Fire

With the arrival of November and cold, dark nights, it puts me in mind of a painting I did several years ago, which was of a bonfire night scene.

Fire is not a subject that we come across very often in watercolour. Chimney smoke yes, maybe, but the landscapes I usually go for don’t feature ravaging flames and billowing black smoke, yet it is one of those subjects that you can’t help but be drawn to – must be some sort of primeval instinct within us. My most common ecounter with fire is of the open-grated kind to be found in little country pubs after a day on the hills, where you can discard your walking boots and have your socks steaming in the welcome heat while sampling the hostelry’s finest ale.

Should you fancy having a go at a seasonal Guy Fawkes scene, there are a couple of things worth remembering:

[1] It is vitally important to keep things light, by allowing the white of the paper to show through. The minute you start applying too much colour, the flames will start to lose their glow.

[2] Lightness and darkness is relative, so for the brightest part of your flames to look sufficiently bright (such that you may feel the need to shield your eyes or don protective goggles), it is vital that you include a generous smattering of extreme dark tones to provide the contrast. In this example, the figures watching the flames have been kept as silhouettes (with a touch of warm colour to their edges), and a few dark sticks of wood have been made visible in the heart of the fire.

[3] Notice how the overhanging branches of the tree have been graduated slightly, from a dark tone to a warm, golden colour at the tips of the finest branches. This helps to exaggerate and enhance the feeling of warmth within the scene.

[4] Finally, it’s worth knowing that I began this painting with a wet-in-wet wash of Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and French Ultramarine, to establish the overall shape of the flames and ‘draw’ them out, and upwards. A few highlights were then lifted out with tissue while it was still damp, again, just to exaggerate the contrast between the lightest tones and the darkest.

[5] Light the blue touchpaper and run!

Happy Bonfire Night!