29/06/2020
This is one of my quick acrylic outdoor paintings 🎨🔑✨
Below there is step-by step guide/lesson how to paint woodland path and which colour hues/combinations to use
; )
🖌More of the painting is suggested by using tonal values and colour rather than by line. Woodlands are one of the most interesting subjects to paint because you can add so much interest and drama to them in a form of little pathways leading off to some mysterious place and lovely passages of sunlight and dark shadows.
Step 1. Make a light blue mix of French ultramarine or Prussian blue and white and paint in the sky, taking the colour approximately two-fifth of the way down the canvas.
2. With the firm but quite soft round brush block in the foliage using different greens. By dabbing on the paint randomly, you can create an irregular, mottled background forest resembling dense foliage.
Darken the shades areas and introduce a little burn sienna for adding interest. Bring some light green and yellow into the background foliage and gently dab it on to the areas where the sunlight catches the leaves.
3. Lay a base of greys over the path using horizontal strokes. Ones the base colour has been laid, introduce some patches of darker tones at the edge of the path. Leave fairly distinct brush marks and use impasto to create texture. Use impasto on path, tracks and areas of bare ground as progress towards the front of the landscape. The resulting texture gives real depth to your painting.
4. Paint in the tree trunks using different tones of browns or black.
Use the variations of the same mix, sometimes with the hint of burnt sienna added, to strengthen the colour of the darker trunks.
5. Mid tones.
Darken the mix slightly for the mid-tone greens and continue building up the colour of the background foliage. Bring the brighter tones further down the picture, and introduce a touch of cerulean blue here and there. Then put in the darker, blue-green tones on the foliage overlaying the tops of the tree trunks.
Break up the background foliage using the variety of tones and colours makes a more interesting picture, but avoid introducing too much detail as this can be tiring on the eyes.
6. Fine branches.
Using delicate brushstrokes, put some finer branches. Then add an element of drama to the picture, bring in some touches of blue, pink and violet down the grass. This will soften the colour and give the impression of reflected light , will evoke the feeling of excitement : )
Strengthen the tonal values using olive green and lemon yellow. Add few touches of almost pure white for the brightest highlight, making these particular sharp.
7. Once we have applied the mass of the background foliage , using the paintbrush with a good point we deftly add individual grass patches and even flowers to some areas on a foreground.
Lighten the area of grass that is in sunlight. Using the mix of lemon yellow and white we put in blades of grass and stems at the edge of the path. We can make some of the blades longer and curve them different directions. Add some tiny leaves here and there to define the undergrowth and strengthen the grasses and foliage at the bases of the trees.
The work is unfinished on the right-hand side, but I left it for a purpose to let you see the preliminary layer of a very ‘sketchy’ beginning.
Now, be inspired and create your own masterpiece : )
