References / Inspiration
*Manchester Art Gallery
These five reference images were taken from paintings in Manchester Art Gallery. I didn't used all of them for all the paintings, but a varied combination of 1-2 of them.
I
II
III
IV
V
Landscapes
1. Watercolour
The first landscape was made using only pencil (for a sketch) and watercolours. I placed several layers of paint in some places as well as mixed the colours together (especially on the sky and lake). I chose more blueish colours on the far land, going into green and then yellow as it got more near.
Reference image: I
2. Pencil
This picture was achieved by pencils with several different hardnesses. I tried to keep them fairly sharp in the places where I wanted more details, I also attempted to shade by varying in pressure and using mark making, such as cross-hatching and curls.
Reference images: II & V
3. Graphite and Charcoal
In this piece I used graphite and willow charcoal (and probably one more, I'm unsure). I blurred the charcoal to make tree tops and land, and then layered more refined or random marks on top.
Reference images: II & V
4. Tea, Coffee and Oil Pastels
Here I used tea, coffee and two oil pastels (white and brown). First of all I drew outlines with pencil and trees, bushes and clouds with white pastel, then layered tea as a base, and very diluted coffee as a land. Then I applied more tea/coffee with a cotton bud in order to add more interest into this. At the end I scribbled some marks with brown pastel.
Reference image: I
5. Coloured Pencils
In this landscape I used only coloured pencils. I tried to do similar mark-making and varying pressure in some areas as in piece [2]. In addition I used limited number of colours; ohre (instead of yellow) for light areas, different greens, greys and browns, and blue/red for shaded areas.
Reference image: II
6. Ink
This picture was the most fun to make. First I drew outlines with pencil. I filled some of the silhouettes with water and while it was still wet I poked the ink onto them, which gave interesting marks. Smaller objects (like flowers) I just stabbed with ink, without water. At last I filled the sky and land with water and ink, trying to keep the ink very diluted.
Reference images: III & IV
7. Markers
In this one I focused more on mark-making in more abstract manner as well as using more unusual colours which fit with marks. With the grass I tried to show the distance by making the blades bigger at the bottom on the page.
Reference images: III & IV
8. Oil Pastels
This piece is my least favourite. I used 6 colours of oil pastels, one of which was used only to cover the entire area. I then scribbled roughly some marks on top. Now as I’m thinking, I could use different colours on top instead of grey.
Reference images: I & IV
9. Chalk Pastels
In the next picture I used chalk pastels. For the sky and far-away hills I tried to press very gently, while on trees, bushes and rocks I pressed much harder. At the end I smudged all of it with my finger and applied more details on top. Here as well I added blue tint to show distance, and yellow/green for closer land. I covered the lake with water to make a very strong outline.
Reference image: IV
10. Acrylics
Here I made the landscape with only basic acrylic colours (the same used in Visual Library), but mixing them together to create new colours and shades. I used little to no water. The tree trunk’s texture was scraped with the other brush end and the cliff was made with the glue spreader. Leaves and grass were made with poking with the brush crudely, while for flowers I was more gentle.
Reference images: I & II
11. Watercolour Pencils
In the last piece I used only watercolour pencils. I picked more or less colours of the rainbow. I blurred the first layered colours with water and when they dried off, I created different marks on top.
Reference image: IV
II
IV
