painting of sunset over Derwent Water

Here is the finished oil painting started in a previous post...

Detail from "Sunset over Derwent Water" Calfclose Bay, Derwent Water, Keswick, Cumbria.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021322

To finish this painting I first completed the area of water, which at this time, was either still (in the bay) or small gentle ripples. This was done using a rigger brush to paint the lines - using the same colours as the sky but toned down slightly. Last to be finished, was the lake foreshore... the small stones were picking up a lot of reflected light but these highlights were painted last over a combination of three or four base colours to create the correct texture of the stony foreshore.

Early stage of the next group of Lake District oil paintings

Early stage of four oil paintings.

This one is on the foot path around Buttermere, Cumbria almost looking directly into the sun on a wonderful late summer afternoon. The painting of the lines, like all of these, was done with thinned oil paint, a blue and brown mix using mainly a rigger brush. This one was done onto a gesso board that had been pre prepared with a colour wash (raw sienna in this case).

Dunnerdale, this dale takes that little bit more effort to get to compared to others in the Lake District but no less stunning in places. This was a early spring day with lovely sunlight casting shadows across the crystal clear water, moss covered banks in the foreground to the range of fells in the background.

I was on the way back to Keswick with parts of me thinking more of what to eat rather than spend time getting the reference for this but passing Derwent Water, there was a sunset with some interesting clouds and reflections. Fish & Chips in the car later before setting of on the four hour trip home.

Great Langdale, Cumbria... what can one say about this area that hasn't been said before. Staying in one of the local bed and breakfast allows one instant access to lots of subjects. The background line of hills is Crinkle Crags, one of the many walking routes. Needless to say this area gets very busy at times which helped with the two Herdwick Sheep what were alongside the small beck as they just carried on as normal...

Finished the oil snow painting

Finally got time to take a picture of the finished oil painting shown in a previous post, then it was about half finished. Below is the finished work now drying and then framing...

The work in finishing this oil painting was mainly that of the river, all done wet into wet but on a base that this time had dried (see the other post).

I find it much better to paint water (like this) in one go... while doing this I was thinking about which is nicer, full blown reflections on still water (therefore painting the subject almost twice) or as below where theses some reflections but lots of water movement... not that we can change what's in front of use as a subject. Other areas then finished were some of the far bank along with the snow covered vegetation in the lower right corner.

This painting was a real joy to paint... having finished most of the water, I really liked painting the small areas of steam rising from the river which were being caught by the warm sunlight. This is something I've painted a number of times before and in this case added some nice warmth to the painting.

Detail from "Steaming River in the Bright Winter Sun" Rutland.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021321

Another snow related oil painting demonstration - Part Two

Continue from this post

Stage Three:
Painting the stream came next. Some of the base colours had already being placed so really it's adding the fine details. I prefer to paint, apart from any under painting, the water wet into wet as this gives a more fluid feel. For brushes it's a either or both of Rosemary & Co's Series 303 'One Stroke' Golden Synthetic (in the smaller sizes) or Series 279. Masters Choice Long Flats. Both have a longer head length which for me helps with the fluid movement. Mostly it was picking up the colours from the background trees/snow back and placing them in the correct position using horizontal and vertical brush stroke.

Moving back to the trees the final element to paint was the snow on each branch, again using a rigger, bits of snow in shadow first then the snow in sunlight.

Detail from "A Winter Afternoon", Northamptonshire.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013 - #AB 021309


Stage Four:
To finish the painting the foreground bank vegetation alongside the water was painted followed by the shadows and then the sunlit snow. This was painted thicker and blended in most places with the snow shadow colour to give a soft effect. Although still wet I risked adding the dried twigs and grasses in the foregound.

Another snow related oil painting demonstration - Part One

What more could any landscape artist want... a superb sunlit river with snow covered trees and banks provided all that was needed for this painting.

Stage One:
Having drawn up the image, again using a dark oil mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber and turps so it would dry quickly, I applied a underlying wash using colours relating to each area. This is an alternative to the usual all over colour wash usually applied as a base for oil paintings. This underlying wash although thin, helps with next stages and in places can be the final colour.

Stage Two:
Working on the far bank of the river, the background line of trees was painted first, starting with the dark colours before moving onto the mid toned colours on some of the evergreen trees. That area was left alone for a while while I painted the snow covered bank, leaving position lines from the under painting for the main branches of the bushes alongside the river. Dark areas of the bushes, branches etc were established next.

Moving back to the background trees all the snow needed to be painted, rigger brushes came in handy here for all the small snow covered branches - some in sunlight while others in shadow. Next was the medium or slightly lighter tones colours of the branches and trucks of the trees, again using a number of rigger brushes.

To finish of this stage was to add more underlying colour into the water of the stream, using colours from the far bank of trees but slightly darkened.

Snow subjects are superb to paint, adding an additional transformation to the landscape, sometimes simplyfing the subject but not always if there's lot of branches, bit of snow... At least in the UK at the moment there's 20cm (8 inches) outside at the moment... go outside and find your own snow subjects to paint.

Oil Painting Demonstration - snow covered lane in Derbyshire

A wonderful snow covered landscape in North Derbyshire, made even better with the patches of warm sunlight and cool shadows crossing this farm lane.

Stage 1:

Having drawn up the subject (thinned dark oil painted), this time allowed to dry overnight the basic areas of colour were placed. Although not really a complicated subject this time the main shapes and position needed to be correct. This painting was started with the sky, this time painted before the tree branches although the  branch lines (from the drawing) can just be seen under the sky colour. The dark areas were then placed (trees, walls etc), then I moved onto the mid toned colours of the hill side outcrop of rocks. The snow this time was painted in one go working from the distance towards the foreground...

Detail from "Walking along the farm track", North Derbyshire.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2013.

Stage 2:
Adding the details... I started with the background trees (left) and moved across to the right hand side. More detail was added to the stone walls, very typical of this area, it was covered in places with thick moss, while in other areas bare stones were showing, while not forgetting the odd patch of snow and finally some dried winter grasses were placed.

The final elements to be painted were the main group of trees... dark and or mid tones colours for the main and smaller branches done first, followed by adding the lighter or highlighted colours - all done wet into wet.

Watercolour Step-by-Step Demonstration - The harbour at Looe, Cornwall

Stage One:
Having first stretched the watercolour paper and drawn the image, the first wash was to establish the sky (light blue section top left) and add a small amount of warmth (cream colour) to what would end being the highlights. Next all the highlights were masked with Winsor & Newton Colourless Masking Fluid. 95% of the highlights are on or near the water and does save a lot of time when that section is to be painted. The whole background hill was then given a light 'shadow' wash with some areas (roof sections) being lifted out.

Stage Two:
Starting with the background hill before moving to the buildings below and then working to the right doing the green areas first followed by the buildings but it can be done the other way.

The background hill was built up with a number of overlapping layers to create the shapes of the trees.

The next part was to paint all the areas of green (trees, bushes grass etc) around the buildings along with the sections of wall (mainly to the right hand side). A number of different layers to create the form (light to dark) using a variety of colours (mixing from within the blue and yellow colours) created each section. Some softening of edges was done with clear water.

All the buildings in this section were painted using the same method. An additional shadow wash painted first (if needed) - done first retains the sharpness of the additional detail. Next light toned colours, cream walls, light windows etc, are painted before moving onto the mid toned colours, darker walls to create the form of the buildings, shadows from the trees, windows, roof sections in the sunlight before finally the darks, deep shadows, guttering etc.

Stage Three:
This stage involved painting the line of buildings and harbour wall.

The buildings were painted in the same manner as those higher up the hill - light toned colours followed by mid and finally the darks. A shadow wash was applied to areas that required it.

The wall was painted almost the other way round. This was to create the soft feel required. The dark shadows of the posts were painted first followed by the mid toned colours of the wall leaving the boats or lighter/highlighted parts unpainted. A final shadow wash, darker than normal using a variety of colours was then washed over the whole wall section.

Finally some of the small craft alongside the wall were painted, reverting to the light to dark method.

Stage Four:
To complete the painting the foreground of wet shiny mud and glistening water along with some boats needed painting.

The area of mud was completed first, using light washes to build up the form. Darker sections of water reflecting the background were then added. A clear wash softened the whole area that had just been painted.

As mentioned in the previous post (see Stage One) the highlights on the water were masked using masking Fluid. This allowed the freedom to paint the small ripples/waves on the water. A number (five or six in places) of overlapping colours/tones created the water texture. Some sections reflecting the sky, others the background hill or boats. After removing the masking fluid, the whole area of water was then give a wash using clear water to soften the edges (this does have it's risks).

The final elements to be painted were the foreground boats. Being closer more detail was added but the method was the same as the other boats and all the buildings.

"Sunlit Looe", Looe, Cornwall.
Watercolour. Alistair Butt © 2008.

Watercolour Step-byStep Demonstration... Boats in Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall

Stage One:
Having lightly drawn the image on a piece of stretched Watercolour paper a wash was applied for the sky... the warm cream colour lower down with just a hint of blue further up.

Stage Two:
This involved painting the background, in this case, what is actually the inner harbour wall. Initial light washes were applied, before the middle tones using a variety of colours for the different elements before the darks of the shadows and dark elements were painted. A shadow wash was then applied leaving the 'light' areas unpainted. The shadow wash was also applied to the middle and foreground boats leaving the highlights unpainted.

Stage Three:
The middle distant boats were painted next. The choice is either to paint all the areas that are all the same colour or paint each boat separately. In this case the later was chosen and started on the left and worked across. Again starting each boat with the light toned colours before moving to the middle and darks. When completed most of the above two stages was given a clear wash just to soften the whole feel - great care is needed when doing this as some of the underlying colours can run quite easily.

Stage Four:
The painting of the water and reflections was completed next as it gave more freedom with the washes when painting the water. The water was built up using a number of washes before starting on the boat reflections. These were built up using a number of layers to gain the deep colours. To finish this stage, the buoys were painted.

Stage Five:
The last parts to be painted were the foreground boats. Like those in the middle distance each was painted individually starting on the left and working towards the right. The usual technique for each boats, although always working from light to dark, is to work from the top down - cabin/mast etc first, before doing any internal elements then finally doing the outside of the hull/fenders/numbers etc.

"Afloat in the Harbour", Mevagissey, Cornwall.
Watercolour. Alistair Butt © 2008.

Painting demonstration - geese in farmyard

Stage One:
Below is the under painting. Done quickly in the background to just give enough idea of some farm outbuildings and also on the foreground below the geese. More care was taken when painting the three birds.

Stage Two:
Apart from highlighting the posts and a few other marks, no further work was done on the background farm buildings.

This was followed by the mid and then the light toned colours of the straw on the ground below the geese, some patches of green grass was added before the final highlighted straw was added.

Before starting on the geese, their shadows were painted. Then each bird was painted. Starting on the left with mid and light shadow colours, along with reflected colour (from straw and sky) where needed. The final pure white of the bird was then painted, again where required, leaving some of the 'almost' white under painting to blend into the shadow areas. The same technique was used for the right hand bird and the white/shadow areas of the centre one. The central bird had some grey patches which were painted next, working from dark to light to create the shape/form of the head and feathers on the back/side of the bird.

Finally, the painting of the bills, eyes and legs completed the painting.

"The Farmyard Lookouts", Derbyshire.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2008.

Painting Demonstration - Covent Garden, London

For this oil painting, I wanted to try or experiment with a different painting technique to my usual mix.

This subject is looking out from inside Covent Garden (London) past some of the craft stalls in what was the old Apple Market to St Paul's Church (the building with the pillars). Covent Garden has always attracted me and lots of paintings have come from this small area of London. The contrast between building/shops and the movement of the people, sometimes to many people, add to that the light that fills the space or as in this painting some light from both inside (glass roof) and out. It was the sun light, both on the stone pavement and around the outer edges of the people walking around the market stalls, that first caught my attention.

Stage One:
Change number one: Instead of the usual flat wash of Raw sienna or Ultramarine Blue a loose background wash following the basic forms using a variety of colours was applied to a white canvas board. It was very quickly applied with turps mixed into the oil paint.

Stage Two:
No change from normal here. This stage was the drawing up the main shapes/markers points with a thin mix of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. Some lifting out (returning to an almost white board), using a rag dipped in turps.

Stage Three:
Change number two: Rather than apply the usual loose under painting, the method here was to do a sort of 'mid' finish, somewhere between the loose under painting and the detailed finish. The picture below shows this stage at about mid way through, with the background buildings and the right hand side figures painted. All the background buildings/trees and figures were painted wet against wet or wet into wet but in a controlled manor working from dark to light. Both these areas will have some finer details (stone detailing, lettering for signs etc) applied later.

Stage three completed:
The picture below shows the completed stage from above. A little more involved due to the different shapes/colours on each of the market stalls. Again painting the darker areas/elements first, followed by the mid tones and finally the light areas/elements. The main shapes of the shadows and highlights on the stone floor were also painted.

Stage four:
The background buildings had just dried enough (touch dry) for some dry brushing to create the slight haze.

Starting with the background, the final details were then added... e.g. the stone work on the church pillars, adding more detail in the trees. Then move down and right to the smaller background buildings, before moving to the buildings etc on the right hand side above the figures, here again adding stone work, other small highlights, plus some shop sign lettering and details like the lamp hanging from the wall.

Next came the figures, with only minor additions made, highlights to edges and small details like labels and hair colour adjustments.

Moving on to the pavement the lines of the stones were placed first, followed by some mid and light tones to help create the form of each stone. The edges of the lines were softened slightly so they didn't stand out to much.

The painting now needs a few days to dry before a 'shadow' wash, using retouching varnish and paint, can be applied to the area of the market stalls (avoiding the highlights), along with some shadows and the buildings on the right. This wash will darken the foreground, adding impact to the painting, but will also visually push the lighter background backwards.

Stage Five:
The 'shadow' washes have been applied to the areas mentioned above but also to some areas of the shadows coming from the figures. The difference can be seen when the pictures from previous stage and this one are compared.

"Looking out of Covent Garden", Covent Garden, London.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2008.

Painting Demonstration - painting sea, waves and cliffs - Whitby, North Yorkshire Coast

Having watched these big waves crashing onto the North Yorkshire Coast at Whitby for a while I noticed that some of them created a nice zigzag line into the painting combined with a bright but wonderful hazy morning light and some spindrift from the strong wind. The position was a bit on the hazardous side due to the odd wave coming over the breakwater so one eye needed to be kept of what size of wave was coming in next... exciting if nothing else.

Stage One:
While the pictures/stages are broken down into four, this oil painting was completed in one sitting.
The under painting was completed first with oil paint mixed with turps just to establish the main elements...

Stage Two:
The background cliffs were painted next, starting with the lightest and working forward. The very distant lump is Saltwick Nab before the land leads around the corner into Saltwick Bay and the famous Black Nab. The cliffs had lighter colours/colors painted on them to represent the haze/sea spray/smoky feel in the air. Some indication of distant water was painted to establish the correct tonal difference between the sea and land.

Stage Three:
This shows the top half of the sea, almost completed. Working from dark to light i.e. painting in all the darker (in relation to its surroundings - all things being equal, a dark in the foreground is not the same tone as a dark in the background) areas of the waves, followed by a mixture of various mid toned colours/colors to establish the form of the waves and finally the highlights and spindrift were painted.
All this was done wet into wet which gives a nice fluid feel to the water as some blending takes place as the layers (dark, mid, light) are applied.

Stage Four:
This stage basically follows the same as the previous stage, but being closer, slightly more detail is required. The wave form was more disturbed here as the breakwater, being at an angle to them, was reflecting the previous wave back into the path of the next.
Some more spindrift (dry brushing) may be applied after the painting is dry.

"Along the Crest", Whitby, North Yorkshire.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2008.

Painting demonstration - figures, urban, light and shadows - South Bank, London

This view along South Bank towards Big Ben (on the opposite side of the River Thames) attracted my attention due to a couple of things. Firstly the intense light, in places ring lighting some of the figures or parts of them and the interesting mixing of shadows cast by them. Secondly, by chance some children holding some balloons arrived and stood watching one of the buskers that line the South Bank over the weekend.

Stage One:
The picture below shows the quick establishment of the main elements using oil paint mixed with turps while trying to place the main darks ready for over painting. This was painted over a previously prepared board using a light blue/grey wash (seen in the sky and foreground).

 Stage Two:
The background... starting with the area of trees, using a mixture of greens and browns in various tones to establish both form and texture. The buildings that line the far bank of the River Thames were painted next, painting around the tree leaves/trunks etc where required. The buildings were painted slightly darker than required as the plan was to 'dry brush' the bright hazy light on later. Next to be completed was the wonderfully ornate lamp stands that line the South Bank. The final section was the sky (again slightly darker) painted around the buildings, lamps and tree with small areas cut into it.

Stage Three:
The people... the first decision to be made was...
A - paint all of the people as whole group i.e paint all skin areas, all brown cloths, all blue cloths, etc or
B - paint them individually
in the end a sort of mixture of the above two resulted with small groups being completed at a time with the larger figures done indivually - working more or less from left to right. This was the most time consuming stage, the result of the time taken to mix all the different colours/colors. Within each group/figure the painting of the darks (if required on top of the under painting) comes first, followed by the mid tone colours/colors, next the light tones (not that many) before adding the bright highlights.

Stage Four:
The foreground... the area that inspired this painting, the mixture of tones and colours/colors of the shadows cast by the figures against the bright sunlit pavement. All the shadows were painted first using a mixture of colours/colors and tones before the sunlit areas were painted. Some edges required blending/softening while other sections were left sharper. The sky and distant buildings received their dry brushing with an 'off' white colour/color to tone them down and create a hazy feel to the background building/sky. Finally some lines to indicate the slabs on the pavement were painted.

"Strolling Along", South Bank, London.
Oil. Alistair Butt © 2008.