Session II Snow, moon, trees fog

SESSION #2

RESULTS OF SESSION ONE AND SESSION TWO.....

These sessions are going to be available on my Etsy site as a kit.  5" x 7"  Canvas board, photos, step by steps and instructions/paint list. etc.  The kit will be available with and without brushes.  I am hoping to get everything together to offer this by the first of December.

             

The next thing for YOU to determine is:

What will be the NEXT farthest thing from you?  

Establish your horizon line.

Decide on your Point of Interest area and object.

My Point of interest is about 2/3 across the canvas and is the mountain and a tree.  I LOVE trees.  Without them how boring winter would be.

Paint Colors:   Paynes Grey, Warm White, Hookers Green, Dioxizine Purple...Burnt Umber
Brushes:    Flat Brushes and/or Dry Brushes (my recommendation).  
                  Dynasty Foliage Wave Brushes and IPC Flats  DIANA'S LANDSCAPE BRUSHES:  I sell this packet of brushes on my Etsy site....and will be using these for the foliage portion of this painting.

 Brush Kit Includes:
Small and Large IPC Brushes (Black Handled) used for soft foliage,  dense coverage.
Foliage Wave brush (White Bristeled Brush)  Airy, openwork foilage.
DryBrush (Varigated black and white bristles)  Used for skys, blending, snow, water,
and occassionaly stippling procedures.

With the IPC brushes I use the narrow end of the brush the majority of the time (and sometimes I only use a corner of the narrow brush) and to have more control of where the paint goes I hold the brush down at the ferrel.  When I use the Foliage Wave brush I hold the brush highter up on the handle for more range of motion.

I tip the foliage brushes AWAY from me to get "UP" on the tips of the bristles.

I soak my brushes in tepid water for about 5 minutes before using.  This opens up the bristles so the paint will soak INTO the bristles for a soft, mystical look.   I then towel dry (roughly) on a terry cloth towel.  I purchase towels at thrift stores because they are a bit worn and soft.  If I buy a large towel I cut it into pieces.  These towels are one of my major staples.

I use the Eye of the Tiger Brushes and the Faux Squirrel flats, rounds, angles etc.  Also Dynasty brushes.  I like a brush that is a bit stiffer than normal as these 2 lines work for me.

There are approximately 3-4 applications of paints to get where you see a finished moon and a tree and pine bough.  With the tree boughs see 1-2-3.... and I used the small flat IPC brush for all 3 layers of color.  Keep the final white to the very tops as fresh snow.


When painting the mountain I used soft slip slap x shaped strokes....I want the mountain to be choppy and layered....not smooth.  I will smooth the outside edges of the mountain as I add layers of snow.  

Whatever brush you choose....work the same way with the criss cross x strokes.  Once again I am going to use the Paynes Grey and Warm White.  I want it darker than the sky so I added  more Paynes Grey to my brush and blocked in my mountain down to the horizon line even though part of the mountain is covered with trees/shrubs, etc.  As I worked down the mountain to the horizon line I progressively got darker.  When satisfied wipe off your brush, add more Warm White and lay iin some of the snow area so it takes on more shape....lights and darks.

The Moon was done with the dry brush and a dark mix of the Paynes Gray and Soft White to rough in the outline of the moon.  I then proceeded to add one or the other of the colors to achieve a realistic moon with darks, lights and inbetweens.  I took my liner brush and created this a thin line of PG.  If you want more lights add some Soft White to the dry brush and very softly add some small highlights.

Next it was time to establish my Tree Line and I worked down once again to the horizon line.  At this point I am going to change brushes to the Foligae Wave brush  because I want a lacey look to the tree line and bushes.

I DON"T VERY OFTEN WASH MY BRUSHES WHEN I AM DOING A LANDSCAPE UNLESS I AM GOING TO A LIGHTER COLOR AND MOST OF THE TIME I JUST WIPE THE BRUSH WELL ON MY TOWELL.  I DON'T CARE THAT EACH STROKE IS NOT THE SAME COLOR LIKE ONE WOULD DO WHEN COLORING.    I WANT THE CANVAS COVERED....BUT I WANT VARYING SHADES WITHIN THE "SECTION"  I AM PAINTING.  I FEEL THAT THIS CREATES A MUCH MORE REALISTIC PAINTING... WITH AN INTEREST INTO COLOR...WHILE ADDING DEPTH TO THE PAINTING. 

ANOTHER IMPORTANT "THING" IS THAT WHEN YOU ARE PAINTING FOLIAGE... YOU WANT LITTLE UMBRELLA SHAPES...AND TO ACHIEVE THIS...YOU POINT THE TIP OF THE BRUSH AT ABOUT A 33 DEGREE ANGLE AWAY FROM YOU SO THAT WHEN YOU PAINT YOU ARE USING JUST THE VERY TIPS OF THE BRUSHES TO TAP IN THE FOLIAGE.   IF YOU WANT TO "DROP" SOME TEXTURE ADD A BIT MORE PAINT AND TOUCH A BIT HARDER TO YOUR SURFACE....NOTICE I SAID TOUCH....NOT SMASH...  I AM GOING TO WAIT TO "DROP COLOR" WHEN I ADD THE SNOW TO THE TOPS OF THINGS FARTHER ALONG IN THE FINISHING ELEMENTS OF THE PAINTING.

To my dirty bursh  Paynes Grey, Warm White I added into the "mix" just a little Hookers Green .  The tops of the trees will be the lightest and you will work down to darker closer to the horizon line.  If you will check out the photo above you can see how light, airy and lacey the background foliage is....very faint at this point in time.  BE CAREFUL:  I wanted my tree line very irregular with ups and downs Check back at my painting to see how there is a soft irregular tree line and you can even see little umbrella shapes here and there.
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THE TREE....  I love trees and especially when one is unique, different, etc.   I added a bit of Dioxizine Purple to my dirty brush mix to darken (Says Jerry Yarnell,,,"purple is the natural
shading color",   and I like to use it to darken..especially in a winter scene.  Much more natural than using black.

I painted the trunk of the tree with the tip and chisel edge of an angle brush but I round works great.
I worked in short choppy strokes with the tree just a thin light at the top and growing in girth closer to the horizon line area.    Add paint when needed to your dirty brush.  Smoosh lightly on your towel to barely blend the color in and continue with the tree.  With a liner brush I painted in the tree limbs.  They should be bigger at the trunk and then get thin at the end.  The branches should not begin at the same point on the tree t runk  left and right...stagger the tree limbs from the trunk.

To get a thin line using a brush you must release pressure on your painting surface and paint with the very tip of the brush...even when using a liner. 

 Notice that the limbs on my evergreen tree are widely spaced apart and angle down which is the way this tree seems to grow here in OR and the foliage portion is going to be clumpy, thickest at th... e trunk area becoming less sparse as you work out the branches and densest/darkest in the very center of the little clumps within the big clump...  I used the small IPC brush for doing the foliage on this tree and remember to hold the brush down at the ferrel of the brush so you control where the paint goes, how much, etc.  I started with just Paynes Greay and my IPC small brush on all branches then I added Soft White to the dirty brush and added some lifht to the top of the branches.  I then wiped my brush on the towel and added just the Soft white to my IPC and added snow to the tops.

SO......that is it for session II.   I just finished painting our next session so I will add a photo to the end of this session in a day or so.



CAN YOU BEGIN TO "FEEL" YOUR PAINTING.  THE FOG WHICH I AM BEGINNING TO SEE.  THE TEXTURE OF THE EVERGREEN "CHARLIE BROWN" TREE WHICH I JUST LOVE....AND YOU BEGIN TO QUESTION WHAT THE NEXT STEP MIGHT BE.  AT THIS POINT IN TIME....I HAVE NO IDEA.......  HMMMM.    

STAY TUNED FOR "SESSION III" CAUSE FROM HERE ON TO THE END OF THE PAINTING .......MAGIC HAPPENS....AT LEAST THAT IS THE WAY I FEEL WHEN I PAINT.  I LOVE WHEN THE BASICS ARE IN, SHAPES FORMED, ETC.  THEN I GET EXCITED.

                                                                                                 SESSION III:   Coming Soon