Chris Rose - Artist - Studio Page

2009-04-28T17:10:00.004+01:00

Finished painting; I've continued in the same vein to the bottom of the picture and finished off the birds and their reflections. This painting can currently be seen at my one-man show at the SOC headquarters, Waterstone House, Aberlady, E. Lothian, Scotland (see 'Events' page for details).

2009-03-24T07:37:00.003Z

Stage 14; I've completed the rock reflections and am now blocking in the broad areas of colour for the water and wet mud, over which I will add details like small pebbles, bits of shell etc. The dark rock-reflections will be dissected by steaks of grey/purple which are where the mud breaks the surface film of water and so disrupts the mirror effect of the water. However, I'll put these in when the paint is dry otherwise the brown pigment will mix with the fresh paint and I'll end up with a gungey mess!

2009-03-20T09:40:00.003Z

Stage 13; The seaweed-covered rock is now complete and I have started working on the reflections of the rock in the water at the ducks' feet.

2009-03-18T22:32:00.002Z

Stage 12; I've added cool highlights for light reflected off the wet seaweed and warm orange-browns for the 'transmitted light' where the sun shines through the fronds.

2009-03-17T20:24:00.001Z

Stage 11; Here I've started work on the seaweed-covered rock, putting in the dark shadows first and painting over with the brighter colours to give a sense of sunlight shining on and through the bladderwrack.

2009-03-08T22:15:00.002Z

Stage 10; I've worked up the clumps of bladder-wrack that sit amongst the green stuff(!) and have started to work on the mud infront of the seaweed.

2009-03-07T08:31:00.002Z

Stage 9; I've added highlights including a few pinpoints of white for the 'sparkle factor' where the sunlight glints of the wet seaweed. I've also added some paler blue in the very wet places where the water film reflects the blue of the sky. This section of weed is now complete, although I may add a seashell or two...

2009-03-02T22:37:00.002Z

Stage 8; Lighter greens on the sun-ward side of the shadows I put in give the weed real form and help to give the effect of late afternoon sunlight.

2009-03-02T22:33:00.001Z

Stage 7; I've added some shadows to the green weed and some pale blue where water has collected in hollows in the weed and is reflecting the blue sky.

2009-02-28T09:07:00.002Z

Stage 6; I am working my way through the green seaweed areas, bringing them up to a finished level. The following sequence shows the development of one area towards the bottom right. At this stage I only have the basic blocked in colour with very little form, light or shade.

2009-02-24T23:03:00.002Z

Stage 5; I've started adding some form and detail to the slimy, green seaweed and the mud. I'm working mainly from my field painting and from memory. Sitting for a couple of hours infront of the subject and accutely analysing the colours and forms of seaweed, mud and rocks in order to complete the field painting commits a lot of information to memory that can then be drawn on when executing the finished work. A few digital photos taken at the time help with details that there isn't time to get down in the field.

2009-02-22T22:47:00.001Z

Stage 4: I've finished blocking in the shelducks and their reflections, so the next stage is to start painting the background to a suitable level of finish.

2009-02-19T21:22:00.002Z

Stage 3; I've finished blocking in the main areas of colour, except for the ducks themselves, and when this is dry I can start painting in some texture, light and detail. At this stage I can stand back and really see if the painting is working.
I'm working from a field painting made on the spot, although I've changed some of the elements around in this studio painting for a more pleasing composition. Sometimes a real life scene will present itself to be painted almost without any changes or editting required, at other times a picture will be the result of certain elements of the landscape rearranged in the artist's mind to evoke the nature of a place or a habitat.

2009-02-18T22:43:00.002Z

Stage 2; I've started blocking in the areas of water and mud and will attempt to cover the whole picture with 'local colour' today to quickly give me an idea of how the picture will look and if it needs any compositional changes.

Shelduck; stage 1

2009-02-15T22:53:00.009Z

Stage 1; This will be an oil painting 48" x 24" and on day one I have roughed out the composition in thin oil paint. I will let this dry for a few days before working on it again.

2007-06-29T10:58:00.000+01:00

Finished painting: At last! It was a hard slog but is now done. After finishing the reedy flotsam I added a bit more refinement to the trees; added some twigs sprouting from the tree trunks; put in a few standing reeds and painted the teal. The painting will look better once varnished as this will bring out some contrast, deepen the dark areas and enrich the colours a bit. This painting will be in my one-man show at the Wildlife Art Gallery in November (see 'Events' page)

2007-06-11T19:26:00.000+01:00

Stage 7 - detail.

2007-06-11T19:20:00.000+01:00

Stage 7: I'm part way through 'finishing' the floating reed flotsam. This is a hard slog and the most tedious, boring part of this painting to do. I knew when I first had the idea that it would be hard going, and I was right! I try to keep the the thought in mind that the finished picture will be worth it. Let's hope so!

2007-06-06T08:38:00.000+01:00

Stage 6: I've finished roughing in the floating reed stems and now I have a better idea of how the colours are working. This has only taken a day to do and I now have to go back over this area adding a bit more substance and finish to the floating vegetation. Although from a distance it may look fine as it is, closer inspection will show that it is still rather crudely done.

2007-06-04T09:41:00.000+01:00

Stage 5: I was unhappy with the random pattern of floating reeds - it made the composition look too static. Reference photos showed that the reeds actually seemed to be arranged more in drifts so I decided to introduce a flow to the pattern to lead your eye up from the bottom of the picture towards the bird. Here I have started roughly blocking in this new pattern, more-or-less obliterating what I had done before with more opaque paint. I'm using this process to introduce more of the intended final colours to the painting.

2007-05-26T18:11:00.000+01:00

Stage 4: Here I've started to paint the water, working the scattered floating dead reed stems into the wet paint. Working 'wet-in-wet' in this way I have also lightly indicated a few submerged reeds that are just visible below the surface. Although the change is subtle, there are three shades of blue already as the colour gradually darkens towards the bottom of the picture.

2007-05-21T16:17:00.000+01:00

Stage 3: I decided to roughly paint in the trees first as I needed to 'know' what they looked like before I could paint their reflections in the water. At the same time I tested out some blues for the water next to the tree trunks to make sure the colours and tones worked together.

2007-05-17T20:22:00.000+01:00

Stage 2: Still using diluted paint I've finished blocking in the water and have added a few dark areas at the bases of the tree trunks where the wood is wet, and have indicated the positions of the reflections of the trees. With a bit of free time at the end of the day I added some colour to the teal although this is not really important at this stage.

2007-05-17T09:23:00.000+01:00

Stage 1: This will be an oil painting. Having stained the board with a light wash of burnt sienna I have roughly drawn in the basic composition in thin paint diluted with turps. This dries very quickly so I can then start painting over the top the next day. I've already started putting in the dark spaces of clear water between the criss-cross pattern of floating reed stems at the bottom of the picture. This helps both to establish the darkest tones of the painting and to roughly map out the patterns of dead reeds.