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Deep Wilderness Home

TalentZero 10 May 2020

17th. This was a challenge to control color and you can see I need more like it -- I still struggle with keeping the greens fresh and bright. Things go muddy very quickly. It was hard to get the "shape and form" right with the trees using the 2 inch brush but I needed the practice (& still do). This one is a lot of fun to do.

Oils

Comments

I think colors you got wonderful overall, even you think they are muddy(let's call them complex colors and hues) , there is benefit of mixing. All the painting is binded together by the complex colors and uniform mood of the painting is presented.

This is very nice autumn in the forest and after rain. Very quiet and calm picture. I think it is successful painting.

If you think about shape and form this is great, this means you are ready to take on next challenge. Shape is created through light and shadows. How 2D circle becomes a 3D sphere on the paper? You add highlight, shadow and gradation in between.
For trees it is the same. This is what Bob did not teach us in Joy of painting. Of course in30 min it is not possible.

This need to be tested on the big tree. Do only one big tree landscape. As it has clusters of branches and each cluster will act as separate sphere or egg shape. Try to create not only dark underlayer and highlight, but also colors in between. Make it as test and add 2 more shades of greens in between. (REMEMBER about sphere, highlight and shadows and many gradation of color in between) But make that green complex color, add ochre, red or purple or brown to it. Not just only yellow. But follow the getting transition from highlight to the dark shadow. So you will have 4 colors and 4 values.

You already know how to mix variety of colors. Look at your ochre and red and brownish leaves here in this painting, all this creates a very naturalistic view and variety. Good job you did with colors!

Voy Kay Conqueror of Challenges

Talentzero …. your cabin and your cliffs are remarkable yet Sunnylady's comment is also a true gem!! We can all learn from her! :)

Voy, thank you very much, you are very kind.

TalentZero Challenger

@Sunnylady, thank you for the encouragement. It is a process and I'll keep at it. I also appreciate your suggestion to focus on a big tree and work on adding dimension with colors.

TalentZero Challenger

@VoyKay, thank you. I was pleasantly surprised by the cliffs. The "porch" on the cabin was a lifesaver as it didn't look right. I think it obscures some perspective issues.

You are very welcome and I hope it will be helpful at least a little bit. I know based on my laziness it would take me a while to try it. Go for it when you are ready. Take a look at the tree painting I posted some time ago. You will see that clusters of brunches follow the process i explained above. Shapes however are more complex.

Dark colors = dark values = shadows = PG+AC, PG+PB, PG+VDB, PG + purple
Light colors=light values=highlights=PG+CY, PG+YO, PG+orange, you can throw a bit of TW in here.
Medium colors = medium values = all possible combinations from above of dark and light colors together.

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