Flying Tern, acrylic, (45.5 x 61cm)

Marie Antoniou reveals how she uses bold brushmarks and clean colours to achieve a sense of movement in her abstracted, impressionistic wildlife paintings.

Painting movement

Being able to paint movement is to understand how nature is perceived in the wild. It's normally from a distance and constantly on the move.

I do most of my paintings in my studio but I’ve done enough sketching outdoors to understand that in order to capture something moving, you need to work quickly and put in just the right amount of information to make it recognisable.

It can be difficult to avoid overstating details if you can’t resist doing ‘a bit more’, so time yourself. Give yourself 30 to 50 minutes of solid painting then stop. Whether you like the end result or not, no doubt the sense of urgency you have imparted on your painting will have already created something that has a lot of movement to it.

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Working with an outline

Swans of Mistley, acrylic, (71x89cm)

Marks give a strong sense of movement in the water while the swans are almost lit up across the centre of the canvas with light tints, which break into the water, indicating reflections.

Some people find it easier to start with a recognisable shape, which is perfectly acceptable, but an outline can appear tense – lines become hard and solid. There is also the issue that once an outline is in place, you may become precious and start painting neatly up to the edge of it. Again, time yourself – this initial outline should only take a few minutes. Use a brush rather than a pencil; we have ultimate control when we hold a pencil, we have a firm grip and movements are limited to our hand and wrist. Using a brush utilises movement from the elbow to the whole arm, creating a more fluid line.

Break out of the shape – once you have your outline loosely in place, don't be too precious about painting up to the edges. Allow yourself to break in and out of the shape as this will help to create a sense of movement as you progress with the painting.

Your initial outline is only meant as a guide and will be painted over by the end, anyway.

Movement through marks

Barnacle Geese, acrylic, (60x60cm)

Stronger highlights and dark tones depict distinctive markings that help to define the birds’ shapes, while the directional marks help convey a sense of being on the move.

As a wild hare might dart around in various directions in an open field, I will do the same on canvas, making sure marks are energised, spontaneous and not too predictable. I have a lot of students who come to my workshops to loosen up their style. As soon as they start being a little bit more expressive, their own personalities start to shine through their work. Tapping into your own emotions helps to bring life and movement to the subject you paint.

Demonstration: Flying Tern

For this demonstration Marie uses Daler-Rowney System 3 Acrylics

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Stage one

The canvas was primed with a mix of phthalo green with white. I then loosely sketched the shape of the bird with a 1in brush using pure phthalo green.

Stage two

Using a 2in brush, I mixed a light tint of phthalo green, yellow ochre and white and filled the upper area around the bird using directional brushstrokes; for the lower half of the painting I used a mix of process cyan and white. The brushstrokes were allowed to break into the shape of the bird.

Stage three

Once areas of paint had dried I used a 1in brush and a lighter mix of cerulean blue, yellow ochre and plenty of white to make directional marks within the bird area.

Orange tones were introduced, made from burnt sienna, yellow ochre and white to create warmth within the bird.

Returning to my 2in brush I used phthalo green with more white to create a lighter tint of the original colours used in the upper area around the bird and, in the lower area, a lighter tint of cerulean blue and white to give a sense of depth and also fill areas of space while still allowing darker tones to come through.

Stage four

Using a 1in brush and various mixes of deep violet, burnt sienna and white I placed tints in the body and wings of the bird, still using directional marks, next to and on top of earlier marks.

A pure mix of cadmium red and burnt sienna was loosely blocked in to indicate the legs, beak and head.

Finished painting

Flying Tern, acrylic, (45.5 x 61cm)

With pure mixes of burnt sienna and deep violet I intensified the dark areas of the head then strengthened the shape with a loose flicking motion using a 1in brush.

Where strong sunlight falls on the bird’s back, I used process yellow with plenty of white with gentle flicks of the brush.

Pure mixes of process yellow and burnt sienna were applied around the upper part of the bird to create an area of warmth, still using a 1in brush and, in the lower area, I mixed a lighter version of the earlier mix of cerulean blue, yellow ochre and white.

Directional marks were continued to maintain the overall energy of the painting.

Follow Marie to paint a bustling night scene.

Marie Antoniou teaches drawing and painting, privately and in adult education classes. She exhibits widely, and has been selected for The Society of Wildlife Artists’ annual exhibition, the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year, the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition and won many awards.

Marie contributed to the acrylics section of Artist’s Painting Techniques, published by Dorling Kindersley, which can be purchased in our online bookstore by clicking here.

For more information about Marie’s workshops, and to see more of her work, visit www.marieantoniou.com

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