Mud Bashin' Buggy

This detailed demonstration describes the artist’s comprehensive approach to building a vibrant image which positively throbs with colour and movement.

- Kim Donald

Finding a subject can sometimes be one of the hardest things. Fortunately, my subject was requested by a client – so I had a picture to work with. The image was of her husband driving in a racing mud buggy.

The overall painting was constructed from the client’s reference photograph, capturing the Mud Bashin’ Buggy as the main feature … although much of it has been built gradually by using my imagination as each of the layers and colours were added. There is not much detail in the background, because I felt that would detract from the focal point. My client was very happy with the result.

STEP ONE

Firstly, I used a wide bristle brush to get the basic outline of the overall painting and the colours. I worked from the background forward. Mostly, I used the flat side of the brush – blending the colours – although for small sections I used the edge of the brush to avoid blending and to create extra texture and dominant lines to add character and feel to the painting.

The sky was a blend of Cerulean Blue Hue, Prussian Blue Hue, Cobalt Turquoise Light Hue and Tinting White (Pearl/Titanium) with a medium retarder. Towards the top and edges, I used a Phthalo Blue (Red Shade). Sky is always slightly lighter closer to the horizon, so this was always in mind when adding these colours.

The mud section was a mixture of Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna Dark, Brown Black, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White and Yellow Ochre. Light and dark shadowing is very important in creating dimensions to a painting and you should always keep in mind the direction you wish the light to come from as you are painting. For this purpose, some highlights were also painted using Arylamide Yellow Deep.