TEXTURED LANDSCAPES WITH LINDSEY COLE

LINDSEY COLE DEMONSTRATION 

Lindsey lives in Ringwood and works from her garden studio in a variety of media. She is perhaps best known for her impressionist landscapes produced using different textures and materials.

Her demonstration was divided into two parts - the first planning a landscape painting by first producing a charcoal tonal drawing and the second showing the different techniques used in her paintings.

Lindsey takes her sketchbook on location and takes photographs and colour notes using watercolour. She decides the medium she will use in the final painting in the studio.

 To show us how she does a sketch on cartridge paper from a photograph she selected a scene using a viewfinder. The format of the scene was then masked off with tape and using willow charcoal a mid-tone was put over the whole paper and smoothed off using the hand.

Lindsey then put in dark areas using charcoal and charcoal pencil. Next using an electric eraser the highlights were added. Few details are required at this stage. It is a good idea to hold the charcoal by fingers and thumb and not like a pencil as this gives a freer result . A wide variety of marks are used in the sketch and sometimes these can be turned into a feature in the painting e.g. a gate or tree trunk. Lindsey groups colours according to tone e.g. dark tones are browns, purples, blues and the colours are chosen from these groups using the sketch as a reference. Finally the sketch is given a coat of hair spray or fixative and put in the sketch book with a cover of cellophane to prevent damage.  

To start the second part of her demonstration Lindsey covered a piece of 140 lb watercolour paper with Windsor and Newton Texture pasture paste using a palette knife and covering the whole surface to form a smooth layer. She then covered this with silver foil pressing it on from the base upwards to get rid of any air bubbles. If any bubbles do form they can be pierced with a pin. Random circular marks were then made on the foil using e.g. bottle tops or brush handles taking care not to break the foil. The foil is then wiped over with a baby wipe to remove grease and left to dry. Acrylic inks were dribbled on using the stopper then spread out with a brush on the foil with the picture laid flat. Translucent inks are used first with opaque on top.

The colours merge and create secondary colours. Sections can be used to make cards. Modelling paste, broken egg shells or sand etc can be put on the foil and painted over. Lindsey showed us an example where Silver Birches had been created with modelling paste and tissue and then painted. This type of painting has to be mounted with a gutter mount. Gold leaf  stuck on using Pritt and silver acrylic paint brushed over sand give other textures in the paintings.       

This demonstration coincided with the start of our new project aimed at developing our painting. Lindsey certainly showed us how we should open our minds and experiment and gave us a good send off on our Art Journey.

Charcoal sketch

Textured foil

More textures