Christmas Tree, Artisan water-mixable oil on canvas board, (25.5x25.5cm)

Valérie Pirlot demonstrates a festive interior scene which you can paint using traditional or water-mixable oils.

'Christmas trees are fascinating to any child and they surely fascinate us as artists, too,' says Valérie.

'The contrast of the lights and colours of the decorations against the dark foliage, combined with the homely setting of a cosy room, make them a striking yet intimate subject.

'Painting accurately every single bauble, however, could prove difficult so this also turns out to be a fantastic exercise in seeing in an abstract way and capturing the essence of the subject and the light without becoming lost in details.

'The thickness and texture of oils make it the perfect medium to depict those sparkly lights and colourful baubles'.

Painting method

The method detailed below is the same that I use for any subject so here is a little reminder of the key points:

  • Paint dark to light, thin to thick.
  • Work across the whole painting, one colour at the time.
  • See things in an abstract way.
  • Divide the subject into shapes, each one affected by light in a different way.
Mixing puddles

As I work from dark to light – or across the same tones, but with different colours – I often need a new mix of paint that is either slighter lighter than the previous one, or slightly warmer or cooler.

To avoid having to mix everything from scratch each time or using up all your original mix, I recommend this technique: use just one corner of your existing mix on the palette to make a new puddle of paint that slightly overlaps the previous one.

That new puddle will be harmonious to the previous one as they will share similar colours, but, because you haven’t used up all of your original mix, you can use it again later if necessary.

There is, of course, sometimes the need to start a fresh new series of puddles when you are working on very different colours or because you might want to have a crisp clean new mix that will stand out from the rest.

For this painting Valérie uses Winsor & Newton Artisan water-mixable oils.

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Demonstration: Christmas Tree

Your reference photo