‘Figures in an Urban Landscape in oils’
Friday 13th March 2026
Rodney Kingston is an artist based in Staines. He has been on Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist. He is graphic design trained and worked as a graphic designer until he decided to dedicate himself to his art. He went professional about 18 months ago and he is loving it. He does demonstrations, runs workshops, tutors a group and particularly likes to paint ‘en plein air’.
Rodney prefers to paint from life both when doing a portrait or a landscape but for a demonstration, of necessity, he has taken a photograph for his reference. He has chosen to paint Spurs fans walking towards the stadium on a match day for this ‘Figures in an urban scene’ demonstration.
The first image is the photo reference Rodney chose but he decided to alter it slightly. He used Photoshop to change the elevation so that people’s heads were all on a level plane. He also decided to introduce a cyclist on the left together with the figure on the right to frame the composition.
Rodney chose to work on A3 Georgian oil painting paper for the purposes of the demonstration. His palette was made up of Burnt Umber, Ultra Marine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow (which looks a little orange), Cadmium Yellow, Titanium White, and Unbleached White.
He used Burnt Umber to sketch which he thinned with Michael Harding ‘Miracle Medium’. He started with the head level line across the top of the page. He likes to draw in paint as it is very easy to remove and alter any marks. The perspective in the reference picture leads off to the left of the painting. By placing the cyclist heading into the painting from the left he takes the eye into the centre. At this stage it is important to use loose but accurate blocking. Drawing is the key foundation of a painting.
Next it is time to paint in the dark shapes in the background using Burnt Umber and Ultra Marine Blue. He used a Size 8 round brush and he kept the paint quite thin but enough to cover the paper. He likes Daler-Rowney and Rosemary & Co brushes.
To paint the grey tarmac area Rodney mixed some unbleached white into the Burnt Umber & Ultra Marine Blue, once again keeping the paint thin. Remember that adage ‘fat over lean’. He also mixed some Viridian and the two blues with a little Cadmium Yellow to create the colour of modern glass in the buildings at the back of the painting and he mixed some green for the trees.
He added some pale blue for the area of sky and used Cobalt Blue for the road sign. He used a fan brush to soften everything so that it all looked slightly out of focus. Artist quality paint is expensive and Rodney has tested different brands including Winsor & Newton and Van Gogh Oil Paints but he likes Daler-Rowney which is good as they are manufactured locally in Bracknell.
Having blocked in light and dark to create a sense of the people walking across the painting it was time to paint the strong figure on the bicycle. It is common to find himself holding the different paint brushes he has used in his left hand as can be seen in the image above.
This close up of the crowd in the background illustrates that it is made up of indistinct shapes and colours. It can help to turn a painting upside down to make it easier to see only the shapes rather than trying to paint individual people. Rodney used a silicone tipped paintbrush to scratch in and loosely suggest some lines of the buildings.The more discernible features and people in the foreground were painted with thicker paint. .
When painting the cyclist and the figures in the foreground Rodney used his fan brush to keep the edges soft and to create a real sense of movement. He used Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre and White for the flesh of the people. He used Cadmium Yellow and Naples Yellow for the high viz on the cyclist and Naples Yellow box on the road. Strong vertical lines for the traffic lights and the blue traffic sign together with yellow for the bollard on the island and the white lines on the road surface bring some finishing touches to the scene.
It was interesting to contrast Rodney’s set up for a live demonstration with what he uses when he is painting ‘en plein air’. The laptop for the reference photo was on the small paint box easel that he uses when he is painting outside. He usually paints on boards of either 10″ x 12″ or 8″ x 10″. He prepares his boards with several layers of gesso sanding the surface down between each layer to create a very smooth surface.
Rodney recounted how for a time he had taken the train into London at 5.30 a.m. to paint for a couple of hours before going into work. It was as a result of the series of 6″ x 8″ studies that he made at this time that he got noticed for Landscape Artist of the Year, which proved a great experience. Subsequently, he went on Portrait Artist of the Year where he painted Ann Reid, the Coronation Street actress. He only painted from the model and not from a photograph so the time constraints were harder for him than those who were also working from a photograph.
Sue Whitehead, the Chairman, thanked Rodney Kingston for a very interesting evening. It was fascinating to see his painting process and to hear his experience of working ‘en plein air’ which clearly informed the way he was able to paint an oil in the short time available for this studio demonstration.
Here is a link to Rodney Kingston’s website: https://www.rodneykingston.com
He also has an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/rodneykingston/
Write up: Carole Head
2 replies on “Rodney Kingston Demonstration”
Fantastic Demo as always. Very interesting.
Very good demo. And such a good write up Carol. Thank you for all the detail you go into and for the photographs. There is never a need to take notes as you cover everything. Thank you.