The sky is
complete (for now) and I’ve started on the distant trees.
I finished
up the layer of cloud blue, moving from right to left. After that I went back
over the area of the sky where there is a transition to a lighter value. The
transition wasn’t uniform enough, so I touched it up with blue slate to make it
a bit more gradual.
The clouds
next received some attention. Using the cloud blue I added more structure and
volume to them, putting in shadows here and there. I’m going to leave them for
now, and maybe do more work on them later. I’ll decide how much more detail is
necessary by looking at them in relation to other objects around them when the
painting is more completed.
The distant
trees are important because they contrast with the birds. I have to be careful
how much detail I put into them because they could begin to compete with the
birds. I want them to show off the birds by serving as a darker backdrop. The
way I approached the trees was to block in the shapes, without any real detail,
getting the values and colors as close to the color and value sketches as I
can. After blocking the trees in I can start back over them, putting in detail
slowly, until I’m satisfied. The distant trees were blocked in with chrome
oxide green (FC), chromium green opaque (FC), yellow ochre (FC) and Tuscan red
(FC). The Tuscan red, combined with the chrome oxide green, gives really dark
values for the deepest shades. I changed the palette a bit from what I had
decided on originally, adding the yellow ochre and deleting the chartreuse and
white (so far). The warmth of the sun on the trees comes through more in the
color sketch than in the photo, so I felt the yellow ochre worked better than
the chartreuse, which is a cooler color.
Now that
the distant trees are blocked in, I will go back over the area and begin adding
some detail.
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