Andy Eccleshall’s exhibition “Upper Left: Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest” celebrates landscapes and atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest, from coastal to rural to mountain. In this guest blog post, he shows us his process for creating two of the large-scale skyscapes that are the anchors of this show.
Exhibition Details:
“Upper Left: Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest”
Solo exhibition by Andy Eccleshall
San Juan Island Museum of Art
Washington State
March 7-early June, 2025
How I Paint Large-Scale Skyscapes
By Andy Eccleshall
Painting Process for “Into the Light”
“Into the Light” is one of the ‘anchors’ of my exhibition. It shows a stormy spring day over the Skagit Valley in Western WA. This is a rural community and it’s not unusual to see these abandoned farmhouses defying the elements. I like to keep the human elements diminutive in my paintings to emphasize the power of the landscape surrounding them.
Step 1: This is the thumbnail sketch of the concept of the painting. This is the sort of thing that happens, often in the middle of the night after I’ve been moving the composition around in my head for hours. Once I have a visual in my mind that I’m happy with, I have to scribble it down. Even a loose, quick thumbnail like this will anchor the image in my mind and allow me to “refer back to it” while I’m sketching in the painting. The image is derived from the experience of watching a storm the day before. The concept places the power of the storm against the fragility of an abandoned farmhouse that I’ve painted before.
Step 2: This is the first, fast sketch in of the composition. I’m using a thin wash of oil paint and Gamsol to quickly throw in the general shapes, lights and darks and get a good, energetic feel for the composition. This takes about 30 minutes. I have to work fast at this stage so I don’t lose touch with the image that’s in my head.
Step 3: For this layer I’m using a less fluid mixture of oil paint and Gamsol. I’m starting to define some of the structures in the clouds and establishing the layout of the landscape. At this stage I can begin to intensify the lights and darks and focus on the color palette, which will run through to the finished painting.
Step 4: I’m really carving and sculpting the cloud formations now, and getting happy with the energy and the contrasts, using a mixture of oil paint and a little medium consisting of walnut oil and Gamsol. The landscape colors are starting to get resolved as I experiment with light, trying to capture the brilliance of the sunshine set against the darkness of the sky.
Step 5: Here I’m beginning to map out the coloration and the perspective of the lower part of the painting. The line of trees continues to be developed.
Step 6: I’m closing in on the final stages here. The highlights in the clouds have been brought up, the darks pushed back. The detail in the field rows are taking shape as is the farmhouse. From here it’s lots of refinement of details, double checking the light and the intensity of color in the tree line, and glazing to increase the warmth of the foreground color.
Painting Process for “Double Bluff Beach”
This is another one of the “anchors” of the show. This is a large piece and allows the viewer to feel at one with the scene.
Step 1: This is the first stage, a very quick sketch in using a thin was of oil paint and Gamsol. I’m not concerned with detail or color accuracy, just the energy and composition of the painting. This allows me to very quickly reconcile the image in my head with the layout of the canvas.
Step 2: As I begin to refine some of the edges and the shapes, here you see a rare use of Photoshop to double check my lines. The quick addition of a line using the computer confirms my suspicions that there’s a more satisfying solution.
Step 3: Adjusting the composition and building on the lights and darks in the clouds. Here I’m trying to establish the “perspective” of the clouds. Not just the lines of them but working to emphasize the planes.
Step 4: While still working on the sky, I’m beginning to establish the foreground elements and the horizon line, being sure to stay true to the limited palette of this piece.
Step 5: More foreground refinement. At this stage I’m still working into the clouds using glazes to darken or warm up certain areas, especially in the top left, and punching up the whites where I feel they need it. Still lots of detail work to do on the foreground to create texture and a sense of bright light.
Step 6: The finished piece, complete with a dog, “Abby.” She ended up being the focal point (which she deserves to be!). In the end I was delighted by the irony of a 54 x 108-inch canvas with a 1-square-inch focal point. I think Abby would think that was entirely appropriate. 😉
Additional Paintings
“Testament” is a moody painting of the San Juan Island coastline. The tree is a madrone, common here in the Northwest. They cling to the rocks along the rocky coastlines. Bright orange when alive, when they die they become this fascinating ghostly white.
“Ancient Sentinels” is by far our favorite place in the whole state, Rialto Beach on the Pacific Coast. One of the most rugged and chaotic coastlines in the state, strewn with colossal driftwood and pounded by wind, rain, and massive surf. This cathedral-like painting shows the calmer high-tide line where nature deposits all the things it pushes ashore. This painting attempts to capture the heavy moisture and filtered light so typical of the Pacific Coast.
To connect with Andy Eccleshall and see more of his work, click here.
View more contemporary landscape paintings here at RealismToday.com
