TUTORIAL – Painting with gouache by David Harrison – Part two: step-by-step tutorial

March Shadows

Stage 1

One morning in March this year I set up my easel on the grass verge near the road. The morning was full of bright sunshine and beautiful shadows cast by the trees to my left. I was attracted to this scene whilst driving along the road. A fleeting glance was enough for me to pull over and set to work. I started with a simple lined sketch in pencil indicating vanishing points and the tree lines.

Stage 2

Apart from the initial sketch I didn’t do anymore drawing in pencil. At this stage I blocked in the composition, concentrating on tonal values. I used large brushes as I didn’t want to get bogged down with detail.

Whenever I paint, I use a limited colour palette – in this case 6 colours. I don’t use earth colours only pure colours which I mix on a paper palette.

The six colours I have used in March Shadows are: Cadmium yellow, Cadmium orange, Brilliant violet, Viridian, Alizarin crimson and Cobalt blue.

These gouache colours are available in 14ml tubes.  I use Permanent white in 37ml tubes.

Stage 3 

All the way through the painting is a process of refinement, adjustment  and re-evaluation. At any stage during the process, I am able to paint from light to dark and dark to light.

I slowly moved on to using smaller brushes.

To achieve harmony and balance throughout my paintings I use devices such as the golden section in my composition and colour contrast in painting.

Stage 4

Painting outdoors is enjoyable and a challenge. The light is ever changing and I find myself painting a lot from memory.

I tend to paint early in the morning outdoors for an hour or so.

The final stage of this painting was completed in the studio. I used reference photographs as an aid, but also relied on my own memories as I tried to capture the fleeting moment that I saw during my drive.

Hopefully I managed to capture the atmosphere, the bright sunlight and the beautiful cast shadows on the road.

The two paintings featured at the top of this tutorial were approached in the same way as ‘March Shadows’.

I stood in a layby with my easel about 9.30 am and completed each painting back in the studio.

Apart from painting outdoors I also work from a study in either charcoal or graphite, as illustrated below. In the study I am able to plan the composition and tonal values. Both the study and the completed painting each took approximately a month to produce. As mentioned earlier as artists we strive to achieve perfection, but we will never achieve it. As Pierre Bonnard is quoted as saying: “A painting is never finished but abandoned”

If you missed part 1 of this tutorial, you can find it here