Midnight Queen

The third nocturne painting all titled with the word "Midnight", this one is all about the lighting with just a small but fairly bright moon within a relatively dark setting of moonlit woods with a subtly lit figure in the foreground. The model was the lovely Naomi Wood and is based on reference taken for a failed painting called "Naomi Gold". The picture is based around a blue/orange complementary colour axis using mixes of Kings Blue Light, Emerald Green, Indranthene Blue, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Ultramarine Violet, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White (mostly Michael Harding paints) with Permanent Orange to modify the saturation. I painted the figure using warm shadows and cool highlights with modelling kept subtle to try and convey a moonlit figure. Compositionally it has a centrally placed figure and moon offset by asymmetrically placed trunks and branches and doesn't conform to my usual Rule Of Thirds way of composing a painting.
Oil on linen 20" x 16".
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Midnight Queen - stage 9

Just a couple of hours this afternoon on my return to the studio to work some more on the figure. The values are critical in this painting and it is impossible to photograph it accurately even after tweaking in Photoshop. I'm trying to get the figure painted quite subtly and am realising that in such moonlight that the modelling of the mid and highlights will be quite limited so it is trial and error as I go along. I need also to remember that some of the jewelry will be glinting in the moonlight. The whole painting is in many ways lighter than I intended so I will have to do another one that is nearer to what I imagine in my head, probably the fifth "Midnight" picture as the next one will be very Atkinson Grimshaw.

Midnight Queen - stage 8

I just had a couple of hours this morning to work a bit more on the face before packing up to leave the studio, back on Tuesday. Very hard to photograph this painting, it's actually darker but with less contrast than how it appears here.

Midnight Queen - stage 7

Pretty much finished the background bar a slight tweak on the moon tomorrow. I decided to reduce the orange on the rim of the moon and paint in a little bit of detail although not as much as it appears in this photograph. I then put in the underpainting for the figure settling on warm shadows and cool highlights achieved by mixes of Permanent Orange, Indranthene Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Kings Blue Light, Emerald Green and Phthalocyanine Blue and Green all mixed with Liquin and Lukas Medium Number 5.

Artists & Illustrators magazine

I have a four page painting demonstration feature in the new (July 2017) issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine. Titled "Going For Gold" it follows the progress through my painting of the Golden Temple in Amritsar which I visited last year called not too surprisingly,  "The Golden Temple". I have written it in nine stages with a list of materials I used, thankfully the photos that I took of it on my old camera as I went along were just about up to publication quality...

 

Midnight Queen - stage 6

After a few days away from the studio during which time I had time to think about it I came back this afternoon and painted in some branches mainly on the left leaving it non-symmetrical to counter balance the symmetry of the figure and moon. I have decided to get rid of most of the orange tinge around the edge of the moon and after much thought in the previous couple of days darkened the underpainting of the figure as for this painting to look interesting I need to move it a way from the obvious and keep to my original intention of a pretty dark picture apart from the bright moon - in other words it's all about the lighting.

Midnight Queen - stage 5

I made a start this morning on the darker trees in the foreground as well as putting some of the dark colour into the hair to unify the colours and tones a bit between figure and background. The glow around the moon is still not how I want it but I have to leave the studio now and will have to wait until Thursday before I return to carry on.

Midnight Queen - stage 4

Painted another wash of colour over the figure with a rag, darkened the hair and made a start on the background trees and moon. I will probably put some thicker trunks and branches in behind the figure as well as having some much darker foreground branches. The glow around the moon is not finished.
Colours used were Kings Blue Light, Indanthrene Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Emerald Green, Phthalocyanine Green, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White, most of these are Michael Harding paints with a couple by Winsor & Newton.

Midnight Queen - stage 3

Got back this afternoon and managed to strengthen the lines on the figure ready for a darker wash to go over it tomorrow as well as painting a glaze over the background with a mix of Indanthrene Blue, Ultramarine Violet and a dash of Permanent Orange (to knock back the saturation) thinned with Liquin.
As can be seen I want this picture to be pretty dark apart from the luminous yellow/orange moon.

Midnight Queen - stage 2

It is now apparent as to where this picture is going now that I have gave it a wash with a rag using a mix of Phthalocyanine Blue, Pthhaolcyanine Green and Ultramarine Violet mixed with Liquin and turpentine. Everything will be relatively dark and subdued apart from the bright moon above her head - there will be some glinting highlights from her jewelry but kept unobtrusive so as not to confuse the lighting design. It's a bit frustrating this morning as this has to dry before I can continue  and won't be able to paint any more until I return to the studio on Saturday.

Midnight Queen - stage 1

The third nocturne in the "Midnight" series, this will be all in subdued blue/greens and quite dark apart from a slightly orange- tinged moon above her head. The model is the lovely Naomi Wood again, based on reference taken for an earlier, failed painting called "Naomi Gold".
This stage was "drawn" up with a small bristle and a 3/8" Acrylix brush using a mix of Kings Blue Light, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Ultramarine Violet and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin, Lukas Number 5 Medium and turpentine.

Midnight Rain

This has been renamed from the working title "Here Comes The Rain" and is the second in this short series of nocturnes, the "Midnight" series.
Originally conceived as a sky piece there was a larger figure on the right hand side of the picture which I replaced with a much smaller one when I noticed that it was looking like a Romance book jacket illustration so that it now returns to being mainly about the sky. I also painted in on the last day a distant coastline on the extreme left of the picture as I felt the picture needed "grounding" in some way.
The colours are all mixed from Kings Blue Light, Emerald Green, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Ultramarine Violet, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Warm White and Permanent Orange to knock back the saturation.
Oil on linen 24" x 18". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Here Comes The Rain - stage 6

Change of plan. I decided that the inclusion of the figure took the picture too close to looking like a Romance book jacket illustration so I have painted her out (sorry Ruth) and am leaving it nearer to my original intention, a sky piece. While I'm a way from the studio until Monday I will consider various options as to what I may want to put on the horizon, at the moment I am thinking of either a tiny figure or maybe a farm building silhouetted against the sky (quite small) or of course just to leave it as a sky piece. I was always thinking of a largely dark painting with just one area of light so I guess this is back on course.
I seem to be painting it like a stormy Atkinson Grimshaw...

Here Comes The Rain - stage 5

I had a couple of hours this afternoon on my return to the studio to work more on the sky as well as darkening the flesh tone underpainting to get nearer to how the tonal lighting is going to work.