'Some of the most satisfying subjects for the pure watercolour technique are man-made objects that have been battered by the elements, such as this old lock on a door,' says David Poxon.

'You build up the 'ageing' process in layers of wash, each one modifying the pigment colour beneath, working from light to dark, so don't be in a hurry to apply the darks too early in the process. When going for tonal depth and realism patience is a virtue that will pay rich rewards.'

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Stage one

 

 

 

 

 

Make a quick, economical line drawing with a 2B pencil. Pay close attention to the position of the subject and try to place key elements slightly off centre.

Next decide where your extreme highlights will be and mask them out if necessary.

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Stage two

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Mix a large thin wash of pale yellow-grey using phthalo blue, burnt sienna and raw sienna and apply to whole paper.

Rock the board in various directions to encourage early granulation.

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Stage three

 

 

 

 

 

While the first wash is still wet make a few random stippling marks and indentations with the blunt end of your brush. The wet paint will soak into the hollows and produce interesting dark notes.

Let the wash dry naturally in a flat position.

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Stage four

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mix a thin wash of Hooker’s green. Drop rather than paint this into areas of metal and allow to dry. The intense green underpainting will enhance later applications of local colour.

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Stage five

 

 

 

 

 

Begin a series of four or five thin washes, allowing each to dry before applying the next. This building process is vital to a good end result.

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Stage six

 

 

 

 

 

Suggest the first cast shadows and build these again with light washes.

Take care to place them accurately as it is shadow that will help model the form and assist with a realistic effect.

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Stage seven

 

 

 

 

 

By now you will have multiple layers of paint and some areas of high key tone may have become lost. Retrieve some of these areas by gently washing out (see above). Use this technique to ‘lose’ or soften some edges of the door surface.

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Stage eight

 

 

 

 

 

Using a smaller brush, begin to model the form and detail of the metal by applying local colour in various mixes of yellow ochre and burnt sienna. Vary the thickness of the paint from thin to juicy.

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Stage nine

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the masking fluid and sharpen up the drawing with more detailed work, again overlaying small touches of paint on both the door furniture and the flaking woodwork.

Apply cerulean to the shadow areas and the old frayed string hanging from the door lock.

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Stage ten

 

 

 

 

 

Apply darks along the wood grain with a rigger brush, and accentuate any other small areas requiring extreme darks.

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Finished Painting

 

 

 

 

 

Lockout, watercolour on 200lb (410gsm) Not, (30.5x343cm)

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This short extract was taken from an article by David Poxon, The Artist October 2008 issue.