Class Six: Landscape Study (Part One)

Yikes, I almost didn't do my post for today... Now that Mrs. C is out of town for the rest of the "semester" Ms. L and I have been doing our own thing. Today was a study on landscapes while she continued her work on this boat/shore scape. EDUCATION: Cerulean and white are the blends that create a beautiful skyline, and carefully picking your horizon line (as long as it isnt cutting the picture in half we are good), and keeping in mind that the farther away something is, the less detail it will have. Skies are blended diagonal hatch marks while the water is always horizontal. Today I took from two landscape images and melded them together (will I ever learn?).

These are the two images my study came from.

The tree and the general structure from the above image 

While using the rocks and plateaus of the bottom image.

So I made my sketches, got all my prep done, and begun my work. It still surprises me how fast time flies in here. Ms. L would mention something on her painting and point out various changes, reminding me that a painting is always evolving and nothing is set in stone. Yet another reason to leave out the details and the texture until last. My efforts to creat smooth blended bases and washes seem to be paying off...

Can you see it? So soft and blended? 

We had some communication issues today, Ms. L and I, which I of course attribute to Mercury Retrograde. :P She mentioned adding a little alizarin Crimson to the sky and completely finish up the sky before moving on. Woot! Details I am on it!

Um, oops. A bit too much crimson? Lol

But my clouds were really coming along.

Here, is the first of multiple miscommunications she and I had. Turns out she didn't want me to put details into the sky after all and then I had to go back and blend it all in. Friends, I have a fondness for texture and this class has been frustrating in this category. So I am busting my brushes to keep everything silky smooth and avoid all detail till later, when Ms. L comes over to check on my work and adds some details to my work. *Breathe* Um, ok, but I thought we were waiting until the end to do that? Oh, it's just to give me an idea of what you're talking about? Ok... But I get my panties all twisted every time someone else paints on MY canvas. I know it sounds egotistical, but my fear is that she might wind up doing things on my work that people will give me credit for, and then I feel like a fraud. I rationally understand that she is trying to explain technique, but I get frustrated. Eventually she moved to showing me things on a scrap paper, which I very much appreciated. 

She was very encouraging as well, complimenting me on my progress and telling me that I am a "real painter."  :) I wish I could pick up all the concepts she has been trying to explain, but I can definitely say without a doubt that I have improved three fold since I began. Ms. L asked me to trust her with a few things, mostly composition, after I would ask why she wanted me to put this there or add that color here. Also the size of brushes was a thing today, so much larger than I even owned, for such small areas, and she tried explaining why, but we just were off today. I will be putting my larger brushes on my to purchase list!

Viola, my half complete, composite landscape study.

Now where are those pesky lights and shadows?