demonstration
STEPONE
Witha pastelpencilI veryloosely
sketchinthebasiclayoutandshapes
to establishthebasiccomposition.
I decidewherethehorizonlinewill
be asI usuallyplaceit higheror
lowerthanhalfway– depending
on whetherI wanttoemphasisthe
sky ortheforeground.Thecurving
shapeofthemeanderingriveris a
key elementtothiscomposition,
so it’simportanttogetit right.
STEPTWO
I roughlyblockinthebasicareas
in theskyandI placethelightest
area ofthesuntoensurethesurface
does notgetfilledwithdarker
colours(makingit moredifficult
to createthe‘lightglow’effect).
STEPTHREE
I begintoworkupthedistant
mountains,choosingcoolbluesand
mauves.Againsttheluminoussky
theyforma distinctshape.It’sa
challengetobalancelackofdetailand
lostedgesnormallyassociatedwith
distancewiththissilhouetteeffect.I
alsostartmarkinginthecurveofthe
riverinsimilarcolourstothesky.
STEPfOuR
I continuetobuildonthedistanthills,
andthewatersurface,usingsomeof
thesamecolourstobuildupthesky.I
trytoavoidtoomuchdetail,andI’m
nottooconcernedhowthepastelis
applied...aslongasit getsthere.
STEPfIVE
I moveforwardandworkuptheright
side.Now,apartfromtheimmediate
foreground,mostelementsareroughed
in.I begintotonedownthehillsto
createa senseofdistanceandintensify
thewarmcoloursinthesky.I blend
someoftheroughmarksinareas
whereI thinka smootherappearance
willlenditselftothework.I avoid
blendingallareasasI liketokeep
a contrastthroughoutthework;
roughandsmooth,lightanddark,
warmandcool.Contrastis vital!
STEPSIX
I begintopickoutsomeclouddetails
inthesky.I workuptheforeground
vegetationusingmoredetailand
textures,anddarkertonesandcolours.
STEPSEVEN
I starttoindicatea fewrooftopsand
signsoflifeofthetowndownbelow.
STEPEIGHT
I decidetoextendthepainting
furtherthanoriginallyplannedon
thebottomedge.I likethewaythe
STEPONE
STEPfOuR STEP fIVE
STEP TWO STEP THREE