Demo one: Quiet companion (1/10)

I washed my canvas with burnt umber, cad yellow and cad orange. Then a did a bit of paint sketching for my major structures from the 5 photos that I combined. When I was ready to begin, I chose to start on the subject, so that they would become and then stay the focus of the painting. It also sets the amount of detail that I will carry out through the painting. I try to put the most into the subject and the middle of the painting, and then let things get a bit looser out towards the corners.

Demo one: Quiet companion (2/10)

I am continuing to rough in my shapes. No details yet. This has all been with a #5 bristle or larger, and has only taken about one hour. I know where I am going with my color scheme (from lots of practice) so we aren't too worried about balancing everything. If painting this way were new to you, you might want some form of reference material for you color key and values.

By the end of my first day, I have a bit of interest, some depth, some exciting light, a bit of mist, and lots of soft color. I'm pleased and looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Demo one: Quiet companion (3/10)

Tomorrow morning came sooner than I'd planned. I woke up at 3:00am and couldn't wait to get into it, so by 10:00 I was well on the way to establishing some atmospheric moodiness.

I love painting moody scenes, with heavy atmosphere. People often ask how you paint it... the mist, that is, well you just do. You see it, you paint it. The only thing I do is try to throw in some interesting color, and leave out anything that is distracting.

Again, I am invisioning this finished. I'm not wandering how it will turn out. It is already there in my mind. The question is will I be in tune the whole time I'm painting and make it happen the way I see it (both in my mind and on the photos.)

Demo one: Quiet companion (4/10)

I used the photo on the left for the right side of the painting (right).

I begin by roughing in (with a large brush) a mixture of colors that, when all put together, will give the same value and hue that I am seeing in the photo (with my own adjustments towards the color key of the entire painting.) As you can tell, I am going much warmer than the photo.

Demo one: Quiet companion (5/10)

Here we are "blocking in " the shapes and masses of colors that we see in the photo. Not thinking of sticks or tree trunks or anything of detail. We are more concerned with the direction of movement in the tree clusters.

You get a feel for many sticks and the general direction they are pointing and you stroke in that way. Fast yet precise. No guessing or relying on what you looked at minutes ago. Keep your refrence in your face minute by minute.

Demo one: Quiet companion (6/10)

Here I am "punching in" some sky holes into the dark masses.

Demo one: Quiet companion (7/10)

Now I am "punching in" dark masses into the roughed in areas just the same way I did the sky holes.

Demo one: Quiet companion (8/10)

Now I am using a script liner loaded with lots of inky paint, with a fast movement (so that it looks dry brushed) I form a few specific branches that I could not have formed with the reverse painting when I punched in the dark holes. The two techniques together make a believable look for what I am trying to represent.

Demo one: Quiet companion (9/10)

Moving on now to another area of the painting? How does one keep balance and harmony between colors when moving around to different areas of the picture? Practice, familiarity, and simplicity in palette. (Mixing colors 8 hours a day for 20 years helps, too)

I planned this section from another photo of a waterfall that was also a cloudy day photo. So I put it in an area of the painting that would be in the shadow of the trees on the right. This place looks totally different in sunlight, so I wouldn't dare use my sunny day photo of the same spot.

Referring continually to my subject photos, we continue down the path to cover canvas, create movement, interesting color patterns and combinations. This is the really creative and "artsy" part of the work. The more accsurate you are at this "block in" stage, the less detail you must overlay to pull it off.

With regards to the water, I must stray from my photo due to what is reflecting from above. As you will see below (next) my "copy" is different in the areas that are reflecting. There are, however, areas of transparency that I follow fairly close. To know what to "reflect" I simply follow whatever is above and in the distant of that section of water.

Demo one: Quiet companion (10/10)

Here is the finished work. I had a good day today and was able to finish covering everything. As I am looking at it on the computer screen, the trees on the right read way too dark. So I turned around to make sure I didn't paint it that way...

It was quite different than the original, but after varnishing it, I will double check that. It may be too flat looking, and I will soften and roll the edge of the big tree around to the light.