In John Corby’s own words, “I now use fewer brushes, fewer colour mixes and fewer brush strokes to achieve … a better result.” The Finishing Touch – Introduction, p10]

Having said that, John usually starts with a fairly detailed mono-colour line drawing of the scene, using a grid to help place the detail correctly.

                
The various areas of the sketch are then ‘blocked in’ with pure pigment mixes, often,

especially in his workshops, using a limited palette consisting of only one of each of the three primaries available [a red, a blue and a yellow] plus white to make the desirable ‘mix’ for a particular scene. For example, he might use alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and spectrum yellow or, say, venetian red, cobalt blue and yellow ochre.

Vera Richardson getting the tones right.

Or it might be any combination of three reds, four blues and four yellows that he regularly chooses from, depending on whether it’s a ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ scene. Tones are controlled by adding or removing turps from the mix.
During this 2-day workshop, we did a landscape and a seascape. Examples of each are included in this report.

   
Next, thicker paint is applied as the painting is refined [John Corby, above], and the ‘blocked in’ areas might or might not disappear, depending on how important they are to the overall picture. If some of the original “wash” areas “fit”, there is no need to cover them with the thicker paints used in this stage.

Ray Haining receives some pointers from John Corby.

New member, Brett McGrath, feeling pleased with his effort.

Important Tip: When mixing colours, introduce the new colour gradually into the edge of the original colour or mix.
Don’t just plonk it in the middle [John’s words, not mine.]

Looking pleased with my seascape [but Saturday’s landscape still needed a lot of work.]

Vivien Tanner’s lovely, almost-finished landscape.

John’s Final Words: Have fun!!

Eva Illyes proudly displays her weekend’s efforts.

My Final Word: John Corby’s book, The Finishing Touch. What a beautifully simple book. It’s colourful, easy to read, contains no unnecessary text and is absolutely full of ideas and examples which make you want to start “puttin’ on the paint”, as one of his chapters is called. And, while I haven’t quite [haha!] been able to replicate his beautiful work, he makes you feel as though you will be able to if you persist. Very encouraging!!

- Ray Teasdale