Project 2, Exercise 7: Monochrome Studies

A detail of a tree was the subject of choice.
This exercise is about exploring transparent and opaque.  I'm not sure if this was meant to be the case but as it turned out, I ended up using both effects on each painting.

After a doing preliminary sketch in charcoal of a dead tree (above) I completed two paintings - both on different grounds and using differing techniques:
1. Light grey ground - I painted this in semi-opaquely, but afterwards I thought there may have been more contrasting and interesting effect if it was applied transparently, as the tree was painted in as a dense dark positive shape on the grey ground. The paint was faded out towards the outer branches and more so for the finer twigs. I noticed after, ridges of thicker dark paint in parts of the tree. If I had increased this it would have given it a more tactile quality that I think I would find interesting.  I can see where opaque and transparent combine on areas of the branches looking much more three dimensional than the flat areas of solid paint. For instance, a few gnarled branches and twigs on the right where the paint was fairly liquid with some dry thick  paint.

On a light ground

With this method where a background is painted first the edges of the object are uniformly crisper as far as the outer branches where the mix becomes lighter. I think it's relatively easy to control the shape of the positive shapes. The branches and twigs look quite natural as some of the edges/outlines can easily be blended into the background if thinned out adequately.


2. Dark ground - mix of ultramarine, raw and burnt umber. I outlined the shape of the tree with grey chalk so that it would be visible. Then I filled in the negative spaces between the branches in a solid light grey (ultramarine, raw umber and white) thinned out around the outer areas. It is a combination of various paint consistencies - gradually more transparent quite watery mix and dry brush applied with a scrubbing motion. I discovered that adjacent areas would blend more smoothly if I thinned out the edges of opaque areas before they dried. This process may have been easier using oils because of the much longer drying time. The acrylics weren't as easy to blend smoothly on this occasion as they had been in the opaque colour mixing exercise because it was also necessary to be more careful here to avoid contaminating parts of the tree with paint from the background. I did thin out the background tones towards the outer branches though. At first I was afraid of accidentally contaminating them with the lighter paint but as I progressed I became less concerned about this and found I actually quite liked the effect. The outer branches are given a misty appearance as though fading into the background. Even though the paint was opaque is was more like semi-opaque and the dark background is easily visible even in the more thickly painted areas. Because it is light over dark the background looks less flat and more interesting than the light grey paint on the white surface as in No.1, particularly the outer areas where the paint is thinner. Filling in the negative shapes this way could be tedious if the tree was more detailed. I would add some of the most delicate areas after the ground then adjust the tone of the twigs accordingly.

On a dark ground

The painting in the course manual by Charlotte Verity shows how smoothly the oil paint has blended together. Perhaps when using acrylics a similar effect could be achieved using an acrylic medium in some more transparent areas or a retarding medium.