Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 12

Tweaking the sky and background


In this final phase of painting, I have to decide which parts are OK and which parts need work. For right now, I think the sky is OK, but I have four clouds about the same size retreating into the distance, which I might change later. First to the more troubling spots.

The background mountains were bothering me...they didn't make good sense. Last month I returned to the site in Pennsylvania and took more photos to explain the ridges, the buildings and the trees. With clearer information, I redid a lot of the background. The houses are now the right size, and the transition from middle ground to background is more gradual. I lightened some shadows and cooled some lights.

Then I tackled the tree. I didn't like the foliage: it was harsh and ugly. I painted over it with thin sky color and reworked the foliage into the wet paint. It is now soft and airy, but I can't go any further on it since it is so wet. It needs sky holes and shadow accents under a few limbs.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 11

Painting the foreground



First I redid the transition area in the lower right hand corner so that your eye would not go off the painting to the right. I added some more rocks in a variety of sizes plus two fence posts for scale.

Then I moved leftward and developed the shapes of the rocks and boulders in the shadow areas and then moved on up the hillside to the areas in light. I added some bushes and may even add more.

I am still drawing and auditioning shapes, as to where they look good and add to the overall picture. I will make sure that these bushes and rocks are all interesting, not funny looking. Rocks and clouds can take on shapes that can remind you of most anything. One of the rocks started to look like an old Chevy. Many times they'll look like dead animals or potatoes!

At this stage, I have covered the underpainting with a reasonable representation of what the finished painting will look like. From now on it is tweaking, refining, adding dark accents and highlights. There probably is no part of the painting that is entirely finished.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 10

Painting the remainder of the middle ground



Still working back to front I finished the smaller trees on the right and the bushes along the edge of the stream. I added grassy areas where the cows will graze.

Then I worked into the lower right-hand corner developing a higher vantage point on the right. I refined the rocks and boulders and then added the cows, using some reference photos. The important thing now is that they are the right size.

After stepping back from the painting, I realize that the lower right-hand corner bothers me with the funnel-shaped path splitting in opposite directions. I will revise this so that your eye stays in the painting and doesn't go out the right side, like it does now. I will blend those areas together so that there's a gentle slope down to where the front cow is grazing.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 9

Painting the right-hand trees, mid-ground grasses, and water



The right-hand tree evolved into two trees, and designing them artistically was my major focus. While I was doing the trees, I also needed to do the background behind them as I use the light color of the grassy plain to help define the tree shapes. They still need more visible limbs and branches, which I will take care of the final steps.

I painted the sandy bank and water, with reflections of the sky, trees, bushes, and the sandy bank using vertical strokes to make them look watery. A few horizontal light strokes show slight ripples in the water. After painting the water, I added the middle-ground grasses, giving them depth and shape with shadows and highlights.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 8

Painting the Middle Ground



Working from back to front, I started with the trees backing up to the mountains. I then painted the flat plane of the land, alternating grassy colors with pinkish-tan areas of dirt indicating paths and bare areas. Then I worked some of the middle ground trees attempting to make them individuals and not out of a tree cookie-cutter. I have indicated some grassy areas on the left, but may have to mass that more and save the texture for the foreground.

I will finish the middle ground in the next step, which will include the stream and the large tree on the right.

Having just returned from two painting trips: one to western Pennsylvania where this scene is and the other to Sky Meadows State Park in Virginia, I have been keenly aware of the variations in trees, and there are thousands. I wish I could have stopped along the road and painted each and every one to keep as reference material.

It is time to arrive at a new title for this painting, the original being "Shawnee Valley." I would appreciate any input you have for titling this new painting. I would prefer not to use the word "Shawnee," but it can be valley something, or something valley. I will consider all your suggestions. Please don't be shy.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 7

Painting the Middle Mountains



These middle mountains need transition colors between the foreground and the background colors. Again, it is difficult to paint the warm color of the sunlight on September trees with the cool overtones representing the atmosphere. We landscape painters must paint the air as well as the light: the affect of the atmosphere and light on each and every surface. The more distant the surface, like the distant mountains, the more air there is to paint.

I lightened the darks on the right-hand mountain a bit and then warmed up the small area between the two middle mountains. You can see how these transition colors were necessary.

In the sunlit greens on the right-hand mountain, I have added tinges of pink to suggest autumnal colors. I painted the original plein air piece in September when the colors were just beginning to change. At that time, there were more gold-greens than oranges and rust colors.

Shawnee Valley demonstration, Step 6

Painting the Sky and Background



As I continue with this painting, I am still drawing and tweaking the shapes to make sure that they are not only correct but also pleasing. My paintings are NOT like paint-by-number paintings where the color is filled in on a finished drawing. My paintings are always a work in progress, developing the shapes, colors, and values as I go along. I use a mirror to check my work and I squint at it a lot.

After making some drawing changes, I painted the foliage on the tall left-hand tree since it overlaps the sky, having refined the shapes from the initial block-in. The top branch points into the painting, leading the viewer’s eye in that direction.

I refined the cloud shapes and eliminated the slightly gray cloud at the top of the painting. Since I want the two top corners of this painting different, I now have blue sky in the upper left corner a cloud in the upper right corner. The cloud serves as an exit path from the painting, an effective compositional device.

The mountains and hills in the distance are the hardest to paint, since the atmosphere affects the colors to such a large degree. To get just the right degree of warmth and coolness, I adjust and adjust and adjust some more until it looks right to me.