Painting process | Backlit Clouds from Battersea Park
Those clouds! I jumped up onto the Thames wall to make sure I got the best view of them looming over the park and river, blocking out all the sun. Walking along the edge of Battersea Park, with Albert Bridge getting even more beautiful as you approach, is always spectacular. I love how different it is every time, but always magical.
This painting is all about that strange light effect, just before the sun bursts back on the scene and London becomes bright and summery again.
Preliminary sketches and studies
I began with pencil sketches, adjusting the scene to enhance the light effect I’d witnessed. I decided to darken the path and trees in the park so they didn’t pull focus. They have such visual weight taking up a good chunk of the left corner of the painting, but I wanted the detail to only be obvious if you intentionally search for it, so it’s not competing for attention. Darkening the land also has the effect of increasing the contrast with the sky making it appear even more luminous.
I also wanted the colour of the bridge to stand out. Albert Bridge is so unique with its pastel colouring.
Here are two small paint studies I did, playing with colour to create the backlit effect. You can see I was also struggling a bit with getting the perspective on the path right here.
The painting process
I drew in the large shapes with paint, focusing on getting the perspective right. Then I mapped the cloud masses, separating the light and dark areas to make placing the colours clear and decisive later. This sent me a bit cross-eyed, but I was grateful to my past self for the extra time I spent on getting this right.
I spent a lot longer than I usually do on this first layer, being very deliberate with my choices. I used thick paint placed next to each other in small strokes of colour.
It all looks a bit odd until all of the orange underpainting is covered, and then suddenly the vision of the painting comes into view. But the orange background actually shows through some of the brushstrokes in the sky in the finished painting, giving it a subtle glow.
And finally, the first layer is complete. From here I could start bringing variation into the shapes and judge the values off each other properly. But with this carefully constructed first layer I had solid bones with very little needing to be fixed, only added to and refined.
Next, I softened the tree edges, opened sky holes between the branches, and gave each tree its own shape. I added ripples and shadows in the water and started placing the boats.
I painted the bridge cables at this stage too. Here you can see that they’re too even and too bright. I repainted the sky and buildings between them later, to give the impression that you’re looking through the cables, not at them.
I softened the transition between the highlights and the darks on the clouds, using light blues, purples and greens. I see so much colour in a sky, and so many different colours in grey. It’s fun to seek them out and record them in a painting, in a way that still looks natural as a whole.
I think this angle on the dark areas really show up the texture of the paint and how much variation there is in the trees. Subtlety is often harder to achieve than starkness because there’s very little range between the darkest and lightest parts.
The sky holes in the trees have a warmth as if the sunlight is glowing through, which I really enjoy. I darkened the wall and path and double-checked that the vanishing lines were all behaving properly.
The only thing I did after this point was some refinement to the wispiness in the sky.
Finished!
"Backlit Clouds from Battersea Park"
65 x 46cm, oil on linen.
I loved painting this one. It has an interesting dynamic as it’s all about the vast, dramatic glowing sky, yet there’s so much quiet detail hidden in the darker areas.
Up close it’s a mix of colourful brushstrokes, but from a distance it turns convincingly London-grey. I’ve lived with the finished painting for a few weeks now, and how different it looks in every light still surprises me.
Details
Turn your brightness up to see this one properly.
Here you can see the paint texture in the sky, with bits of the orange underpainting peeking through. There’s so much colour and texture in the dark trees, and I’ve used a bit of red to indicate the fence around the garden.
In the end I really enjoyed painting the wall/bench seating but wow did the perspective challenge me. I softened its edges to encourage you to look past it into the painting.
I didn’t use pure white for the lightest parts of the clouds, but rather mixed very pale yellows, purples and blues.
Here you can see how I indicated the form of the boats along the river without giving them too much detail.
Those clouds! I jumped up onto the Thames wall to make sure I got the best view of them looming over the park and river, blocking out all the sun. Walking along the edge of Battersea Park, with Albert Bridge getting even more beautiful as you approach, is always spectacular. I love how different it is every time, but always magical.
This painting is all about that strange light effect, just before the sun bursts back on the scene and London becomes bright and summery again.
Read the story behind this painting →
Details
Medium: Oil on linen
Size: 65 x 46cm (before framing)
Framing: Premium custom framing included.
Shipping: Worldwide shipping included.
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