Fun on the beach

Draw your picture concentrating on the shapes of light and dark; do not add too much detail.

Make up three washes: one of Phthalo Blue, one of Alizarin Crimson and one of Raw Sienna. Using the Whopper brush wet the paper then add these washes across the picture, leaving a diagonal of white paper running through your composition. Remember that when you wet the paper first you have already added quite a lot of water and the pigment you now add will dry much lighter. You can wash straight over any dark areas on the figures, just be careful to paint around any areas that need to be kept white.

Mix up a skin tone using Light Red and a touch of Warm Sepia; this is darker than you probably think you need. If you feel unsure about the depth of colour you need, just put a pure white piece of paper up against your reference photo and you will be surprised at how dark the shadows are on the skin. Mix a little Light Red and Sepia with a lot of water, and using the All Rounder brush pick out the very light shapes you can see on the skin of your first figure. Use the thick mix of skin tone colour, mentioned above, for the rest of the figure.

Whilst still damp, paint in the shorts and hat using an Intense Violet. If the colour runs that is a bonus, it adds to movement and energy.

Using Warm Sepia use brush marks to define any of the very dark areas you can see and also the creases in the clothes. Next pick out any of the very dark areas you can see on the skin. Mix a very thick (lots of pigment and very little water) Intense Violet for the dark shapes you can see in the figures’ clothes. Using a credit card and White Gouache run a line along where you want the fishing net handle to be. Whilst the colours you have used are fresh in your mind and still in your palette, paint in the reflections in the water.

Repeat these processes now for the other three figures. Use your imagination for the colours that you use for the swimsuits, if you wish. I have used an Alizarin Crimson for the little girl’s, and have kept the outside figures more subdued, by using blues. Use a watery Phthalo Blue for the ripples around the figures. Finally add a few marks of Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Blue to pick out pebbles.

Marilyn’s book and tie in DVD ‘People Aren’t Scary (Really)’ is
available from SAA Home Shop.

For details of Marilyn’s courses and workshops visit www.marilyn.allis.btinternet.co.uk