OIL LESSON 2

Blue Door with Tom Swimm

This lesson will show you the importance of using light and shadow in a painting. The eye is immediately drawn to areas of high contrast, such as the contrast created by the interplay of light and shadow. In this painting, Tom Swimm experimented with the light of late afternoon to create a visually interesting composition.

1 After lightly sketching the scene onto your canvas, start with a thin underpainting of yellow ochre, cadmium red light, and burnt sienna. Darken the mixture with sap green and then with alizarin crimson to block in the archway on the left with a large flat brush. Indicate the shadow across the door with a mix of Prussian blue and Payne’s gray. Block in these main areas with very thin washes of color. Make the application thin enough that you can still see the drawing underneath, which will help when you develop details.

2 Add the darkest colors to the painting at this stage. Use a medium flat brush to apply a mixture of sap green and alizarin crimson to the leaves and the foreground shadows. Actually “draw” as you paint, using the outline underneath as a guide. For interest, leave some negative (empty) space around the objects of the painting. For the leaves, use the flat side of the brush and alternate the direction of short, choppy brushstrokes. Then pull some color from the canvas with a dry brush to indicate breaks in the foliage.

3 Using Prussian blue mixed with Payne’s gray, paint the doorway shadow and small window opening, as well as the shadows cast by the door handle. Next add a mix of phthalo violet and Payne’s gray to the lacy shadows cast from the trees on the right. As with the leaves, use a variety of brushstrokes and leave some “holes” in the shadows, which breaks them up and adds visual interest. Using yellow ochre mixed with burnt sienna and a little cadmium red light, add the middle values of the front steps and foreground, along with some detail in the tree branches and door hardware. Then define the flowers with the same dark red mixture.

4 Add the last colors of the underpainting before applying the highlights. With a mix of blue-violet, flesh, and a little white, paint the surface of the doorway where it isn’t shadowed. Then paint the entire surface of the wall with a mix of flesh and a little white, using the negative spaces you created in step three as a guide. After covering the largest areas, embellish some of the details—such as the vertical grooves in the door—with a slightly darker mix of blue-violet and flesh.

5 Using a mixture of flesh and white, go back over the entire wall to punch up the lights. Load your brush more heavily with color and vary the direction of the brushstrokes to add some texture. Also bring up the other highlighted areas in the door and the foreground. When you’re adding highlights, try to paint loosely and let the brush do the work. Don’t be concerned with getting a perfectly smooth, even texture.

6 Now add more interest and texture to the wall with a final application of brilliant yellow mixed with white. Also soften the highlights in the door by going over them with a dry brush. Using yellow ochre and cadmium red light, apply one more layer of color to the front steps, and then create some highlights using flesh mixed with white. Once you’re satisfied with these final elements, all that remains is to bring life to the flowers and leaves. Bring out the color of the leaves by adding various mixtures of green, using both brilliant green and sap green. Start with the darkest and working up to some final highlights. As with the door, it’s important to stay loose and not try to cover the whole area. Paint around some of the dark areas to create the illusion of bright sun hitting the leaves. Finally, add the brightest flowers with a mix of cadmium red light and alizarin crimson for the bougainvillea, and add a few touches of brilliant yellow and cadmium orange for the flowers on the right and the patch of grass in the foreground.