MY COLOURS OF THE OUTBACK
‘Rhythm of Ruby Gap’
MY COLOURS OF THE OUTBACK
I am an oil painter by choice and have been for most of my life. I do work in acrylics and watercolour when I am outback, and when travelling use mainly watercolour. I do not teach those watercolour or acrylic painting, because oils is my main medium, and what I have studied most. I also work in Gouache. One can use other mediums using these colours. I tend to exaggerate the colour as that is how I see it. You may not see it the same as I do, but whether brighter or more subdued the colours must be tonally correct.
I achieve my colours by colour mixing so my palette is limited- mainly warm and cool hues of each colour.
OIL PALETTE: Titanium white, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Yellow ochre, Cadmium yellow, Cadmium lemon, Windsor red, Alizarin, Viridian,
Sometimes I add Burnt Sienna, Pilbara red or light red to the mix.
· I never use black in the landscape I achieve darks by mixing alizarin and Viridian, Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna or Alizarin and Ultramarine.
· I find Ivory black is the one to use but only in still life or figurative painting.
For Acrylic painting I like to use Atelier Interactive acrylics as they work like oils, have a nice creamy feel and stay open longer without using retarder. They also do not change colour like some other brands do. What you see is what you get. The other brand I like are Finity by Windsor and Newton.
ACRYLIC PALETTE: Titanium white, Ultramarine blue, Phthalo blue, Cobalt blue, Yellow ochre, a warm yellow, lemon yellow, Windsor red, Alizarin, and Phthalo green, red ochre or light red or Pilbara Red.
WATERCOLOUR PALETTE: Ultramarine blue, Windsor Blue, Cobalt blue, Yellow ochre, Cadmium yellow, Cadmium lemon, Windsor red, Alizarin, Viridian, Burnt Sienna.
· I do not use Prussian blue in the Australian landscape. It is just not there. You see it more in the landscape in countries like Europe and perhaps New Zealand.
Methods
With oil painting we work from light to dark. I draw the design onto the canvas freehand with a small brush, not pencil as it is hard to get rid of. I use a medium tone of a colour that I see in the landscape, it could be Ultramarine, Alizarin, Viridian, or yellow. The first colours are always applied thin to get the canvas covered, and then when that is dry start with the darks. Some of the underpainting can be left to show. As well as it can give variety in the paintwork.
For acrylics I work the same as oils, but for watercolour I leave the darks until last. I use the transparent colours over the top of others in layers. I also leave white paper for highlights, not masking fluid.
Touch ups can be done with white gouache if necessary, but best to not do that for competitions, as some judges won’t accept the use of it in true watercolour painting.
These then are my colours for the Australian landscape. I have experienced painting in a traditional way using the colours as I see them, on to working in colour differently to describe how way I see and feel it.
‘Yellow Rock’