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Painting backlit clothing hanging on a line, drying and moving in the breeze, is one of my favourite things to paint. I love how colour changes when light passes through fabric. In bright light the colours wash out. In shade they look muted. But when the sun shines through a translucent piece of cloth, the colour becomes so intense it can look almost unreal. If you’ve ever looked closely at something backlit, you know that glow really does happen.

I haven’t painted a clothesline since summer, and coming back to this subject feels really comforting. This is also the first time I painted one from a photograph. Because I’ve painted so many from life, I found I could still capture the same feeling and the same excitement, even while working in a new medium. This piece is a gouache painting on Claybord, and trying it on this surface made the whole process feel fresh again.

For this painting, I started by toning the surface with a mix of Azo Yellow and Ochre. Once that dried, I blocked in the darks, then painted the closest average colour of each area. I let those layers dry before adding little dabs of colour to suggest foliage, flowers, and the patterns in the swimsuit and towels.

The most important part of creating the feeling of strong light is the light on the swimsuit. It’s actually toned down quite a bit, which helps the bright orange glow from the backlighting really stand out. Even though the light on the ground is technically lighter in value, it doesn’t pull the attention away.