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Ardrossan Street
Autumn foliage makes for a spectacular subject, but gosh – is it tricky or what!
In this blog post I want to share with you some approaches to composition, color and brushwork that will help next time you decide to tackle a subject like this.
The Idea – Ardrossan Street
One Autumn afternoon I was walking down the road, hand in hand with my wife and our two dogs. The leaves were just beginning to turn as autumn rolled in. The trees were exploding with colour in the afternoon sun and it struck me, “I have to paint this!” Armed with the only camera I had my iPhone, I started to snap away. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’d be some years before even attempting this subject.
If I had to put my finger on it, I think it’s the combination of colours that struck me. I’m always looking for contrast and in this concept, there’s opportunity for plenty! It’s not just the contrast of values, light and dark, but colors as well! I love the opportunity to paint complimentary opposites, as it creates a more engaging scene. I was immediately reminded of some of my favorite old masters.
My Inspiration - Art Heroes
George Inness
Here Inness captured the light beautifully. This guy really understood how to illuminate objects and draw the eye. I love the shift in atmosphere and the way we’re directed to the stand of trees. He was quite painterly as well. His images are a beautiful mix of loose brushwork and refined in just the right places.
Vincent Van Gogh
I’m still stunned that Van Gogh never sold a work in his life. This painting in my opinion is sheer genius. He had a way of unashamedly slapping on the paint, but it’s far from chaotic. It totally works, giving us an illusion of bark and leaf texture.
WIlliam Trost Richards
Probably more notable for his seascape work, Richards could paint it all, whatever he turned his hand towards. I love the colour in this piece, it gives me some pointers for how to lead the eye from the edges of the painting.
Frederic Edwin Church
This painting captures the glow of afternoon light in Autumn. I love the luminous quality of this painting and the extreme depth that was typical of Hudson River painters. Church is up there with my favorite painters. THis is control of value, at its finest.
There’s some fine inspiration for you, and this is what I’ll often do in the studio – I’ll refer to the old masters before getting into any project. They tread a path before us and their work is something to aspire to!
My Materials
Here are the materials I’m using in this project from the panel to the mediums.
Panel – 20×24”
I make my own custom linen panels. These are triple primed linen adhered to a hardboard. I’ll use either masonite or a fine-grade plywood and stick the linen directly with PVA glue. I then staple the back like you would a normal stretcher. Ensuring there are no air bubbles, this gives me a great flat and bounce-free surface to paint on.
Brushes
I’m using Rosemary and Co brushes. You can find those HERE:
In my kit I have a couple extra that won’t be in the set. I use “El-cheapo” nasty fan brushes that I hack on with a pair of scissors. You’ll see these are great for texture. I just don’t have the heart to hack away at my good Rosemary brushes! We’ll talk more about that in the process portion of this blog.
Oil Paint
I’m using Blue Ridge Handmade Oil Colors – made in North Carolina, by Eric Silver. You can find the colors HERE. These are the finest quality paints in my opinion. On my palette I have the following:
Burnt Umber / Burnt Sienna / Transparent Red Oxide / Transparent Yellow Oxide / Titanium White / Cremnitz White / Cadmium Lemon / Cadmium Red Light / Quinacridone Magenta / Ultramarine Blue / Cobalt Blue / Cobalt Teal / Pthalo Green
I added a couple extra as I progressed, trying to capture the brilliance of the autumnal foliage – though in hindsight, it’s not necessary. Still, for full transparency this is what I added:
Nickel Yellow / Nickel Yellow Deep / Indian Yellow / Cadmium Orange / Permanent Crimson / Chromium Green Oxide / Pthalo Blue
Medium
Because I’m layering the paint, I’m relying on a fast paced drying time. Liquin Original helps a great deal for this, as well as Liquin Impasto. My general rule of thumb is no more than one part medium to three parts paint.
Now we’re thoroughly inspired, references loaded up on the iPad, materials laid out – LET’S PAINT!
The Painting Process
Step One – The Block In
I like to sketch up my composition with a brush. This helps hone my skills, refraining from getting out the pencil, or meticulously gridding up the scene and transferring the photo to the canvas. Here I’m using a combination of Burnt Umber and Quinacridone Magenta. I mix in a little Liquin and sketch up with a Shiraz round #2 pressing lightly.
With a ⅝” Tisch Dagger I block in the colors, starting with whatever is furthest away first. My colors are pretty simple at this stage, with the palette as I mentioned above. I find that most combinations have varying amounts of Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue and White – creating a series of neutral greys. I keep the chroma (saturation) low in the vast distance and I turn up the intensity of color as I come forward.
Creating a block-in is about establishing the scene. We need to distill the image into a series of simplified shapes. There is no need for detail just yet, however, we need a sense of where to place the details in the later stages. Consider the block-in like a supporting structure – everything hangs off this stage. You’ll see some brushwork here, yet there’s not copious amounts of texture. The paint is relatively thin. That said, there’s enough texture here to “grab” the next layer.
Step Two – Modeling
It’s the next sitting and the medium has already set-up. I have a dried layer that I can now work over the top, utilising some of the texture and base colors. Just on an aside, I generally work over the top of a block in that’s a couple of steps down in value. That is to say that my “underpainting” is dark by 2 stops. It’s toned down and muted – now I get great contrast as I layer lighter tones over this darker base layer. I get to work laying in some of my “modeling”.
Now I change up my brushes. Generally for the first layer, I’m using just the Tisch Dagger, now I’ll carry a bit more paint on the brush, this time switching to a trimmed fan, creating some interesting textures. I’ll also reduce the size of my brush. I work with thicker paint in my highlights, and thinner passages in the shadows and dark tones. I go back into the distance and bring out the highlights in the clouds. Lead White with Impasto medium helps draw the eye and reflect light.
The line between modelling and details sometimes is blurred. I grab a smaller brush, this time a ) Ivory Rigger and begin to hone in on individual tree species working with the branches holding up that looser brushwork, creating the illusion of structure and character.
Step Three – Applying Details
As I bring the image forward, working towards the viewer, my value range becomes extended. I start adding darker darks, and lighter lights. This range brings the foreground further forward, increasing the sense of visual space.
The overhanging branches are mapped in using an Ivory Rigger, or a Shiraz round. I continually re-load this brush to achieve cleaner lines. These tones are even darker, allowing them to come further forward. I’m strategic with my details. Even though it’s starting to look rather “crispy” – the illusion works by holding back. Not everything is spelled out. Just a little detail does the trick. From close we still want to achieve that painterly aesthetic!
Just a few highlights are added, I change up the colour every 3-4 strokes of paint. This gives the impression of different leaves, held at a different angle catching the light in various ways.
Permanent Crimson and Pthalo Green mix beautifully to make a dark, near black colour. I use a little more green than red, achieving a cooler note and carve around individual leaves, anchoring the right hand side.
All-in this painting took 5 days. I worked steadily laying upon textures achieved in the previous sittings. My favourite part was the thick textured paint of the leaves on the road!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. I have many more on the way, but let me know what you thought of this project in the comments. Would you paint something like this?
If the answer is yes, then check out the extended feature on Tisch Academy and make sure your subscribed to my mailing list for the full “How to Paint Trees” course – to be announced soon!
There’s multiple versions of this tutorial, one on Tisch Academy – with about 3 hours run time, and then this painting is part of that tree course available of the website, with about a 5 hour run time.
Thanks so much for spending time with me here in the studio, catch you in the next blog!
Tisch
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9 responses
Nice work. I like the block in but just a touch of over detail but I like it. I may be signing up for your course. My wife just past away so need some time.
Beautiful as always Andrew!—Dennis A. USA
Where is the Tree tutorial (not just this autumn scene)? Or is it not ready yet? I have been waiting for several years for it & I can’t find it. I’ve been expecting an email when it came out, but I either didn’t get it or I missed it.
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Thank you so much, Pam
Andrew,
Very nice. It’s a beautiful fall painting. Well Done.
Thanks for the shout out to the ole Hudson River painters. They were my inspiration to go forwards back in the 1970’s. I saw F.E. Churches Heart of the Andes in black and white no less. I said, a man can do that with paint?
Wow, and away I went.
Steve
I really like your New blog.It’s very inspiring and will help me in my paintings.
Thank you and I will wait for next.
The blog was well done and very helpful. However, the drop down called Never Miss a Post, never left the screen. I could not find a way to remove it. Had to read the blog maneuvering around it.
Totally enjoyed this blog , well done Andrew , beautiful work as always .
I would paint this ,you’ve made it quite appealing , your photos were actually really good glad you took a chance and used it to show us something real also enjoyed that you also placed some old masters work in the mix, and thoughts made it resonate with your technique , which I love
Great work as usual Andrew. Thank you for your inspirations.
Jan
Thank you for explaining your process – such as saving the expanded value range (including darkest darks and lightest lights) for the foreground. That’s a great tip.