Step 1

I selected a photo of an RN ship HMS Naiad (B&W photo) to use as the reference for the Southland. HMS Naiad was an Ikara Leander similar to HMNZS Southland, although the superstructure had to be well researched to turn it into HMNZS Southland.

Pictured here are just some of the references I used for the composition and colour palettes for sky, water, land and ship. In total, I had around 15 photographs to help construct the painting.

Step 2

Once I had the references, I started on the board. Filling the board with a blue hue, which would be used in the sky and water, avoids any white patches in the final painting .

Step 3

With the base layer complete, I drew in the horizon and major shapes and landmarks for the composition.

Step 4

With a flat brush, I built up the colour for the sky, using a fan brush every now and again to blend the paint to get a smooth gradient. Sometimes you can get some interesting strokes with the edge of the fan brush.

Step 5

I finished the clouds using quick strokes to give some of them a wispy appearance. Remembering Auckland can get very wet, I gave the larger clouds a dark underneath to give them the feeling that they are about to burst.

Step 6

Here I've put the base colour in for North Head. The water has been lightened in hue and I'm still playing with the shadows of the clouds.

Step 7

Taking a digital shot of the painting, I superimposed the reference photo onto the scene to make sure the compostion and scale was going to work.

Step 8

The ship image is transferred onto the painting by rubbing charcoal on the back of a large print out of the image. This is then placed on the painting and then I proceeded to trace over the image, leaving a simple charcoal silhouette.

Step 9

I started blocking in the basic shapes of the ship. Also at this time I'm making sure that the grey I've mixed matches the correct colour for the RNZN. They have a blue grey as opposed to a green like the Australian Navy. It took several attempts before I was happy.

Step 10

Finally found the right mix for the ships side. But before that, I worked more detail into North Head and the water with a bit of experimentation with reflections and light.

Step 11

Once the major shapes of the ship were in the correct colour, it was time to tackle the details! The Wasp helicopter looked like the most difficult part, I decided to start there.

Step 12

Paying close attention to my references, I slowly worked from the quarterdeck forward, modifying/adding detail to the superstructure as I went, from the HMNZS Southland images I had collected.

Finishing

Once the detail is finished on the ship, it's time to add more background elements to make the painting more real.

Auckland is also known as 'The city of sails', so I added some yachts and the odd seagull, bringing life to the painting.