Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 13

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 13

            The grasses across the midground are one of the most complex areas of the painting. There’s a complex pattern of flower stalks, complexity in the bunches of grass in how they lay, and the line of pickerel weed that stretches across the lower third of the mass of grasses. I worked in a lot of colors as I tried to represent this vegetation.

            One technique that I used often to indicate the thin leaf blades was impressing thin lines with an embossing tool. The light colored leaf blades were achieved by first laying down irregular patches of chartreuse (P) and other light colors, such as cream (FC), cadmium yellow (FC), light ochre (FC) and naples yellow (FC). Then darker colors, chromium green opaque (FC), chrome oxide green (FC) and raw umber (FC) were used on their sides and stroked across the impressed lines. This produced darker shadows behind the lighter leaf blades.

The lines for the lighter leaf blades were put in with very light pressure with the embossing tool and the darker colors were used with care. Heavy pressure on the embossing tool would produce larger, wider lines that wouldn’t look real. The impressed lines can be done prior to any color being laid in, and this would leave white, sunstruck leaf blades. White lines have to be minimal in number or they become too noticeable. That’s why I did most of them after putting down some color first. The lines can also be colored in later with a sharp colored pencil.

The darker shaded areas behind the light leaf blades are the darker, deeper areas between clumps. They’re irregular in shape and transition into the lighter tops of the grasses. I also lightly impressed thin lines here and there before putting in the dark shadows to indicate stems of grasses rising out of the shadows.

The yellow flower heads and the leaf blades were set off against the dark shadows of the trees in the same manner. The flower heads were colored in with naples yellow and yellow ochre (FC) and then further burnished or impressed into the paper with cream. In most cases the stalks below the flowers were impressed in with an embossing tool. Then, the dark backdrop of the trees was colored in with chrome oxide green and Tuscan red (P). The pencils were used on their sides at first until the grasses were outlined well. Then I carefully worked around them until the background was dark enough. In drawing them in I tried to include variety in height and spacing.

The line of pickerel weed (the darker stretch of plants) was drawn in first with a graphite pencil, then colored in with chrome oxide green, chartreuse, naples yellow and chromium green opaque.

Some the darkest shadows and dark colors at the water’s edge were done with burnt umber (FC). A bit of orange here and there resulted from goldenrod (P) and mineral orange (P).