No matter where we go, I always carry a camera and a sketchpad to capture a special moment or view that might otherwise be lost. It is from these references that my paintings are created.

More often than not my work is produced from a specific drawing that I have done, but sometimes I will combine several sketches such as a group of trees or a distant view to make a pleasing composition or image.

I usually work my subject up on to the canvas using ultramarine and magenta, putting in the darks and shadow areas first, then working into the lighter parts with violet and viridian until the canvas is completely covered with loose dark brushwork. I then leave it to dry whilst choosing another drawing and starting the process all over again. I always have 10 or 15 paintings on the go at any one time - all at different stages

When the initial stage of work is dry, I start on the lighter areas, moving down from the sky, building up the layers of paint, working into the darks and then back into the higlights until I achieve the effects of light and shade that I strive for.

Once a painting is almost complete, I pop it into a frame on an easel in the corner of my studio for a few days before adding the final hightlights.

Wharfe Valley, England

Published by
Washington Green

Preferred medium: Oil

PictureName

“I enjoy watching the constant movement, moods, and colours of the sky; the way that clouds form with their subtle shadows of blues, pinks, and ochre, casting huge areas of soft tone across the landscape creating an ever changing vista.”

Landscape