Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Stages of the painting featuring a part of Southampton Common.

This outdoor scene shows a view within Southampton Common, within the city of Southampton, UK. It is a sunny day in the autumn with long shadows being cast by the trees and over the path of one the main routes through the common. Locals are seen to be taking an afternoon stroll through it.

The picture below shows four stages in the development of the oil painting, created in late January 2020 and in view of the public at an art event held locally.

In the first panel can be seen the subject drawn on to a canvas with a light brown acrylic wash. The drawing is done in brown acrylic and high value tones painted in white paint. The second panel shows areas of colour added in using diluted oil paint, so that it is thinly applied. This is the 'under-painting' and in which the colour tends to be on the dark side with little detail. Once this layer is dry, (usually a few days) then the final application of paint is painted on. At this stage the paint is thicker and true to the intended colour value. Also details are now painted in as seen in the third panel. The final panel displays the finished landscape painting, which is on canvas sized at 20” x 16”. The artwork can be seen in better clarity by following this link.

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn -WIP stages

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn -WIP stages

Stages of creating this westerly viw of the graveyard at Southampton

Completed in December 2019 this landscape painting depicts a westerly view of Southampton city's 'old' cemetery, situated near to the common. It is painted in oils on a canvas measuring 30” x 20”. The image above shows four stages in the development of the painting. In the first panel can be seen the drawing of the scene in brown acrylic paint on a wash of lighter brown paint. Brighter areas of the scene have been indicated with areas painted in white, such as the sky. Moving on to the second panel it can be seen that colour oil paint has been applied thinly to the painting, basically blocking in the darker tones in the landscape. This is the underpainting, and acts as a guide to the next layer, which is in the third panel. Here the paint is applied more thickly and with the correct hues and values Also elements are painted in detail, but some of the underpainting remains and shows through on purpose. After the paint has all been applied it is left to dry., after which a 'glaze' is added on top. The glaze is like a hint of coloured paint held in a transparent medium, a bit like coloured stained glass, which gives the colours an extra dimension. The final panel shows the completed painting which can be seen on this link.

Working on closeup 72

 Working on closeup 72

A small snippet of a famous building in London oil painting...

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - WIP stages

Terrier Tank railway locomotive at Havant Station - WIP stages

Stages of painting the railway locomotive at rest

This railway themed painting was produced during November 2019, and is based on a poor quality photograph taken during 1957 at Havant station, UK. The photo above shows work in progress over four panels. In the first can be seen the initial drawing done in brown acrylic paint on top of a brown wash. As the painting referred to an old blurry and contrasty photograph, a lot of research had to be done to actually see what the everything actually looked like in terms of detail, as it was hidden in the shadows or difficult to make out. Not just the locomotive but the buildings and cars. Also the original picture had two men crewing the locomotive, but these were reposed by a friend and redrawn in to the scene. Once the scene was nailed down the first application of thinned oil paint is made in the form of underpainting, which gives a indication of areas of colour using darker tones/ hues. In the third panel thicker paint has been applied over the underpainting which is more in keeping with the final intended tone/ colour. The final panel shows the completed oil painting which also had an addition layer of 'glaze' or transparent paint applied to enhance colour/ contrast within the scene. This railway scene can be looked at in detail by following this link.