Artists Back to Basics - Issue 6 Volume 3 2016

STEP TWO

I very loosely applied the sky

colours using cool blue tones at

the top, medium blue tones in the

centre and warmer pinks towards

the horizon. I tend to think about

‘warm and cool’ colours, rather

than ‘light and dark’. I worked

from the top to the bottom of my

painting to avoid smudging.

STEP THREE

The sky colours were blended

together using the side of my

hand, and fingers. I added a bit

more pastel where necessary to

get a smooth underpainting.

STEP FOUR

I began to block in the trees

using a range of blues, greens,

a warm burgundy, a red, a warm

apricot, and a couple of yellows

and golds. I also began to add

the darkest tones to the river.

STEP FIVE

I started to block in the closer

trees and added some of

the trunks and branches.

STEP SIX

I repeated the darkest tree colours

and a splash of the sky colour

to the river, and lightened up the

trees that were further away (to

add some depth) by scumbling a

cool lilac colour over the top. I felt

that this was roughly the halfway

mark, so I gave a light spray with

a pastel fixative to prevent the

underpainting from smudging.

STEP SEVEN

I was really beginning to enjoy

myself at this stage! I established the

Step three

Step five

Step four

Step six

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