Emily-Rose Alcock Art

I think this is one of my favourite pieces I’ve painted to date. Not only do I adore country music, but I love the whole aesthetic of the Wild West.

So my work at the moment is based around that theme.

I started with a rough pencil sketch on cotton water colour paper. I then mapped in the areas of light and dark with masking fluid and washes of Derwent Inktense watercolour.

The key, I find, to a successful water colour painting is layering your shades. And keeping things simple, I don’t like to overwork it. Sometimes the essence of a shape for example is more appealing to the eye than absolute perfection. Painting is like decorating a house, different textures and finishes prevent the overall look falling flat.

Here you can see that although I’ve begun to intensify colours and I’ve mapped in his beard, everything looks sort of lost. So I use a pastel texture to differentiate the texture of his beard to his skin.

As many of you who have followed my work for a while will know, I love my inky lines! So I finished with imperfect inky edges to really make the whole thing pop. And a touch of Dutch metal leaf on his hat.