Step 2 :
 
For the stonework of the castle itself I used a mixture of raw sienna, titanium white and a tiny bit of raw umber. This will give you the lovely soft sandstone colour of the buildings around here in Northumberland. I used my No 4 round brush which is just a little synthetic brush. Get the lighter side of the castle in first.

For the darker side of the castle I have used the same stone colour mix but just put a tiny touch more raw umber to darken slightly and again using my No 4 round brush. I find a little synthetic brush for this kind of thing more useful because they are not too stiff like most oil brushes. You can get into those tiny little corners.

For the window colour I have used a mixture of paynes grey with a little bit of raw umber into it. This will give you a lovely dark colour without going to a black which can tend to me a little bit flat and dead. Again I have used my No 4 brush, but while I was in with this dark I also painted the flag post, same colour, but with my No 3 rigger. Again just a little synthetic brush.

Interestingly at this point I should tell you the mediums I use in oil painting. As in most studios you can tend to get a heavy build up of fumes which can give you a bit of a headache or make you feel slightly high (makes me feel like being back at art college back in the seventies!). There is an alternative these days of course, which is low odour thinners, or in my case, Zest It. Which are very safe and there are no headaches. Its actually made from orange peel or at least that’s one of the ingredients. I use this to slosh out my brushes and also a little dip to put into the mixes. The other thing I use is something called oil painting medium which is a lovely thick gloopy liquid which has got various oils mixed so those are the only two things I need.
 

Step 3 :

In the next image you will see that I put the shadow in which gives the whole building more dimension and shape. This mix was cobalt blue, paynes grey and my permanent magenta, again applied with my No 4 round brush. Obviously this is applied to the darker side of the buildings.

Also I have added the flag which is a little dash of cadmium red and put on with my rigger brush.
 

Step 5 :

For the bank I use my raw sienna followed by naples yellow and then again little bits of shadow here and there using cobalt blue and paynes grey. Then with my finger just rub in a little bit of titanium white to add some light onto the bank.
 

Step 6 :

The bushes on the left, I have used the same mix of hookers green and burnt sienna, but this time add some cobalt blue to the mix. Then again some naples yellow nice and strong. This I did with my No 10 filbert. Conventionally that should have been a fairly scary clump of trees, doing it this way, its not that difficult.

Step 7 :


In the next image you will see I have started the water by putting in my reflections. You know what I'm going to say, just repeat the colours underneath which you have already painted above. But don’t keep to slavishly to detail you are just blocking in colours.

Step 8 :

Then in the foreground of the water cobalt blue mixed with titanium white fairly strong then as it joins the reflection of the trees just gentle smooth it up into the green creating a nice soft hazy transition. With my rigger brush I put a few little white lines here and there to give a little bit of light to the surface of the water.