Materials:

Gerstaecker drawing paper No.2, Progressos 4-8B, pencil sharpers & kneadable erasers

Watercolour paper Windsor & Newton 300gm cold pressed, acid-free (don't buy anything lighter that 300gm the paper will buckle when wet). Van Gogh watercolours: lemon yellow, raw sienna, ultramarine blue and madder lake deep

Sketches

Sprinkles: A quick and easy way to make a sketch. (Thanks to Colin Johnson - a great art teacher)

Keep your sketch small (we did 17x11.5cm) this is half the size of the finished painting. Aim to work fast, I gave you 1.5 hours to complete 4 sketches. This will force you to make quick decisions and look at the large shapes. Avoid all detail.

Draw your composition in large shapes - different sizes with 5 different tonal values. Use the thirds rule or golden section to decide where to place the centre of interest.

Use counterchange (darkest dark next to the lightest light to draw the viewers gaze to the focal point). You can use diagonals to lead the eye also (lines on field in foreground).

Dont forget colours get lighter the further away they are: Check aeriel perspective

  1. Use soft (6/8B) Progresso and a pencil sharpener to make a pile of graphite shavings
  2. Using your finger or stick with cotton wool to smudge in the mid tones (finger is better as you get darker tones - check that you are not allergic to graphite).
  3. Darken the darks with more graphite or scribble with your Progresso
  4. Remove the lights with a kneadable eraser moulded to a point
  5. Make straight lines with paper mask. Man-made objects have hard straight lines, plants and trees have softer edges

Painting

Sketch composition on watercolour paper using water soluble crayons. They will dissolve when you paint.

  • Test your 3 chosen colours on scrap paper to see which colour combinations you can get
  • With large brush, start with the sky: we used 100% ultramarine blue add water as you move towards the horizon. (skies are darker at the top). Click for graded washes
  • Work down the painting leaving pale areas but allowing other paint to mix on the paper. Mix only 2 colour together at one time. Don't forget to leave some white paper for the "bird holes"
  • Apply food wrap in diagonals to foreground. Use plenty of pigment for a dramatic effect. Wait until the paint is dry to remove
  • Dry whole painting before applying more paint
  • Recheck where your light and dark tones are on your sketch, paint can be removed with a sponge and clean water. Click for staining and non-staining colours
  • Paint in tree forms with a sponge - resist going wild with this technique - use in small areas, not all over the painting
  • Paint in building details - use the same colours but darker tone (more paint/less water) as you have used for the building walls. Don't paint all the windows the same
  • At the last moment paint in the details with the small brush (don't swop the large for the small brush until right at the end): Shadows under windows and eaves, tree branches (paint up-side-down and use different pressure on the brush to get different widths of branch)
  • Look at painting in a mirror to check centre of interest and counterchange is still correct