plate no. 3216

Scenery in Southern France

oilImpressionismlandscapeskycloudstreeslandscapewaterbuilding

some experience helpful

Recreating this painting will help students develop skills in layering colors to create atmospheric perspective and using broken color to represent light and texture. 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. 6 hrs

approach — 8 steps

step 01
Lightly sketch the basic shapes of the landscape: horizon line, water, trees, and clouds.
step 02
Block in the sky with a thin wash of blue and gray, leaving areas for the clouds.
step 03
Add the basic shapes of the clouds with white and touches of yellow and pink.
step 04
Block in the distant hills and trees with muted greens and browns.
step 05
Paint the water with horizontal strokes of gray, white, and blue, reflecting the sky.
step 06
Add details to the trees, focusing on their verticality and the shapes of their crowns.
step 07
Paint the foreground with darker greens and browns, adding texture with short, broken strokes.
step 08
Add final highlights and shadows to create depth and dimension.

color palette

primary · ultramarine blue · titanium white · yellow ochre

secondary · burnt umber · cadmium yellow · alizarin crimson

Mix various shades of gray by combining white, blue, and a touch of umber. Use yellow ochre and a touch of crimson to create warm highlights in the clouds and landscape.

techniques

·broken color
·atmospheric perspective
·wet-on-dry layering
·scumbling
·color mixing

common pitfalls

→Overworking the details and losing the overall impressionistic effect.
→Using colors that are too saturated and not reflecting the muted tones of the scene.
→Failing to create a sense of depth through atmospheric perspective.
→Making the brushstrokes too uniform and losing the texture of the landscape.