Creating the illusion of space in a painting is a useful way of adding to its atmosphere and inviting the viewer into the work. There are many different ways in which this can be achieved and most methods can be used in conjunction with one another to further enhance the effect. In this article I’ll try to outline some of the ones I find the most successful and give examples that will hopefully enable you to incorporate some of these ideas into your work.


In the full article, which can be found in the November 2013 issue of The Artist, Shane looks at using perspective, diminishing objects, using the sky, contrast and repoussoir for creating the illusion of space in a painting.
 

 

DEMONSTRATION Romney Marsh from Lympne

For this demonstration I tackled one of my favourite parts of the country, Romney Marsh.

 

 

STAGE ONE

After carefully drawing out the scene I started by painting the sky. As I was painting with a palette knife and oils, I immediately had to paint in the first repoussoir (the branch) while the sky was still wet, giving some of the heaviest tonal contrasts that will feature in the painting

 

 

STAGE TWO

Next came what I find is the hardest part of the painting – mixing the gentle colours of the far distance, which will contrast greatly with the rest of the painting when it is finally complete. The tones are soft, harmonious, slightly bluish and very gentle. This is the part of the painting that requires the most patience and concentration

 

 

STAGE THREE

As I continued to paint into the middle distance, the colours became bolder and the contrasts more vivid

 

 

FINISHED PAINTING

 

Hopefully the painting finally makes sense. The fence and branch act as the repoussoirs and the varying degrees of contrast throughout the rest of the picture create the sense of space. A final touch was to create movement in the grasses in the foreground by flicking the palette knife this way and that, which contrasts with the more static scenery in the background

Shane Record
studied art at school and French, Sociology and Law at university. He continued painting in his spare time, and after three years in Berlin, where he further developed his painting, he returned to his home town, Folkestone, Kent. He runs his own gallery – Shane Record Paintings and Prints – in Folkestone’s Old High Street and is well established amongst the arts-led regeneration of this seaside town. For more information or to contact Shane visit www.shanerecord.com

This extract is taken from the November 2013 issue of The Artist