Kåseberga harbour
På SvenskaKåseberga is a small town on the southern coast of Skåne. About a hundred meters from the harbor is the megalithic monument Ale’s Stones. Kåseberga used to be an important fishing village, fishing and the sale of fish is still carried on.
This exercise takes a different approach. It is not painted according to the usual principles, from back to front, or from light to dark. Instead, I have chosen to paint all the colors separately, first all with a certain color then all with another color and so on.
You need a blue color, as well as a yellow and red. Maybe even an orange-brown like burnt sienna. It is possible to mix the brown with yellow, red and blue, but it is easier if you have a brown, then you avoid this troublesome mixture.
Step 1 | Blue color
I used phthalo blue red tone. But any blue will do. Paint everything that is blue in the photo in different values, with more or less water in the paint.
The blue color must not be mixed with anything, except water. Feel free to start with the deepest blue color and gradually dilute your blue color to create lighter shades.
Step 2 | Red and yellow color
Use a warm red color; I used quinacridone red (NOTE not the pink variety but the warm red). But you can use any red color as long as it roughly matches the red on the pennants. Make the flags as intense as you can and paint the other red areas a little lighter.
As you can see, I cheated a bit by making some dark shadows in the pennants. If you also want to do that, you must have mixed a blackish color before painting the red, this because the shadows are painted wet on wet. You can also wait until later with shadows. Also paint the yellow pennants in the background, keep in mind that not all of them are yellow, paint only some of them and leave the rest.
Step 3 | Brown
Before you paint the brown in the image, you can paint the orange pennants in the background. I made them wet on wet with red and yellow paint, but if you think it will be better (easier) you can just make them orange (red+yellow).
For the brown, you can either use an orange-brown color, like burnt sienna, or mix your brown color with the three primary colors, blue, yellow, and red. It is easier to use a brown color.
Paint everything that is brown in different values depending on how they look in the photo. Remember to save details that will later be partially black, such as the ropes on the dock. I have painted the windows and the bow of the boat in the foreground with a color other than brown. They actually belong to the next step when black and gray are painted.
Step 4 | Black and gray
The shades of gray and black are absolutely crucial for all paintings. Not until they are painted does the painting come to life. This is often something that many beginners miss. It is not possible to make a good painting with only colorful colors, Black and gray colors are very important, they create depth and volume.
The whole painting is painted quite carelessly, or loosely as it is often called. In a complex subject with a lot of detail, this approach is often the best. The alternative would be to paint really carefully and to include all the details, it will probably be messy and heavy, not to mention time consuming.
Therefore, you should not paint carefully, but deliberately carelessly. A good way is to hold the brush far back on the shaft. All lines automatically become a little crooked with such a brush handling, which is good in this image.
