The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner, 1838

I’m featuring an English painting this week.  I’m pretty sure Turner was the most influential painter from the British isles, at least until modern times. His influence on the Impressionists, Modernism and Abstraction generally, is massive. His presence in popular culture, at least in the UK, is unprecedented, what with The Turner Prize, portrayal in film and even today,  appearing on bank notes.

Many would agree that “The Fighting Temeraire” (as it is commonly known) is his greatest painting. When Turner came to paint this picture, he was at the height of his career.  He was renowned for his highly atmospheric paintings in which he explored the subjects of the weather, the sea and the effects of light.The influence of Turner on later painters is clear when we look at a detail of the the painting and then turn an eye to Monet’s “Impression Sunrise”

 I think that the painting is also important as it speaks to the passing of the sailing age and remembered “glories” and moving onward, perhaps ominously, to coal, smoke and industrialization.

With his atmospheric compositions and astounding use of colour, Turner moves us quickly toward abstraction. Turner was that bridge between traditional painting practices and a new age of modernism.

Colour and Colour Mixing

 

 

Let’s investigate the mixing of colours in a colour wheel. Using your own colours rather than those any website or book might recommend is where the real value lies. There’s no theory that can replace the experience of how your tubes mix together – it’s a tangible, real-world experience.

Firstly, become comfortable with the basics of the colour wheel. Most art books have something sensible to say about this and a good summary is contained in the first couple of sections on this website: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

Secondly, watch the following video clip, which summarizes my approach to colour and mixing:

Exercise

1. Now see if you can develop a colour wheel along similar lines – repeat the video, pausing as you go. My approach is to follow a variation of a palette based on 2 versions of each primary, in “warm” and “cool” versions. This aids more predictable colour mixing.
2. When you have finished following the video, prove to yourself that you can de-colour each of the primaries by mixing in a little of the complement: what tonal colour does each give?
3. Finally, take one of your tonal colours: burnt or raw Sienna, yellow oxide/ochre, burnt or raw umber…it’s not really important which – put out a small squirt and then see if you can replicate the same colour by mixing just the primaries together…as you see, that same target tone will appear…perhaps a little magically!

Adding colour on a low-tone base

Colour is relative when layered one over the other and placed side by side. A common mistake in painting is to wait until the last minute to add in some large block of colour – whether in portraits, landscapes, still life, changing background or any other potential large colour block.

Examples

Portrait study in acrylic

In the following video, I elaborate on this in the context of an acrylic portrait study:

Still life in acrylic

In this second video, I take a similar approach with a still life painting in acrylic, and discuss some aspects of creating vibrant greens:

Landscape in oil

The following study in oil from Lesson 1 follows the same approach:

Exercise for Oil and Acrylic

1. Taking your low-tone painting from Lesson 1, or starting afresh and creating a new low- tone painting, add blocks of colour for the major area of the painting. Don’t follow your initial low-tone painting slavishly, rather refer to your reference and evolve the painting accordingly.
2. Optionally, finish the painting with detail using line and texture (impasto). Always have an eye to keeping a strong balance of values.

Painting in watercolour

With watercolour of course, layering (washes) has to be handled with care. However within this context, some of the same ideas apply. You need consistent blocks of colour and form, even within the constraints of the media. In this video, I talk through my painting process:

Exercise for watercolourists

1. In watercolour, develop the initial painting using blocks of form and colour for the major areas. Don’t follow your initial drawing (if any) slavishly, but rather refer to your reference and evolve the painting accordingly.
2. Optionally, finish the painting with detail using line and pure colour. Always have an eye to keeping a strong balance of values.