Drawing and Painting the Landscape - Pointillism

Hurst Point Lighthouse
Acrylic on Paper
19cm x 19cm (7.5" x 7.5")

Lesson 40 of Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler begins with an explanation of Pointillism. It’s a technique in which you apply the paint as small dots of pure colour. The viewer's mind optically blends the colours which makes them appear more vibrant.

It’s a time-consuming technique because it requires the use of small brushes to create the tiny dots. It’s not something I have much enthusiasm to try. Fortunately, Philip suggests “By increasing the size of the brush and mixing other hues the technique of dabs and dashes can be explored.” This seemed more achievable in a reasonable amount of time and also something that might fit into the way I want to paint.

This was a great lesson. I learnt more about working with acrylics, both in the actual painting and in the whole process of getting set up and cleared away. Importantly, I also started to embrace the benefits of acrylics. One of which is you can leave them to dry and paint over things to correct mistakes and to refine the picture.

As well as painting, I am working on composition using the ideas that Ian Roberts shares on his Mastering Composition YouTube channel.

I painted a different view of the lighthouse back in 2012 (see Capturing Light and Negative Painting).

Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Alla Prima

Pensile Road
Acrylic on Paper
19cm x 19cm (7.5" x 7.5")

"Alla prima" is Italian for "at first" or "at once". In oil painting terminology it means completing a painting in one sitting, applying the paint wet-on-wet. It results in pictures that are spontaneous and expressive. It is also the subject of Lesson 39 of  Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler.

Phillip suggests placing the paint carefully and being forthright in your mark making. The idea is to get the paint down and leave it. The more you mess around with paint, the muddier the colours become. By putting the paint down and leaving it, you retain the freshness of the colours and the expressiveness of your original marks.

I cross referenced Phillip's guidance with advice from: 

• Carol Marine's book Daily Painting
• Ian Roberts' YouTube channel Mastering Composition 

All three agree on the importance of slowing down and painting mindfully – making sure you have mixed the right colour and you are putting it exactly where you want it.

I am cutting myself some slack with this picture because it is only my second painting in acrylics. I am making life additionally difficult by trying to work out how to use acrylics like oil paints. Currently, I am struggling with balancing thickness and opacity. I’ve thought about painting some experimental swatches to learn more about how the paint behaves, but painting pictures is more fun and helps to practice other skills as well.