DEMONSTRATION St Mary’s, Aldworth
STAGE ONE
The image was lightly drawn using an HB pencil. The church was positioned high up in the composition to allow for the inclusion of the track leading to it. Detail was kept to a minimum so that the pencil simply acted as a guide for the ink drawing.
STAGE TWO
I began to apply the drawing ink, taking care to establish the correct perspective of the church. A looser line was used to suggest the various areas of foliage and trees. This line was kept open with gaps here and there so that a more definite outline could be added later with the use of colour. The leaning telegraph pole helped to break up the solid mass of the church. When this stage was completed the pencil lines were erased with a putty rubber. I kept the amount of ink drawing to a minimum, but more could be added later if necessary.
The sky was painted first with a pale wash of cobalt blue, leaving some areas of the white paper to suggest clouds. The stone building and concrete track were washed in with a mixture of raw sienna and raw umber.
STAGE THREE STAGE FOUR
The roofs were painted with a mixture of English red oxide and cadmium red, and a little of this was added to the front of the building in places whilst the initial wash was still damp. The trees in the distance were painted in Payne’s grey and phthalo green, and the greens were mixtures of darkest green and raw sienna, varying the ratios of each colour and diluting it in places to add lighter passages. Areas of dark, medium and light tones were starting to be created.
STAGE FIVE
The shadows on the roofs were made by adding a little dioxazine violet to the existing roof colour still on the palette. The dark windows were a mixture of Payne’s grey and dioxazine violet, and this same violet was added to the darkest green for the darker trees and strong shadows.