Artist's Palette - AU (2020-03)

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