Lots of nice tree subjects around

Still a little cold to paint outside but I'll take some photographs

And bring them back to the studio

Redburn Park was the family home of the Dunville Whiskey family

At the time they owned the biggest whiskey distillery in the world

They built a 70 room mansion here in 1866

But hardly any trace of it remains

This is the photograph I will use to paint from

It has a good strong foreground tree with a good group of background trees behind

That will help with creating a sense of depth

For this method, you need a paper that will allow you to lift paint

I'm using Bockingford

Other papers such as Arches are harder to lift from

I'm using Phthalo Blue with Cobalt blue for the sky

I use long strokes from left to right

Make sure your brush holds enough paint to make a full stroke

This brush is too small so I'll change to a large mop

Same mix,

And simply continue down the paper

When you come to the position of the distant trees

Add a little Alizarin Crimson to the mix

I'm painting over the foreground tree. This will be lifted out later

For this first wash I simply want and interesting array of colour

Vary the colour. Add any colour you like

I'll add some Aureolin with Ultramarine. this will give a good green for the foreground

Continue to paint down the paper. Don't leave any gaps

Because the wash is soft with no edges

Essentially I'm not actually painting anything specific

Only when you have a hard edge do you actually specify an object or shape

Some burnt sienna helps to suggest the dried bracken

A little more of the green mix finishes the first wash

When you reach the bottom of the paper, stop.

Don't be tempted to go back up or to change things.

The first wash has now dried

Now I'll add some extra strength for the background trees

Use the same Phthalo/Alizarin Crimson mix

Use the side of the brush to give a dragged edge

This is a good way to suggest the broken edge of the trees

The brush should be parallel to the paper

Make sure you vary the outline of the trees up and down

Change the mix slightly as you work down the trees

Varying the colour will make it more interesting

Strengthen the tone as you work towards the bottom of the trees

I'll finish off with a dark mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna

Aim to get light, medium and dark tone in all parts of your picture

I am now going to use a swordliner brush

This has a very fine point and is excellent for twigs and branches

Use the same dark mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna

and paint into the damp background wash

[music]

Time now to add some variation to the foreground

The mix is Aureolin and Ultramarine

Use rough simple strokes

Use the side of the brush again to get a "rough grass" look

Don't be tempted to get too complicated - trees are the main subject, not grass

Again, vary the colour for interest

Burnt Sienna helps to suggest the bracken.

Now the background has dried

I can start on the main tree

There are many ways to paint trees and this method works well

Start with a very dark mix for the trunk and branches

I will then lift out the light side of the trunk and branches

The light side is the right hand side

[music]

Where the paint has lifted off the paper can be quite white

It is good to stain this damp white area with some warm colour

Raw sienna or burnt sienna works well

Back to the swordliner for the side branches

Allow the swordliner to skip over the paper surface

These are very dark marks but parts can be lifted out for variety

Don't paint too many side branches. Too many will look cluttered

[music]

Back to the lifting out brush

Rinse it often and squeeze it dry

As you lift paint you will dirty the brush

Squeezing the brush avoids depositing water as you lift.

It also gives a good edge for lifting

[music]

Continue to vary the colour and tone

As we approach the end of the painting

It is time to add little dark accents

Adding darks will make the lights appear lighter (and vice versa)

Adding dark effectively adds light

Mixing some stronger green now

I'm using viridian which is a hideous green colour

But burnt sienna calms it down to a lovely rich green

I'm using this for some darker details

Here I'm using my finger to roughen the edge of the stroke

This gives a similar but more controllable effect to dry brush

It works well

It does however make your fingers very dirty!

I have gone for some purple grey to suggest shadow

Again I'm using my finger to soften the edge

Back to the background trees

I'm lifting out a few suggestions of trunks and branches

Silver birch trees have a very distinctive bark

I can use a very strong mix of ultramarine and burnt sienna to suggest the bark

Using the side of the rigger gives just a hint of the dark marks on the bark

I hope you have enjoyed this demo

If you visit my website you will find information

on workshops as well as a gallery and more demos

Come back soon. Thank you and goodbye.

[music]