Painting the Skyline of Sydney, Australia - Art and Photography

Hello Steemers

I am in Sydney in Australia at the moment and I brought my paints we with. Today I met up with a couple of plein air painters (painting outdoors) and we went to Sirius Cove which has amazing views of the city.

The 19th century painter Arthur Streeton painted in this park so it is awesome to follow in his footsteps and paint there as well.

This is the painting I did this afternoon and I will show you how I painted it and some of the area.

Sirius Cove, 18cm x 28cm, oil on canvas panel, painted outdoors.

Sirius Cove with the view towards the main area of Sydney, it was a beautiful hot summers day.

The Council has put up this picture frame in honour of the great artist Arthur Streeton, who is one of my inspirations for my art works.

Arthur Streeton: an artist perspective.

I just love the beautiful turquoise blue of the water.

The view towards the centre of Sydney with the Centre Point Tower in prominent view.

I decided to paint this view, I liked the cliffs and the Sydney skyline in the distance.

I've borrowed an easel whilst I'm away and I set it up and started painting.

I am painting on an 18cm x 28cm wooden canvas panel and I sketch out the scene with burnt umber. I have opted for a high horizon and I have added a boat to create a focal point in the painting.

I always start a painting by blocking in the sky and from there I can gauge the tonality of the rest of the painting.

Next I establish my dark tones and paint those as quickly as possible so it doesn't matter that the light changes. I form the shapes of the skyscrapers with an ivory dagger brush.

Next I start painting the water and the foliage in the trees. I desaturate the colours in the distance to make them recede in the paintings.

Here I add more detail to the water and the rocks.

I save my lightest tones until the end of the painting and add highlights to the rocks, water and the boat and with that the painting is finished.

My finished painting on my easel.

Check out my website for more of my art: samuelearp.com

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