Harry Robertson – Welsh landscapes working in oils.
23rd October 2011
Although the attendance was only ten, Harry Robertson went down with everyone. He explained the techniques he used to produce his works mainly in oil, and never in watercolour, after taking time to give us his life history. He is a good communicator with a warm personality and a wide knowledge of art, and he kept everyone's interest with tales from his schooldays onwards.
He uses MDF board as a surface to paint (like the Renaissance painters who used wood as a base), coating with thinned size and white gesso, sanding down before applying each coat.
As oil takes time to dry he works on 6/8 works at a time, painting large blocks, and areas before getting down to the detail, which he paints in small sections, in different parts of the image until it is completed.
He likes doing his landscape sketches on location using photographs as memory joggers only, or to help in composing the final image he is looking for, by editing and manipulating the scene with image editing software.
He offered advice on selling and marketing and spent some time showing his life studies which was of interest in view of our November life drawing session.
See more on website www.harryrobertsonpainter.com.
Malcolm Wainwright