plate no. 6483
House Door
Spyros Vassiliou, 1973
suitable for beginners
This painting is a good exercise in color mixing and understanding light and shadow within an interior space. Recreating it will help students develop skills in creating depth and texture with paint.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
3
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
4
study guide
est. 8 hrsapproach — 8 steps
- step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes: the door, chair, and wall.
- step 02
Establish the horizon line and the perspective of the floor.
- step 03
Block in the large areas of color: the white wall, blue door, and grey floor.
- step 04
Add the darker values to define the shadows and the interior space.
- step 05
Mix and apply the various shades of blue for the door, paying attention to the light.
- step 06
Add texture to the wall using thicker paint and visible brushstrokes.
- step 07
Refine the details of the chair and the window.
- step 08
Add the final highlights and shadows to create depth.
color palette
primary · titanium white · ultramarine blue · raw umber
secondary · burnt sienna · yellow ochre
Mix white with small amounts of raw umber and blue to achieve the various shades of the wall. Use ultramarine blue straight from the tube for the door, and mix with white for lighter shades. Raw umber and burnt sienna mixed with white create the floor color.
techniques
- ·color mixing
- ·layering
- ·dry brushing
- ·scumbling
- ·atmospheric perspective
common pitfalls
- →Overmixing colors and losing vibrancy.
- →Making the wall too uniform and lacking texture.
- →Incorrect perspective of the chair and door.
- →Not paying attention to the subtle color variations in the shadows.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·ultramarine blue oil paint
- ·raw umber oil paint
- ·burnt sienna oil paint
- ·#4 round brush
- ·#8 flat brush
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·odorless mineral spirits
Use a medium-grain canvas to help create texture. Consider using a limited palette to simplify color mixing.
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