The view in this painting is from the Hawkesbury region, which is known for its atmospheric and beautiful farmland. I decided to infuse the scene with more light than the photograph and to let the viewer see that you can improve a scene with your own impression. I chose to use a limited palette because this creates a harmonious painting; and I used transparent artists’ quality pigments.
STEP ONE
I commenced by drawing a simplified version of the scene with a 4B clutch pencil on a half sheet of Arches Torchon Rough 300gsm – because I like the rough texture of the paper surface and I feel it’s great for an impressionistic style of painting.
I laid the paper down on Perspex. Starting with the back of the drawing I soaked the paper with plenty of clean water using a large flat wash brush. I then flipped the paper over and soaked the drawing side for a few minutes, before I squeezed out all the excess water from the paper
