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Robin Mackervoy demo, 15 Dec 2009 Still life in Oils Contact him at mackervoy@btinternet.com
Robin Mackervoy is a member of the Wapping Group and of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and it shows. Everything looks so easy. Although he gives enough information and hints for the most avid student, brushes were being rinsed and changed with scarcely a mention (there must have been a dozen or two to hand) and you suddenly realised that different colours had started to appear and that features were being painted over and moved. The best demonstrators, like Robin, give us a "stream of consciousness" as they work, but his brain obviously thinks too fast for the voice to keep up. But first things first.
Robin had set up a bunch of fresias and a selection of pots. "The most important part of the process has already been done: arranging objects that complement each other and lighting them to emphasise their interactions and guide the eye to the most interesting part". It would have been rude of me to push him out of the way to get a photo from his viewpoint when he said that - I completely forgot afterwards. Sorry. Snippets of advice just kept coming. I'll save these until I've described the progress of the demo itself.
There was an unfamiliar icon on the camera screen all this evening. I've done a lot of fiddling to try to improve the photos but you'll just have to excuse the poor focus and the inconsistencies of colour and tone. Sam Dauncey	The canvas panel had already been prepared with a thin layer of raw umber. Robin then started in with thin applications of even darker, low-key mixes of French Ultra, Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre. He worked around the outside of the canvas, almost scrubbing the (hog) brushes, in all directions with no attempt to make the result even. Background, cooler for distance, was first, then more distant foreground and then, slightly warmer, the nearer foreground. It gradually became apparent that it had been left lighter where the fresias were to be. Some lighter areas were actually rubber back with a cloth and the darks reinforced where they met the lights. Then the drawing started, using even darker colour. Robin stood well back, holding a long brush well away from the bristles and making sure his head stayed in the same place. The aim was to define interesting shapes, not specific objects, the drawn lines not necessarily following the areas that had been painted
Marks were short and deliberate and the drawing merged imperceptably into further darkening of the dark sides of the lines and lightening on the light sides, so that the lines themselves disappeared. Robin kept going back into the shadows, making them increasingly dark. Lights appeared first in the right general areas, without too much precision. As the drawing continued he was subtly shifting things, and allowing the shapes to become better established. Lines were lost-and-found, the brush skipping around from one part to another, always with only the tip being used, so as not to disturb the paint underneath.
	The colours at this stage are always combinations of all three "primaries", normally chosen from a warm or a cold set. Brushwork alone is sufficient to suggest the background. As the painting progressed the paint became lighter in colour, thicker in texture and fatter (more oil). Each mix of colour, enough for only a few strokes, was slightly different and Robin kept modifying areas repeatedly. Surprisingly, as he got to the finer detail he abandoned the hog brushes in favour of sable, rolling the brush as he laid on individual petals, each with separate strokes for the more and less brightly lit sides.
The last few minutes were fascinating. Robin was mixing small quantities of whites, warmer nearer the light source and cooler where more shadowed. The foreground was lightened and highlights were added, but more darks were still being emphasised to define edges. The most vivid colours are kept for very limited use at the very end. They are best placed right next to the darkest darks. At the end of the demo Robin said that a little more work was still needed. You could have fooled me. This had proved to be a most absorbing and instructive evening. Many of his points of advice were specific to oils but I am sure that everyone in the audience was both instructed and inspired by Robin's performance.	End of demo, in frame
Finally, here are just a few of the many hints and ideas that were dotted throughout the demo:
Start with plenty of clean brushes all pointing the "wrong way". When you finish using one you put it back pointing the "right way", so you can see which ones you've used and will ultimately need cleaning. Use Zest-it diluent (and odourless white spirit for cleaning) if you want to avoid smell. Zest-it is nearly as good as turps. Paint with your canvas in subdued light - it will result in a brighter painting. Paint oils from dark to light; from thin (more thinners) to thick; from lean to fat (more oil). Try not to get it right too early - it makes you inflexible. Paint shapes first, particularly by defining their background, then decorate right at the end. Don't use black or white on their own.	Mix up only enough for a few marks and then mix again with the same colours, so that surfaces are not boringly flat. Horizontal brush-strokes normally look lighter than vertical ones (I think this assumes the light is above). Nothing is the same shade or tone at both ends. Be aware of which are your warmer (for better lit and closer areas) and cooler colours Reflected light includes the colour of the surface it's reflected from. Draw all the ellipses at the same time, to make them consistent. Use marl stick for accuracy of final touches. Sam Dauncey

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