Saturday, September 2, 2017

Landscape Demo - part 02

Step 01

I like to begin boldly and freely....
there is lots of time to get down to detail.
Although I've used the body 
(or main) colour of rocks and trees, 
you'll notice very dark greens 
and bright orange of the background. 
This is the underneath colour 
which will only be hints in the final.

This broad approach gives me an idea 
how the eye will travel through the picture.
I make adjustments 
to get a comfortable flow throughout. 

Step 02
I've got my darks and lights 
so now I can begin to pull those two together 
with some middle values. 
Here I use my all time favourite Rembrandt violet 536.3
It's a great shadow colour for the greens and grays.
If you can't see it that's good! 

I'm also working on the shapes of the trees and rocks 
but most importantly edges.

 I want some lost and found edges,
pushing (softening the away edges)
and pulling  (sharpening the forward edges). 

This is what gives the picture a sense of space
 or 3 dimensionality.

Step 03
Here I'm adding some highlights and details
 to the trees, rocks and water. 
Everyone loves this bit  
but it is a good thing
I was photographing the process
 as it quickly became clear 
that less is more!

Landscape Demo - part 01





This demo is as much for you as it for me!


Hidden Cottages  -  Leslie Snider


In order to explain my process first I must
 be clear about what it is I want to say.
That takes some analysis of how an idea develops.

This is an important step for me 
as I like to work intuitively 
and only resort to analysis 
when things go awry!



This landscape began 
while having a boat ride
on one of the many lakes 
in southern Ontario.
A quick black and white sketch
pinned down the main elements.



This is not the exact location
but you can see some of the main elements, 
rocks, blue green pines, blue green water,
 hints of reddish brown earth
and that elusive cottage.



Marsh Scenes