Step by step: Abbey House Cottage Garden oil painting

I have not done a step by step demonstration for some time and this is nearly one. Nearly because, towards the end, I was in the flow and did not stop as often as at the start to take pictures of the work in progress. However, this will give you a good idea of the process I have followed.

I would normally start with a toned canvas (Using toned canvasses for oil painting), but I had none ready in this format. I worked from a photograph I took last summer in the garden, and traced the outline of the main features free hand.

I went over the outline with diluted light brown because I didn't want the lead from the pencil to muddy the colours.

The colours on my palette were:

• Titanium White,
• Cadmium Yellow,
• Still de grain brun (Mussini) - A light transparent brown
• Cadmium Red,
• Permanent Alizarin Crimson,
• Cobalt Turquoise,
• Cerulean Blue Hue,
• French Ultramarine, and
• Phthalo Blue.

All colours, unless specified, are by Winsor & Newton. The Titanium White is Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd, which helps speeding-up drying time. I also use the Sanodor solvent, which also helps with drying time.

At an early stage, I used very diluted paint. Apart for the sky and for the walls of the house, I did not touch the white. I wanted a thin glaze that established the masses and started to express the tonal contrasts.

The initial layer dried quickly and formed the base for the blocking-in phase. I applied thicker paint. You can see the warm tones in the foreground (pink, orange and red) that will enhance the green tones.

I built-up the foliage of the trees and layered paint to create a tapestry of plants and flowers in the borders.

It was time to get the linseed oil out to apply spots of brighter colours. At this stage, I was looking for some texture and colour accents.

Painting knifes are great tools to give texture. I applied paint with a painting knife in the sky, on the dark edge, but also in the borders (scraping it to create random mix of tones).

The final painting is below. Notice how I pushed the house in the background by glazing some Titanium White over it, the day after the first painting session. I also reworked the sky to make it lighter and get a better atmospheric perspective.

Alice in 1941 by Marx Ernst

Alice in 1941 (Oil on paper mounted on canvas - 15 3/4 x 12 3/4" - 40.0 x 32.3 cm)

by Max Ernst - James Thrall Soby Bequest; MoMANumber:1220.1979 

This painting uses the technique called Decalcomania. This process was developed by the Surrealist painter Max Ernst. You first spread thick paint on your support and then cover the paint with a sheet of paper or a piece of glass while the paint is still fresh. When you peel away the sheet of paper (or lift the pane of glass), it creates patterns in the paint.

I suspect that Ernst chose the particular support (Oil on paper mounted on canvas) because of the decalcomania technique. It is easier to obtain a good effect with the decalcomania technique when the support is laid flat on a hard surface. It would be hard to achieve a satisfactory result with a springy canvas on a stretcher.

Alice in 1941 - Detail

Alice in 1941 - Detail

The decalcomania created a wonderful effect of vegetation very close to moss, something that would be difficult and take a long time to paint. The randomness of the pattern adds to the natural effect.

Max Ernst then reverted to traditional technique and painted the sky a creamy white, as well as Alice’s face, neck, hand and leg. The way Ernst took advantage of the decalcomania technique brings a mistic edge to the subject. Alice seems to emerge from the vegetation in the background, yet still being connected to nature in an intimate way.

“Alice” is a reference to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the character created by Lewis Carroll. The story has inspired another painting by Ernst (The Stolen Mirror).

Details for the MoMA museum

The Museum of Modern Art

11 West 53 Street

New York, NY 10019-5497

MoMA Website 

Related resources

• If you are in the US (Amazon affiliate link): Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
• If you are in the United Kingdom (Amazon affiliate link): Alice in Wonderland (Wordsworth Classics)
• Surrealism’s Curiosity: Lewis Carroll and the Femme-Enfant by Catriona McAra.
• Max Ernst biography on Wikipedia 

How to paint clouds

I have been asked to paint a cloudy sky in an office open meeting room. You can see below the finished room.

An overview of the finished room

Left view of the finished room

Right view of the finished room

This was done with house paint (for the blue background colours and the white) and some artist acrylic paints for the shadows in the clouds. The palette is more restricted than the one I would use in oil, but the technique remains very similar.

The first difference is that the background has less nuances. It was prepared with three levels: intense blue at the top, lighter blue in the middle section and white for the bottom section. I then mixed the two adjacent colours to do some feathering between these planes of colours.

Feathering

When I paint a sky in oil, the blue background is composed of different hues of blue: Ultramarine, Cobalt, Cerulean, etc. and I blend the colours one into another. The variation in tone would be horizontal as well as vertical: the sky is usually lighter towards the horizon. At the same time, it gets darker the farther you are from the sun. So, if the sun is on the right side of the painting, the left side of the sky will be slightly darker. 

Here are some elements to bear in mind when painting clouds:

• Shapes: Different types of clouds have different characteristics. Even within a category, the variations in shapes are significant. The best way to learn is to paint or sketch from nature. Constable did many cloud studies. If you struggle at first to paint from nature because the clouds are moving and changing, work from photograph.

•  Variations: Make sure you introduce variations in shape, size and grouping, and that your clouds do not seem like a boring repetition of the same formula.

• Perspective: Clouds are three dimensional objects and are subject to the laws of perspective.  

• Light source: you must be consistent with the way your clouds are lit. Is the sun high or low in the sky? Does the light comes from the left or from the right?

• Clouds are not white: because of the sky around and the fact that clouds are either transparent or acting like a screen, clouds' colour will be influenced by their surrounding. The mid-tone will be related to the blue tint surrounding the cloud you paint. Keep pure white for the lighter highlights in your clouds.

Here is the process I used to paint the clouds.

• I started with a wide brush. For the clouds against the darker blue, I quickly painted the cloud with the lighter blue.
• Before the light blue paint was dry, I placed some lighter areas with white paint. The white blended with the blue to create a very light blue.
• I then use the same blue as the background to blend the base of the cloud. The difference in tone should not be extreme because the cloud is round.
• I let the paint to dry. I then worked on the shadow areas.

Palette for the shadows:

• Ultramarine blue
• Vermilion Red
• Yellow Ochre

I mixed a purple with three parts of Ultramarine for one part of Vermilion. I then turn it into a tinted grey by adding some Yellow Ochre.

I painted some shadows with this mixture. As they were too dark, I lightened them with a light coat of the light blue used for the middle part of the background (I thought it was logical to do so because the underneath of the cloud would reflect this colour). I applied the blue paint with the tip of the brush so that the original shadow colour would show through.

• Final touch of pure white on the most intense highlights. 

Composing Summer tea

Still life paintings from nature are a great way to work on composition in real life. You select some props, move them around and swap them until you are happy with your subject. It is important to take the time to compose this way.

I like to take a break when I think I have achieved a good composition and come back to it with a fresh eye. There is always a little something that I can make better.

I took some photos while working on the set-up for my painting Summer tea in order to share with you my thought process.

Positives: The white china is interesting, even if it is difficult to paint (white on white). The strawberries give a splash of bright colour and will be a good focal point. The pot that contains the strawberries echoes the ellipsis of of the cup of tea and provides repetition with variation.

Negatives: This composition is boring, too symmetrical and binary.

Positives: The pitcher at the back adds height to the composition that now forms a triangle. The light part of the pitcher on the left helps to bring forward the strawberries. The dark side of the pitcher outline the light rim of the cup.

Negatives: One more white element seems too much.

I replaced the china pitcher with a silver one. The contrast is accentuated with the cup, but lowered with the strawberries in the shadow. I like the slander handle on the left that gives more height without being intrusive.

The single strawberry on the tablecloth makes the composition more interesting. It breaks the line of the pot full of strawberries. Its orientation helps to outline the green leaves.

Le Regal – Watercolour and ink

Last week, the whole family was in Ardeche in Le Regal, a hamlet near Antraigues-sur-Volane (France).

Le Regal - Watercolour and ink by Benoit Philippe (Click on the image to enlarge)

The access road to the house was so narrow that you could only cross another car at a few points. We had to reverse more than once…

The garden looked beautiful and I sat under a tree, at the beginning of the afternoon, to make this painting.

The process is different from the usual ink drawing with colour washes (that I also like to do). I followed this order:

1. Pencil outline
2. Masking fluid to reserve some areas
3. Watercolour painting (on day one)
4. Ink drawing on top of the watercolour (on day two)

This approach gives interesting results:

• I don’t need to draw everything because the colours are already building the image. The ink drawing is more “open”, add some accents or bring out the focal point.

• The ink drawing does not need to coincide precisely with the painting. I could add details with the ink drawing that were not in the watercolour painting, or even draw aside from the brush stroke, creating some interesting tension. A photograph of a detail (see below) will show you what I mean.

Le Regal - detail (Click on the image to enlarge)

How to get luminous colours in oil

A long time ago, a reader asked me about the brand of paints I use, writing: “I love your work and particularly your colors, they live.”

The harvest is done - Oil on canvas board (6" x 8") by Benoit Philippe

This post is based on my answer and some further thinking I have done since. I am not going to give you a recipie, but rather discuss different factors that I believe help me to get luminous colours in oil.


Does the brand of paint count? It does and it does not. I am using several brands. Most of my tubes are Winsor & Newton, and I also own a few tubes from reputable brands that are good quality: Blockx, Roberson & Co. and Mussini / Schmicke.

I always use artist quality paint, not student paint (which contains less pigment). This is more important than the brand itself. Always prefer artist quality paint: they will make the painting process easier and the end result look better. Stay away from the cheap unbranded tubes in bargain shops.


Pick the right support and prepare it well. If your support is too absorbent, it will suck-up the oil or resin in the paint and the finish will look dull. Get good quality canvasses. If you paint on MDF, prepare the board with two or three coats of gesso.

Avoid ending-up with muddy colour:

• I am not using any black (in general) and by using a limited palette, I can keep them luminous. I mix my black from Ultramarine blue, Crimson red and a Dark green (like Viridian). I am not saying black is a bad colour; I am just saying that adding black to darken colours will make them dirty and grey.
• I am using Sansodor thinner, which accelerate the drying time of colours (important at an early stage when painting alla prima). I can build-up on the block-in phase without creating mud.
• I am painting thin until the very end. In the last stage, I can add texture and use a painting knife if necessary to get bold strokes.
• When I feel colours are becoming muddy, I stop and let the painting dry before carrying on with the next stage.

Try different painting mediums. Another consideration is the medium I use. I like to finish the painting with a painting medium that has a good consistency and is like syrup. Winsor & Newton has one which is resin based. I have used several brands over the year.


Glazing. Applying a glaze on a dry or semi-dry surface of paint is a sure way to add luminosity to your colours. For obvious reasons, transparent and semi-transparent colours work best for glazing. Check the labels on your tubes.


Varnishing or not varnishing. A coat of varnish will revive the colours. You could use matt varnish for protection, but glossy or satin varnishes will make the surface even and brings out the colours.


I hope this helps.

Painting dappled light

Sunny days are back in England and trees are full of leaves. The sunlight going through the trees’ foliage forms spots of light on the ground. I took some snapshots of the patterns form by the light spots on a path.

Observe these spots of light and note the following:

• Some spots are more luminous than others;
• When the spots overlap, their intersection is more luminous;
• The light spots have a soft edge rather than a hard edge;
• Spots of lights are subject to the law of perspective and are seen as ellipsis from a distance.

But why are these spots round when the holes between the leaves are not? The answer is that these round spots of lights are the sun projected on the ground. The physics is the same as for the pinhole camera.

So, if each spot of light is a projection of the sun, their shape would be different during a solar eclipse. This is correct: the spots become crescents of light.

Image of the sun during a solar eclipse through the leaves of a tree. October 3, 2005, St Juliens, Malta – picture by User:Ellywa - Source: Wikimedia Common

Dapple light is a good way to bring variety to a landscape or a scene. You can selectively bring some elements of the subject under the spotlight. The difficulty is to avoid having a patchwork of colours and tone without any focus. Renoir used dapple light in an effective way in his painting Bal du moulin de la Galette.

Bal du moulin de la Galette by Auguste Renoir (Oil on canvas - 1876) Musée d'Orsay – Source: Wikimedia Common

Picasso’s quick prototyping

Quick prototyping consists in iterating quickly different versions of the same project in order to test your ideas. It is practical when the iteration is not expensive in terms of money and time.

Making a series of sketches before committing to the final composition of a painting is one form of quick prototyping. Having to correct errors at a later stage would be more painful and time consuming. I found a very good and practical example of quick prototyping by Picasso.

Françoise Gilot, in her book “Life with Picasso” explains:

“I suggested that since all the elements of the composition were perfect and it was only the question of balance that bothered him, he try the solution he had brought to my portrait: cut out the skull from a piece of paper and move it around in different areas of the canvas. He cut out another skull form and, hiding the painted one with one hand, moved the paper skull wherever he felt it might prove sufficiently disturbing. He finally found a spot that was much more unexpected than the original one and provided just the kind of fateful juxtaposition he was seeking, where the balance hung by a thread. Then he was satisfied.”

This is such a simple yet powerful way to test a change you want to make to a painting in progress. You can judge directly the visual impact of the change and also find unexpected placement of elements.

Parklands Road - painting demonstration

I took a few photographs and some notes while painting "Parklands Road".

Parklands Road - Oil on canvas (60 cm x 30 cm) by Benoit Philippe [Click on the image to see a larger version]

To make this oil painting of a road in Swindon (Wiltshire - England), I took a series of photographs. I then put them side by side on a PowerPoint slide to create a ribbon.

I wanted to create an impression of calm and vastness, so I selected a long canvas: 60 cm x 30 cm. I prepared the ground by tinting the primed canvas with two coats of gesso mixed with some red and Yellow Ochre acrylic paint.

I drew the row of houses on the canvas with a Faber-Castell black drawing pen. I then put a dab of Yellow Ochre and a dab of Burnt Umber on my palette and painted a tonal wash over the drawing. I used a large flat hog brush and  some odourless solvent (Winsor & Newton Sanodor).

The next phase was the block-in.

For this painting, my palette was composed of:

• Titanium white (W&N); 
• Naples Yellow Substitute (Roberson); 
• Cadmium Yellow Pale (W&N); 
• Transparent Yellow Oxide (Roberson); 
• Cadmium Red (W&N) ; 
• Alizarin Crimson (W&N); 
• Phthalo Blue (W&N) and 
• French Ultramarine (W&N).

For the Titanium White, I use some Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd, a fast drying oil paint that help to shorten the drying time of my paintings. It can be mixed with other oil paint colours without any issue.

I blocked-in the different masses with mid-range tones. At this stage, my goal was to fill-in the whole canvas and not to have too many sharp edges. I worked only with odorless turpentine and tried to get a good consistency with the paint.

After the block-in phase is finished, I reworked the whole canvas with softer brushes and some painting medium in order to glaze colours over the fresh paint.

I started with the sky, glazing some  Phthalo Blue at the top, as well as some Naples Yellow for the clouds. Towards the horizon, I added some white tinted with a little Ultramarine Blue. I glazed over the far away landscape with the same mixture to push it further into the distance.

Once the glazes with the medium started to set, I blended them with a very soft badger brush.

To give the picture the glow of late summer evenings, with the sun setting down, I glazed the brick houses with orange tones. To work on the houses, the trees and the grass, I worked only with two brushes: a bright No. 8 (Daler Rowney - Graduate) and a round No. 12 (same brand).

The white highlights on the windows and roof edges created an impression of enough details to define some focal points.

Notice how the edge of the roof for the house on the right is close in tone to the background. Both the roof and the background are also painted with neutral colours. By contrast, the house on the left has the ridge of its roof lighted by the sun. The orange contrasts with the purple shadow.

I finished by painting the grass with successive glazes of green, Transparent Yellow Oxide, Cadmium Yellow Pale and white. I wanted to make it looked like some waves of grass were under a projector.

I thought about adding a figure walking in the grass on the right side of the painting, but decided not to do so.    The painting is more mysterious without any person in the frame and the blue car was sufficient to remind us of the human presence in this cityscape.

Repetitions with variations

I recently reviewed the book “The Simple Secret to Better Painting” by Greg Albert. I still think is it a good book, but there is one aspect that Greg Albert did not cover explicitly in his book: the importance of patterns.


I believe one key principle of composition is: Repetition with variation.

Let’s take the painting Port Marly, gelée blanche (Port Marly, hoarfrost), an oil on canvas by Alfred Sisley, as an example.

Port Marly, gelée blanche - Port Marly, hoarfrost - Oil on canvas (1872) by Alfred Sisley (Paris, 1839 – Moret-sur-Loing, 1899)

An obvious application of this principle is to have a repetition of an element in the painting in different sizes. A group of several trees of similar shapes but different sizes will work well on this principle.

The trees on the left form a repeated round shape

Another form of repetition with variation is less obvious but also works well: The underlying geometry of the composition can be based on similar shapes repeated in different sizes.

The shape of the river bank forms two similar  triangle rectangles

The shape of the sky and the shape of the water are almost two mirror shapes of different size.

The reason patterns are necessary for a pleasing composition is that we are addicted to them. As Marcus du Sautoys commented in his book The Number Mysteries: A Mathematical Odyssey through Everyday Life:

“But how do you come up with a sequence of choices which you can be certain is random and does not have some hidden pattern? It’s a real problem: we humans are notoriously bad at producing random sequences – we are so addicted to patterns that we tend to let structure seep into any random sequence we try to put together.”


Related resources

• The Simple Secret to Better Painting – Book review