Landscapes

Working From A Pencil Sketch

There are times when one is struck, by a breath-taking scene that may never be encountered again. The color picture I did which is shown on page 75 resulted from just such an experience. Should you lack a camera in a similar situation, put your pencil to use and do a quick sketch of the scene with detailed pencil notes about the actual color. This will give you a chance to apply your knowledge about the warm and cool classifications of color because it will be almost impossible to remember each individual color by name. A sketch like this, as you can see, is not too detailed, yet it includes the essential elements in proper relation to each other. It will probably be helpful to analyze the drawing without the notes. See how abstract the little tree at left and the larger one at right are. Notice that the hills in the background are merely outlined and the woods at left and right, as they get nearer, are still merely wiggly lines. Buildings, too, are merely indicated rather than actually constructed.
When you get back to your base of operation, make an immediate color sketch based on the drawing and notes made on location as well as anything you may be able to remember and visualize about the scene. This procedure will give you a solid basis for a future finished painting.

Note in the lower drawing how I have saved the center building and large tree for the last. These are my darkest darks.

Winter Mood

Here is the final painting in full color of the stages explained in the previous pages. In the sky, I first used a thin wash of ochre with a touch of Antwerp blue, emphasizing the ochre. I then washed over that with ultramarine blue, introducing just a touch of burnt umber applied very lightly. In this particular instance, I did not sponge the sky area; it was painted with a wash.

While the sky was still damp, I painted the hills with areas of blues—permanent Antwerp, and cobalt—spotting them in different areas but graying them all with umber and Indian red. When this was finished, the darker areas of the mountain and background were painted, leaving only the areas that are to remain white unpainted. I used sepia, Antwerp blue, and burnt umber, graying their intensities. The trees and all details in the background were painted this way, using the colors of winter.

Next, the foreground of the road was painted and, when that was dry, the shadows were put in as indicated in the painting, this time using cadmium orange with the same blues. I finished by painting the house and foreground tree and other final touches.

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