plate no. 4590
Gray Dunes
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in atmospheric perspective and layering brushstrokes to create texture and depth. It's a good exercise in simplifying a landscape into basic shapes and values.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
4
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
4
study guide
est. 6 hrsapproach — 7 steps
- step 01
Lightly sketch the horizon line and the basic shapes of the dunes.
- step 02
Block in the sky with light gray and a touch of blue, focusing on the cloud shapes.
- step 03
Establish the dark band of the distant trees/horizon line.
- step 04
Begin layering greens for the dunes, using darker greens in the shadows and lighter greens in the highlights.
- step 05
Add texture to the foreground grass with short, broken brushstrokes.
- step 06
Refine the cloud shapes and values, adding darker grays where needed.
- step 07
Add final details to the foreground grass and adjust values as needed.
color palette
primary · titanium white · viridian green · raw umber
secondary · cerulean blue · yellow ochre
Mix various shades of green by combining viridian green with yellow ochre and raw umber. Use titanium white to lighten the colors for highlights and the sky.
techniques
- ·broken color
- ·scumbling
- ·atmospheric perspective
- ·value studies
- ·layering
common pitfalls
- →Overworking the painting and losing the freshness of the brushstrokes.
- →Making the colors too saturated, especially the greens.
- →Not establishing a clear value structure.
- →Ignoring atmospheric perspective, causing the background to appear too sharp.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·titanium white oil paint
- ·viridian green oil paint
- ·raw umber oil paint
- ·cerulean blue oil paint
- ·yellow ochre oil paint
- ·round brushes (various sizes)
- ·palette
optional
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil
- ·odorless mineral spirits
Use a limited palette to simplify color mixing and create a harmonious painting.
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