HOW I PAINTED 'ROGUE MAMMOTH'

After a few rough sketches on cartridge and tracing paper I painted this conceptual watercolour of the scene as I imagined it. I used reference material to get some idea of how the mammoth would look.

I was not happy with the sword and decided that a spear would be more appropriate, more in keeping with the technology of the time!

The mammoth was not nearly fierce enough. More colour and dynamics would be an improvement. The warrior and the maiden needed to dominate the picture.

I decided to horizontally flip the figures and make the mammoth a lot bigger.The foreground had to be shortened. I wanted the figures and the mammoth to float in space to give the picture that fantasy feeling.

I was now ready to make preliminary drawings onto the canvas.

I transferred the drawing from the tracing paper to the larger canvas by squaring up. This involves drawing a grid of squares onto the image on the tracing paper and then drawing the same grid using larger squares onto the canvas. You can calculate how big the image on the canvas will be. For instance if the squares on the tracing paper are two cms. wide and the squares on the canvas are four cms. wide then the image will be twice as large. This enables you to position your drawing exactly where you want it because with a stretched canvas you cannot cut the picture down at the completion of the work like you can with works on paper. So you see it is very important to get the composition right from the very start. Most paintings that fail have poor composition. A little more time spent on preparation now will save a lot less headaches as the painting progresses.

We are now ready to apply some paint!

 

 

I started with a very simple palette. Phalo Blue, Scarlet, Burnt Umber, Aureolin Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Raw Sienna and Titanium White.

It is important to cover the canvas with paint as early as possible. Large areas of white will deaden the colours and make it hard to get them right. It is all very well saying I will fix this later but sometimes you can lose control of the painting and spend many hours trying to change the colours. Better to try and get close early on so that you only have to make minor adjustments. I find it is better to mix the pure colour on the canvas in these early stages and mix colours on the palette later when the canvas is full of paint.

Make sure the pigment on your brush is the one you want. Sometimes you can accidently pick up bits of surrounding colour on your palette as you move your brush to the canvas.

 

This can be used to advantage but can also lead to a big 'mud pie' of wet paint sitting in front of you.

On examination it was obvious that a few changes had to be made. For instance the warrior should stand out more and the middle distance should be cooler. Aerial perspective in these fantasy paintings is crucial. You want an atmosphere that portrays a scene that is unlikely but could happen given the right environment and light on a paticular day. The interaction between the two figues and the mammoth was getting there it just needed a little more attention to colour.

 

I tried various foregrounds but finally settled for this one as it did set the figures in an environment that did not take away from the interaction between the rogue mammoth and the two lonely figures.

This painting works because the design is simple and the story is easy to understand. The figures sit well in the picture. You need to incorporate the background colours into the skin tones. Be careful using set formulas for skin tones. Just think what happens in nature. The same light pervades the whole scene so that the local colours interact with each other. If you want your scene to look convincing you must do the same on the canvas. I have decided to keep this painting and do a watercolour from it. I hope this tutorial has been helpful. Good luck with your painting.

Click to view the completed painting.

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