Iain Gardiner Artist: Creating an award winning miniature oil painting stage by stage

‘Reflection 4’ Oil on Canvas, 9.5cm x 7.5cm

I created this miniature oil painting a few years ago - the theme of the painting is based on consumerism hence the use of shop windows and the reflections of every day people within them. ‘Reflection 4’ won the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers prestigious Gold Memorial Bowl Award. It’s now part of the Sue Lee collection of contemporary miniature art.

I started by taking numerous digital photos around London. I then adapted them in photoshop to create a composition that I liked by swapping elements and manipulating the colour.

Materials

00 Galeria Winsor & Newton Brush
00 Pro Arte Acrylix Brush
0/5 Pro Arte Miniature Painting Brush
20/0 Spotter Princeton Velvet Touch Brush
Da Vinci Micro Nova Brush
Winsor & Newton Refined Linseed Oil
Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colours: Magenta, Chrome Yellow, Winsor Red, Permanent Rose, Cadmium Red Deep, Mauve Blue Shade, Ultramarine Violet, Winsor Blue Green shade, Manganese Blue Hue, Mars Black, Titanium White, Brown Ochre, Terra Rosa, Permanent Green, Permanent Green Light. Davy’s Grey, Raw Amber Light, Indigo, French Ultramarine, Yellow Ochre Light, Burnt Amber, Winsor Orange, Brown Madder, Mars Violet Deep, Raw Umber light.

Stage 1

Using the print out from my computer as a guide I then draw the image on to the canvas. I tend to use a 0.5 clutch pencil with a cushion point and 2B lead to do this. To get a very fine point to the lead I sharpen it continuously with an Nt-cutter.

TIP 1

As the drawing is just a guide it doesn’t have to be exact with every detail - but it does help to be accurate.

Stage 2

Being right handed I find it makes sense to start the painting in the top left hand corner with the intention of gradually working across. I will usually use a 00 Winsor & Newton brush or a 00 ProArte Miniature Painting brush, as they tend to have very fine points and are also durable. I begin painting by out-lining the details on the buildings with a Winsor & Newton Mars Black oil paint, this time I am very meticulous to add in every minute detail including that which I left out in the initial pencil drawing.

I like to work on a small area at a time finishing a section before moving on to the next, similar to assembling a puzzle. Before the black paint dries around the architectural facades I soften it by merging in Titanium White mixed with a slight touch of Chrome Yellow Hue. I then begin to mould these shapes by blending different tones together to form a more natural look. I now start on the windows, I work over the black out-lines with different hues before adding the warm and cool translucent tones that make up the reflections in the glass.

Stage 3

Moving on now to the prominent yellow light at the top - which comprises of a mixture of Chrome Yellow, Brown Ochre and Terra Rosa. I now add different hues and tints to make the painting more atmospheric, to achieve this I have to wait for the paint to dry first before applying the transparent tones created by mixing the colours with refined linseed oil.

Using this technique I also build up the layers to create the effect of the building reflecting over the first mannequin. The warm tones that make up the mannequin is a mixture of: Chrome Yellow, Brown Ochre, Winsor Red, Ultramarine Violet and permanent Rose.

Stage 4

I start my next step by mixing a multitude of colours to encompass all the diverse tones of the peoples complexions and clothes in the painting, Using literally my entire spectrum, I mix small amounts of paint together to form the different tones on my pallet, these are created in a line from light to dark shades. While working I also try not to put too much paint on my brush as it makes it very difficult to control.

Tip2
I find it helpful to control my breathing when working on small details which require a lot of concentration, holding my breath for a short period of time helps to keep my hand steady which is useful when working for example on the tiny figures in the background.

Moving on to the larger faces. I Use the same colour tones that I mixed earlier for the skin, once I have finished their main features I then let the paint dry before applying different hues to create a more natural look.

Stage 5

I now start to work on my second larger mannequin using the same technique as I used on the previous one. I use similar tonal values even in the details on the concrete building. Moving down to work on the London Bus I use: Winsor Red, Magenta and Permanent Rose to create its distinctive colour.

Further down the painting the next two larger pedestrians are painted normally - once they have dried I apply tints of Mauve Blue Shade mixed with mars black and hints of Cadmium Red Deep over them to form the second mannequins jacket.

Moving across to the next bus I again start by outlining the fine details with Mars Black. As this bus is closer to the viewer than the previous ones there are far more features visible in the windows - these are created by adding Winsor Blue (GreenShade) with Davy’s Grey and Raw Amber Light.

Stage 6

During this stage I start on the largest women in the foreground. I begin by painting her hair first using Raw Umber Light, Burnt Umber and Van Dyke Brown with hints of Mars Black. This time the hair requires far more attention spent on it than the previous figures because she is such a predominant figure in the painting each strand will have to be painted individually.

Once the hair has dried I then added the small reflected mannequin by diluting Titanium White with Refined Linseed Oil. Later I will also go over this Mannequin with diluted Burnt Amber to create the effect of translucent hair to help blend it all in.

Her complexion is created by mixing Winsor Orange, Permanent Rose, Chrome Yellow Hue, Ultramarine Violet, Winsor Red, Brown Madder. Her glasses are a combination of Mars Black, Mars Violet Deep, Brown Madder, Raw Umber light and Titanium White mixed with Indigo for the high light.

Stage 7

Once the buildings and the bus are finally finished and dry - you can begin painting the final Mannequin over them with translucent Titanium White a touch of Davy’s Grey and Yellow Ochre Light (All diluted with Refined Linseed)

The final two figures in the bottom corner are painted normally - once they have dried I then apply a light translucent blue using; Indigo, French Ultramarine and Mars Black over them to form the Mannequins dress - the small flower decorations are added at the end once everything has dried.

The final stage is to work over areas that need slight adjustments. I notice these far better if I put the painting to one side for a couple of days and then look at it through fresh eyes.