Camels - Finished

For the background, I brushed a very light mix of Yellow Ochre and white and started from the horizon, making my mix darker and adding a touch of Cadmium Red as I went.  I created dips in the sand around the camels' feet by adding a purple to my mix and feathering off into the wet paint.  Rocks were added to mess up the sand by first putting a decent blob of white paint where I wanted them (in the foreground mainly).  I then gave each rock a shadow with my purple mix brushing up into the rock slightly and along the sand.  I kept dabbing around with these colours blending them into the sand going back toward the horizon.  As I gradually made my way back to the horizon, I feathered them off more and more.

Lastly with a very light mix of Tasman Blue and white (the sky colour) I rubbed over the edges of the pyramids and horizon as they were looking a little too sharp.  I wanted a hazy look in the distance.  Finished!

8th Lesson - Camels

I know it's been a while, but I am still trying to finish the camel painting.  I have painted in the halters and metal rings attached to them.  I used a Light Red for the halters, making sure there is a dark line of shadow on the left side of the straps, and highlighting the halter on top and on the right of the camels' heads.  For the metal rings, I used a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Cadmium Red with a touch of yellow to grey it off.  A thin line of white paint on the right side of the rings make them look shiny.

7th Lesson - Camels

We are just slowly dabbing away at the standing camel's blankets.  Remember that any dips or folds in the material will have a dark shadow, and anything that sticks out will have a highlight.  Dab with a small, round, bristle brush to give a woolly texture.  I washed in the background with some left-over Yellow Ochre and turps just to see what the colour would look like - I haven't quite decided what to do with my background yet!

6th Lesson - Camels

I think the most important thing to remember when painting the camel's blankets is to make sure any stripes, tassels or lines are not straight.  They follow the curvature of the saddle underneath with kinks and folds, giving an impression of depth.  Use plenty of darks for shadow with contrasting highlights to make a sharp, clean edges.  I stippled on the paint with a small brush to give the texture of wool.   You can really use any colours you want here - I used Cadmium Red Deep for that lovely rich red.

5th Lesson - Camels

Well today we finished painting the camels leaving their halters and blankets for later.  Remember to make the shadows on the camels quite dark where the blankets and tassels overlap before you start painting them next week.  Give this guy lots of texture by using thick paint and stippling or dabbing it on with a fine brush.

4th Lesson - Camels

We are continuing on with the camel's body and legs now.  Brush in all the legs first in a light to medium tone - it is easier to blend the paint whilst wet.  The legs are noticeably smoother with less hair, so keep the dabbing only to the upper parts of it's leg.  You'll need a fine brush for detail around the knees and hooves.  The colour changes slightly too as you head down to the feet - I used more of a purpley mixture to grey off the orange.

3rd Lesson - Camels

Today Jo and I started painting our camels with a mixture of Cadmium Red Deep and Yellow Ochre.  We filled in the head first with dark tones and light tones.  The eyes were next using a dark Ultramarine mixed with the Cadmium Red.  The tricky bit here is to get both eyes looking straight and similar to each other.  I added a bit of Ultramarine to my orange mix and darkened darks where needed, dabbing lightly to indicate hair.  We reverted to a fine brush at this stage to detail the nostrils and mouth, keeping it slightly out-of-focus as we will adjust and sharpen next time when it is dry.  We continued down the neck with a dark orange first, outlining the folds in his neck, then slowly dabbing in lighter colours as we went.  Next week we'll tone down the orange with darker shadows and fill in his halter.

2nd Lesson - Camels

We started with the sky, using our "Jo" sky as I call it.  I used Tasman Blue mixed with white and then alternately slapped on the blue mix then just white, lightly feathering off as I go.  It took about 5 mins to cover the sky.  I added a touch of Cadmium Red to the blue mix for a slightly purple haze across the horizon.

Next the pyramids.  I used a mix of the Tasman, Cad Red and Yellow Ochre and following our light source, just covered one side with a dark mix and the other sides with a lighter mix.  I then played around with the paint dabbing darks and lights all over them.  I softened the hard edges with a light Tasman Blue mix.  Then I just dabbed in some whites here and there while it was all wet.

1st Lesson - Camels

We are still busy painting our thatched cottages, but in the meantime Jo and I have selected one of her Egyptian photos of camels to paint.  I've wanted to paint them since I first saw the photos.  I imagined them with the pyramids in the background, so we first had to roughly sketch a suitable composition on paper first.  I then went to Australia Zoo to gather more photos of camels to see more details.

So here is our drawing on canvas.  I still have to fill in some of the details from my own photos.