I opted for a light grey/green ground, which I hoped would give me some degree of continuity throughout the painting. 

I loaded a Jackson’s Black Hog No. 2 brush with a mix of phthalo blue and quinacridone red then boldly plunged in, starting from the base and working upwards.

It only took around 20 minutes or so to draw in all these preliminary construction lines, which was time well spent!

The scene in the photograph is complex so I adopted a loose, impressionistic approach, capturing something of the vastness of the site with as little detail as was necessary.

I mixed up a warm grey and dropped in the small strip of sky. This needed to be a simple flat colour; the composition is busy enough without the distraction of clouds etc.

The horizon was a mix of warm blues, which gradually increased in strength as I progressed further.

I kept all this vast expanse of woodland predominantly on the blue side with phthalo blue and phthalo green playing a dominant role here. I was looking for contrast between the trees and fields, this has to be tonally accurate to avoid the painting looking flat.

I used a mix of unbleached titanium white with yellow ochre to paint the fields. This shade of beige helped tremendously in achieving the necessary contrast.

Slowly but surely, the painting was starting to take shape. I knew plenty of work lay ahead but, tonally, it looked fine. 

The early work was paying dividends; it was just a case of fitting in the shapes, boldly and with purpose. I used a Jackson’s No 6 Black Hog Flat for the majority of this.

A touch more work was done on the fields, and I roughly indicated the position of the marquees using titanium white. This was my impression and detail was kept to a minimum.

I then indicated the Patchings complex, which includes a craft and gift shop, café and gallery, then loosely dotted in a few cars parked near the complex. The road was a shade of grey, which nicely defined it from the beige fields.

A mix of titanium white, King’s blue and a touch of yellow ochre was brushed in across the whole sky, using a Jackson’s 1in Flat brush.

I added a touch of cobalt blue to the top and quinacridone red towards the horizon, and carefully blended them together to give me a graduation effect.

Further work was done on the marquees, adding more shape to them and indicating the shadow side of each with a mid-grey mix. I cleaned up the buildings, strengthening some areas again, and indicating the shadows.

Finally, I dropped in a few rows of cars, using simple dashes of various colours then smudged them and created lines with a knife.

On reflection, I think that I achieved what I initially had in mind: a simple impression of a complex scene that shows something of the overall flavour of Patchings Art Centre.

I have visited Patchings Art Centre on many occasions, usually to submit my TALP Open entries, which have enjoyed a fair degree of success over the years. It is, without doubt, my favourite competition, with tremendous prizes to win.

ENJOY MORE DEMONSTRATIONS FROM ALAN

Unlock a wider world of advice, expertise, news and exclusive offers specifically tailored to your passion for painting with our inspirational Painters Online emails today!

Sometimes we may include links to online retailers, from which we might receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate links do not influence editorial coverage and will only be used when covering relevant products.