In class this term we have been painting fast and loose. These paintings created by our Bradley class are just some of the images produced for our Autumn Woodland painting.
Woodlands are a subject close to my heart, being surrounded by them in this rural, Staffordshire area in the UK. I was brought up in Stafford near Cannock Chase and it was a favourite place for my Dad to take us when we were young. We'd picnic at the Stepping Stones as a family or take our dogs for a walk. In Winter we would go sledging in the snow or look for deer and in the Summer go bilberry picking for Mum to make jam. Its a generational thing, my son now takes his family there. Whilst until recently my Dad went mountain biking there.
So for me the connection is strong and when I paint woodlands I think of the different textures, the leaves, the moss and the 'Old Oaks' all can be found there. When I wish to connect 'emotionally' with a painting I like to create a textured background I have to work with. This is one way of doing that...
Techniques for Creating Texture in your Under Painting using Cling Film or Old Plastic Wrap
For this painting the group each chose an image that they liked, increasing the emotional connection to it. We used similar techniques and aimed for an interpretative not representational painting. Starting by using a wet background with a cling film print in certain places i.e. where they felt it would enhance the painting. This creates a surface that is not tempting to be too precise on and you have to work with what is there.
Here Debbie Arnold has a video using this technique...
After allowing this layer to dry we used paint to sketch in our trees (no pencil drawings), painting negatively in areas to allow for the texture to show through.
I love painting like this and I think that some great paintings resulted. Look out on my Facebook Page: @DebbieChatfieldArtist over the next couple of weeks to see the paintings.