Members Project 47

Honfleur – Acrylic

Step 1   This is the actual spot that I decided to paint in Honfleur in France. The painting was done on canvas using Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylics and Daler Rowney Aquafine brushes.
Step 2 This is obviously in Acrylic, and I started off with the sky and my large 1 ½ in brush. The first colour was Cobalt Blue with Titanium White mixed in. I simply filled the whole sky area in with this, then washed the brush out well and used lots of Titanium White to form the shape of the clouds. Then I added a touch of Paynes Grey to the blue and white mix and put that in at the base of the clouds, before going in with my finger and shaping and merging colours. I then changed to my ¾ in flat brush and, with the addition of a little Crimson into that cloud shadow mix, filled in the far distant land to the right of the buildings.
Step 3   To the left of the building, with my ¾ in flat brush, I stippled on a mix of Hookers Green and Raw Sienna to form the distant trees, and finally, a few touches of Cobalt Blue here and there within the trees. For the little building in the distance, that was fairly weak Burnt Sienna for the roof and Cobalt Blue mixed with Titanium White for one side of the building and just white to the right hand side of the building, all done with no8 round.
Step 4   Once you’ve got the drawing done on even a fairly complex looking building like this, the painting is the easy bit because you are just filling in blocks. The whole of this building was painted with no 8 round brush. These first blocks were Raw Sienna mixed with a touch of raw Umber and Titanium White for the lighter sides and then more Raw Umber into the mix for the darker sides.
Step 5   For the rest of the building it’s the same mixtures, just more of them. And on the roofs, again all the same mix of Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna, apart from the roof on the left in the distance which was Paynes Grey and Cobalt Blue mixed. Notice how I kept the right hand side of the dormer roofs lighter with the addition of a touch of Titanium White.
Step 6   It was then time to put a little detail into the building. Firstly, the stonework, again with my no 8 round brush. I used various colours, in small strokes, like the stonework on the corner of the building to the left. This was the original base stonework colour with the addition of a tiny touch of Titanium White to lighten it and then, here and there, a few strokes of Paynes Grey. Also a few strokes of Burnt Sienna, just mix and match. For the windowpanes, it was just the tip of the brush with Paynes Grey. And for the shutters on the big window, a mix of Cobalt Blue and Hookers Green.
Step 7 Now to make the building come alive with the shadow and the tree in front of it. This mix was Paynes Grey and Crimson and I started off by doing the shadow within the windows, top and down the right hand side of each window, and the good strong lines underneath the roof onto the building. Also, notice shadow cast from each dormer roof. Then look at the diagonal lines of shadow, here and there, cast from one part of the building onto the next. Whilst I had my round brush on the go, I painted the tree trunks with Paynes Grey and then a put stroke of Naples Yellow down one side. I then changed to my ¾ in flat brush and, with the brush split, stippled on firstly a mix of Hookers Green and Burnt Sienna, followed by a bit of Paynes Grey in the darker areas and finally a touch of Naples Yellow to lighten.
Step 8 Then it was time to bash on the base colours of the building on the left. These were done with my ¾ in flat brush using Raw Sienna for the furthest away one and also the bigger one coming forward, but then I stroked on a little bit of Paynes Grey mixed with Crimson. This mix was also used for the bit of building in the corner. The roofs were done with mixtures of Paynes Grey and Cobalt Blue. I don’t really need to tell you which colours I painted the canopies in, do I?
Step 9 I then used my no 8 round brush to start with a little detail in these buildings, very loose details in all of these, they don’t need to be vying for attention over the main building. A few strokes of white to intimate shutters, and a few strokes of Paynes Grey to intimate windows.
Step 10   Next, using the same shadow mixes as for the big building, stick a few bits of shadow in underneath roofs and canopies and within windows.
Step 11   These were big washes for the foreground, and I changed to my ¾ in flat brush. Large strokes of Raw Sienna were followed by bits of Raw Umber and a few strokes of Naples Yellow to lighten here and there.
Step 12   I painted Raw Umber fairly strongly onto the stones at the edge of the quay and then added a few touches of Naples Yellow here and there to lighten. Then I used a single stroke of Paynes Grey to indicate each stone slab. For the cobbles, I used a simple stroke with the tip of the round brush with Raw Umber, then Burnt Sienna then a few touches of Paynes Grey. And then, with no 4 rigger brush and Paynes Grey, just did a few squiggles here and there.
Step 13   The big bollards were done using no 8 round and Paynes Grey mixed with Burnt Sienna: a simple stroke and then a touch of white at the top and down the right hand side of each one. At this stage, I also used the shadow mix to cast shadow on the ground here and there from the big building, the bollards and the kerbstones in the foreground.
Step 14   Now for the harbour wall itself. Very simple, Raw Sienna for the base wash and then a few touches of Naples Yellow stroked in and, with the with no 8 round brush, I did a few bits of single stroke stonework. Finally, in this section I added a few people. The ones to the right of the building in clear view can be painted using any colour you want. But the ones to the left in shadow, keep nice and dark. I used Paynes Grey.
Step 15  Now it’s the start of the boat. For the hull it was Cobalt Blue mixed with Paynes Grey. Then I washed my brush out well before painting the canopy with Titanium White, then also went back to the hull and painted the white bits on this. I then went back to the canopy to paint the Paynes Grey and Titanium White mix in the shadowed areas. At this stage I also painted the buffer at the front of the boat with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.
Step 16 To finish off the boat, I used my no 4 rigger brush and started off with the masts and rigging. The masts were filled in with Raw Umber, then Paynes Grey down the left hand side and a few touches of Naples Yellow down the right hand side. The rigging was painted using just Paynes Grey but have plenty of water in the mix so that it flows easily from the brush. And finally, a darker mix of Paynes Grey and Cobalt Blue to add a reflection of the boat.
Step 17 To finish off the picture, it was time for a bit of water. This mix was Paynes Grey, Cobalt Blue and a tiny touch of Hookers Green with plenty of water and I just filled in that area, painting through the reflection and everything. I used my ¾ in flat brush for this. Then I washed the brush out well and with Titanium White, just using the sharp edge of the brush, I stroked on a few lighter areas. And finally using the shadow mix, I cast a shadow on the harbour wall from the boat. I hope you enjoy trying this one, its not an easy painting but well worth giving it a go.