Val Ridler: Light & Atmosphere in Mixed Media

Inspiration

We were pleased to welcome Val Ridler as our demonstrator in November. The inspiration for the painting was a photograph taken in Greece.

Her support was mount-board to which she had applied three coats of a gray primer. She brought it pre-prepared with the scene simply drawn and hand-made paper added to give some texture to the rocks.

Note how she has painted the sky with brush strokes running at a diagonal angle. She used watercolour paint in the main but often added a touch of white gouache.

These two images show something of the development of the painting.




Later white pastel was added to hint at a little cloud and to give some highlights in the water and wet sand. Various blues and purples were added to sky, rocks and sand.

Notice the white highlights in pastel