Demo – The Climbing Rock

The Climbing Rock is a 12×12″ oil on panel. As you scroll down, you can watch the development of the painting through its various stages. I included notes regarding brushes and pigments used. As with all paintings, the point is to have fun and let the subject, and the paint, lead you. While the idea for the painting, and the specific boulder, are real, once the painting is underway I feel free to edit and exaggerate so that the feel of the place comes across to the viewer.

The Climbing Tree - the first day's work is all about putting down an accurate base of loosely brushed transparent tones, using an alkyd medium (for speedy drying). I try to define not just the overall shapes but also try to make the brush marks emulate the planes and directional gesture of the subject. Colors used included thalo green, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, iron oxide red, payne's gray, Prussian blue, and dioxazine violet. A stiff bristled filbert brush was used. The panel was prepared with about six coats of alkyd white primer, sanded lightly between coats.

The Climbing Rock – at this stage, with the underpainting dry, I begin work on the sky by mixing three batches of paint in three values, light to slightly darker. I used ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, titanium white, iron oxide red, and burnt umber. Starting at the top and using a fine nylon filbert brush, I painted the sky, working my way around the trees’ limbs and detailing a few of the negative spaces. Part way down the sky, I switched to a lighter blue tone and continued working my way around the trees. A third band of light quieter blue paint was used nearer to the bottom of the sky. While all this was wet, I used a small nylon fan brush to blend the sky “bands” into a seamless, late afternoon sky. The hard part is not getting “sky” paint on the trees, especially on a painting this small – 12×12″. Time to let the sky dry before moving on to the granite again.

The Climbing Rock – detail showing sky and trees in progress.

The Climbing Rock – detail showing right side of rock and hint of boulder beyond. Trees in th distance are barely indicated.

The Climbing Rock – with the sky done, and dry, I can really delve into painting the granite again without fear of accidentally smudging the area where sky and granite meet. The day starts with a thin, alkyd glaze overall, then I begin drawing more refinements to the fractures with a small nylon round brush. A square-tipped nylon brush is great for working various gray tones and highlights into the rock ( I keep two handy, small and larger).

The Climbing Tree – detail showing top of rock, development of a feeling of weight and heft. I love figuring out fractures and planes. Long hours of study in situ help.

The Climbing Rock – the sky is essentially complete, except for the possible refinement of “negative” spaces between the trees. Work on defining the planes in the rock continues, as does figuring out the geometry of the cracks. A bit of red iron oxide and dioxazine violet was glazed into the lower part of the rock.

The Climbing Rock – you can see the addition of detail to the trees and a refinement of the geometry of fractures on the rock. Going back and forth between glazing and adding details builds up the surface and helps to keep things fresh. A touch of permanent alizarine and red oxide brings the iron-rich veins to life. Of course allowing a few days of drying time now and then is absolutely necessay.

The Climbing Rock – detail of upper rock and trees, showing some fallen branches, roots of trees, and sheen on damp rock. A soft, nylon watercolor wash brush is great for skimming subtle glazes (like the blue/gray/white glaze used to create the sheen) over an area that already has wet brushwork. Keep the touch light.

The Climbing Rock – detail of shadowed lower rock with seams of iron oxide and fractures. If you look closely, the initial coarse bristle brushwork still shows through, providing a tactile roughness to the rock.

The Climbing Rock – basically complete. I like to live with a painting for a while and see it in different light. I may still do some nuanced adjustments of color.