A Landscape In Progress

 

The block-in stage of a landscape painting.

I started this painting as a demo for a local high school class (I was just demonstrating the start process). After first working out the design of the painting on paper, I used a thin monochrome wash of yellowish raw umber mixed with a little liquin and applied the block in very quickly by wiping on the thin paint with a paper towel.  This is a 16" x 20" oil primed linen.

 

A partially painted landscape painting

After the block had dried I painted the middle ground, hills and sky using a thin layer or opaque paint. I also applied a thin wash of transparent paint to the foreground.  My goal at this stage was just to get the values as close as I could.

 

A partially painted landscape painting.

When the previous layer of paint was dry I repainted all the sky, the distant hills, and painted the foreground.  I painted each area using both a cool color and warm color.

 

A partially painted landscape painting

I repainted the grass and the trees (basically the entire middleground). I paid special attention to the tree edges where they meet the sky and hills. I added some cooler notes to the distant foreground and played around with some other ideas which didn't quite work - those got taken out. The painting is getting close to completion, but needs time to dry before the next bits are added.

A partially completed landscape painting

The latest additions were some scumbling around the silo and a texture added to the foreground. I also straightened up the pine tree which was leaning left. These were intended to be finishing touches but, like most painters, I'm terrible at deciding when a painting is finished, so I'll put it to one side and see if I find anything I want to change after a few days have passed.

 

A completed landscape painting featuring a grain elevator, silo and the blue ridge mountains. The sky is yellow and there is a plowed field in the foreground.

Burkittsville Road. 16" x 20" oil on linen. 2014

And here it is finally completed. I did a little more scumbling of the distant mid ground trees and added a few warmer color notes to the foreground. At this point it feels finished and I won't make any more changes.


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