Thursday, May 24, 2012

I had a lot of fun with this painting, so I thought I would share:

Step 1:

I started with a mixture of blue and white to achieve the sky color.  It was applied with a 2" brush in crisscross strokes and then smoothed out with side-to side strokes and with a small foam roller to remove brush strokes.

Step 2:

I mixed up a brown and white combination and used a pallette knife to spread it in the mountain peak shapes going downward and to the left.  Then, I added a bit more brown to the mixture and made the peak shapes going in th opposite direction in order to generate the shadows.

Step 3:


Next, I used another blue and white combination that involved more white than before to create a water color.  This was applied with a smaller brush and spread thinly to generate the irregular shoreline.

Step 4:


Using just a basic black and a fan brush, I tapped in the evergreen tree and bush shapes.  Of course, at this juncture, the mountains and water area are completely dry so the paint didnt mix together.

Step 5:


I then mixed together some green and white paint to get this brighter green color.  It actually turned out a bit brighter than I wanted, but in the end I really liked it.  This was tapped onto the dry black shapes of the trees.  Then, I added some basic brown to highlight the tree trunks and applied a mixture of brown and yellow ochre to create the grass under the mountains. 

Step 6:


Using a brighter mixture of brown and yellow ochre, I created a dirt-color for the bottom half of the painting.  It was applied with the same brush I used on creating the water area and spread across with the 2" brush.

Step 7:


I googled a nice barn image and sketched it lightly onto the canvas with pencil.  Using my pallette knife, I added in the basic red shape.  I added a touch of brown to my red and added the weathered roof, also using the knife.  When the reds had dried, I added the white parts and fence freehand with a small brush.

Step 8:

Using a basic green and my fan brush, I filled in the grassy area underneath the pine trees and slightly tapped into the barn area.  Then I added more green to the outside ground area, as well as freehanding more of a white outline onto the barn itself.

Completion:

Using the same green and the fan brush, I finished coloring in the grassy area on the right side and darkened up a couple of patches inside the fenced area.  The picture now just needs a signature to be complete.