The red truck

The red truck - Oil on canvas panel (6" x 8") by Benoit Philippe

For this painting, I used one of the reference photographs I took on my last trip to San Francisco.

I started with a quick outline done in pencil. Because the scene was complicated, I wanted to make sure I had the proportions and placement of the different elements right. The colours you see on the canvas are what remained of an earlier painting. It was a false start and I wiped out the paint to be able to re-use the panel later.

The palette I use is a simple selection of six basic colours plus white:

• Titanium White (The fast drying Griffin Alkyd range from Winsor & Newton)
• Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue
• Cadmium Red
• Permanent Alizarin Crimson
• Cobalt Blue
• Ultramarine Deep

Until I reach an advance stage in the picture, I use a flat hog brush which is large enough not to be tempted to put too many details in (The brush number is gone from the handle, put you can have an idea of the size from the photograph - I am holding the brush very close to the canvas).

Towards the end, I mix the colours with a Flemish Medium (Sold in tube by Lefranc Bourgeois), which gives them brilliance, a good consistency, and help painting over the fresh background without disturbing too much the previous layer.