plate no. 7623
After a Rain. Rainbow
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students practice layering techniques to create depth and atmospheric perspective, as well as blending colors to achieve soft transitions and subtle color variations in the sky and landscape.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
4
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
4
study guide
est. 8 hrsapproach — 8 steps
- step 01
Sketch the basic composition, dividing the canvas into sky, distant hills, and foreground.
- step 02
Establish the sky with light blue and white, blending to create a soft, cloudy effect.
- step 03
Paint the distant hills with muted greens and blues, using a lighter value to suggest distance.
- step 04
Apply a base layer of green for the fields, varying the shades to create depth.
- step 05
Add darker greens and browns for the trees and foreground foliage.
- step 06
Create the rainbow with thin, blended layers of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
- step 07
Add details to the village with small strokes of light and dark colors.
- step 08
Refine the blending and add highlights to complete the painting.
color palette
primary · cerulean blue · sap green · titanium white · yellow ochre
secondary · burnt umber · cadmium red · violet
Mix greens by blending blue and yellow, and vary the shades by adding white or brown. Achieve the rainbow colors by blending primary colors.
techniques
- ·wet-on-wet blending
- ·layering
- ·atmospheric perspective
- ·scumbling
- ·color mixing
common pitfalls
- →Overblending, resulting in muddy colors
- →Ignoring value changes, leading to a flat image
- →Making the rainbow too saturated or opaque
- →Neglecting atmospheric perspective, causing a lack of depth
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·cerulean blue oil paint
- ·sap green oil paint
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·yellow ochre oil paint
- ·burnt umber oil paint
- ·round brushes
- ·palette
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·medium gloss
Use a medium-grain canvas for best results. Consider using a limited palette to simplify color mixing.
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