plate no. 7951
Landscape with white houses
some experience helpful
Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in color mixing to achieve natural greens and browns, as well as practice layering brushstrokes to create texture and depth in foliage.
technical profile
palette complexity
3
brushwork visibility
4
value contrast
3
compositional simplicity
3
study guide
est. 8 hrsapproach — 8 steps
- step 01
Sketch the basic shapes of the house, trees, and horizon line.
- step 02
Block in the sky with light blue and white, blending softly.
- step 03
Establish the main masses of the trees with dark green, using varied brushstrokes.
- step 04
Paint the house with a base of white, adding shadows with gray and hints of brown.
- step 05
Develop the foreground with layers of green and brown, creating texture with short strokes.
- step 06
Add details to the trees, varying the greens and suggesting leaves with dabs of paint.
- step 07
Refine the details of the house, including windows and roof.
- step 08
Add final highlights and shadows to create depth and dimension.
color palette
primary · sap green · titanium white · raw umber
secondary · cerulean blue · burnt sienna · yellow ochre
Mix greens by combining sap green with yellow ochre and raw umber. Create shadows by adding burnt sienna to the base colors. Achieve the off-white of the house by mixing titanium white with a touch of raw umber.
techniques
- ·broken color
- ·scumbling
- ·layering
- ·alla prima
- ·impasto
common pitfalls
- →Overblending colors, resulting in a muddy appearance.
- →Making the trees too uniform in color and texture.
- →Neglecting the subtle variations in the white of the house.
- →Failing to create depth in the foreground.
- →Using too much detail early on.
materials
surface · stretched canvas
required
- ·stretched canvas
- ·acrylic or oil paints
- ·round brush #4
- ·flat brush #8
- ·palette
- ·palette knife
- ·linseed oil or acrylic medium
optional
- ·easel
- ·painting varnish
- ·rags
Use a medium-grain canvas for better texture. Acrylics will dry faster, while oils allow for more blending time.
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