plate no. 0827

After Rain

oilPost-Impressionismlandscapelandscaperivertreesmountainsskyclouds

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in color mixing for natural landscapes and learn to suggest form with loose, expressive brushstrokes. It's a good exercise in simplifying complex scenes into basic shapes and values.

technical profile

palette complexity

brushwork visibility

value contrast

compositional simplicity

study guide

est. 8 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Sketch the basic composition, focusing on the placement of the river, mountains, and trees.
step 02
Block in the main areas of color: sky, mountains, hills, river, and foreground.
step 03
Refine the sky with variations in gray and white to create cloud formations.
step 04
Develop the mountains with layers of blue and gray, suggesting depth through value changes.
step 05
Add details to the hills with ochre, brown, and green, using short, broken brushstrokes.
step 06
Paint the river with blues and greens, adding highlights to indicate the flow of water.
step 07
Add details to the trees and fence, using darker greens and browns.
step 08
Add final touches and highlights to create a sense of light and atmosphere.

color palette

primary · ultramarine blue · yellow ochre · burnt umber · titanium white

secondary · viridian green · cadmium yellow

Mix various shades of blue and gray for the sky and mountains. Use yellow ochre and burnt umber for the hills, and mix greens by combining blue and yellow. Add white to lighten colors and create highlights.

techniques

·alla prima
·broken color
·scumbling
·wet-on-wet blending
·Impasto

common pitfalls

→Overworking the painting and losing the freshness of the brushstrokes.
→Using too much detail and not simplifying the forms.
→Not paying attention to value changes and creating a flat, uninteresting composition.
→Getting muddy colors by overmixing.