Moving the Cattle – Quipolly

This landscape specialist has chosen a rural scene at the foot of the hills at Quipolly, not far from Quirindi in the New England region of New South Wales.

- John Shields

To achieve the best results, I commenced the painting with the attitude ‘this is going to be the best painting I have attempted up to this date’.

The following steps have worked for me. I have developed them over the past 40 years. However, individuality is one of the strengths of art. You would be well advised to be selective and choose only those methods which work for you.

I worked from the horizon upwards and downwards, increasing the strength (tone) of my colours as I progressed.

I blocked in shapes using the darkest colour (‘mother colour’) and then added in details and highlights with colours produced from the ‘mother colour’.

STEP ONE

To determine the composition I firstly divided the board into thirds, forming nine rectangles. The lines were drawn very faintly, and the focal point became one of the points where the lines intersected. This method ensures that the main object of interest will not appear in the centre or too near the edge of the composition. The horizontal lines can also serve as a guide when painting seascapes.

Using my reference photographs, I sketched the composition in paint thinned with turps (CB or IR). The composition is extremely important. I painted the composition in roughly, with the distant hills (horizon) lying near the top one-third line. The main tree and horseman occupied the bottom right focal point area. For balance I placed a second prominent tree on or near the other vertical one-third line. Also for balance the scene had approximately one-third devoted to the sky, one-third to the middle and far distance and onethird to the foreground. Of course, rules are made to be broken.