Tompkins Park, Brooklyn

Late afternoon light bathes the park in diffuse, soft illumination from above, creating cool lavender-blue shadows across the bright yellow-green grass while the sky shifts from periwinkle-blue to warm peachy-rose near the horizon. Your eye lands first on the woman with the red-hatted pink parasol in the lower left foreground, then travels along the sandy path as it curves away, populated with leisurely figures in pale summer dress. The dark tree masses frame both edges and recede into atmospheric distance, with buildings and a steeple anchoring the middle ground on the right. A vibrant flower bed of reds, oranges, whites, and pinks occupies the lower right, its concentrated color making it a secondary focal point against the cool grass.

The lightest lights are the sky and the sandy path; the darkest darks live in tree shadows and deep foliage. The grass establishes a distinct middle value that reads as bright yet solid, distinguished from the lighter sky and lighter path by its yellow-green saturation. When you squint, three clear zones emerge: the pale sky, the luminous grass middle-ground, and the dark tree line silhouette. Shadow areas on the grass carry distinctly cool mauve tones rather than pure gray-blue, grounding the color story.

• #2d3528

  ultramarine blue + burnt sienna + viridian

  Deepest tree shadows and dark foliage masses, particularly in tree canopies on left and center

• #72754d

  yellow ochre + ultramarine + cadmium green

  Mid-tone tree foliage and weathered branch structure visible between light passages

• #645a3f

  raw sienna + yellow ochre + touch of ultramarine

  Sandy path winding through the park, warm and slightly muted

• #978fa4

  ultramarine + alizarin crimson + white

  Mauve-tinted shadows across the grass, cool shadow areas on buildings, and underpainting for mauve foliage

• #887a51

  yellow ochre + ultramarine + cadmium red

  Warm transitional green-browns in middle-distance foliage and dried grass passages

• #c2a5aa

  alizarin crimson + ultramarine + white + touch of yellow ochre

  Pale mauve tones in distant building shadows and atmospheric perspective in foliage

Chase employs loose, broken brushwork throughout—trees are suggested with directional strokes of varied greens rather than rendered leaves, and the sky is smoothly blended with soft edges that dissolve into the tree line. Figures are simplified to minimal ochre and white accents with barely-indicated limbs; the woman's parasol is just a few decisive pink strokes. The flower bed shows the most definition with individual blooms suggested through warm reds and whites, though never laboriously detailed. Grass shadows feature visible directional brushwork that follows the contours of the ground.

1. 01

   Establish the sky and distant atmosphere

   Block in the entire sky with a soft periwinkle-blue (ultramarine + alizarin + white), warmer and more peachy-rose toward the horizon. Keep edges soft and atmospheric; the sky should feel luminous and overcast, not dramatic. Establish the warm cloud passages with pale rose-mauve tones blending into the blue.

2. 02

   Silhouette the tree line

   While the sky is still wet or damp, lay in the dark tree masses as a unified dark shape across the middle distance and horizon. Use your darkest mix (ultramarine + burnt sienna + viridian) to establish the value difference decisively. Don't worry about detail—this is the shadow mass that anchors everything behind it. Leave the steeple pale against this dark.

3. 03

   Block the grass and path

   Establish the foreground grass in its bright yellow-green (cadmium yellow + viridian, lightened with white). Paint the sandy path using your warm tan (raw sienna + yellow ochre). Notice the grass is notably yellow-toned, not just green. Allow the path to curve naturally into the distance, narrowing slightly.

4. 04

   Place the cool shadow structure on grass

   Add the violet-mauve shadows across the grass (ultramarine + alizarin + white), following the diagonal direction of light. These shadows are not arbitrary—they follow where the tree canopy casts shade and where figures create small shadows. This cool-warm contrast between the sunny yellow-grass and cool mauve shadows is essential to the painting's light effect.

5. 05

   Plant the flower bed and focal figures

   In the lower right, establish the flower bed with bright reds (alizarin or cadmium red), oranges (cadmium orange), whites, and mauve accents, keeping brushstrokes loose and impressionistic—suggest blooms, don't render every petal. In the lower left foreground, place the woman with the pink parasol using warm ochre for her dress and a few definitive pink strokes for the parasol. Add the brown chairs as simple rectangular shapes.

6. 06

   Develop tree foliage with varied greens

   Return to the tree masses and add variation using your yellow-ochre-based greens (#72754d mix) in the lit passages and mid-tones. Layer warm brown-greens (#887a51) in sunlit foliage edges. Avoid uniform green; let trees show structure through value shifts and warm-cool transitions. Add the distinctive cypress-like steeple shape with pale tan and mauve.

7. 07

   Populate with figures and architectural detail

   Scatter figures throughout the middle and background park using pale ochre, cream, and white strokes with minimal red accents (hats, dresses). Figures should be tiny suggestions rather than rendered faces—a few strokes suffice. Add the tan-orange buildings on the right middle-distance, keeping them simple and not overdetailed. The figures and buildings should feel atmospheric and distant.

8. 08

   Refine edges and atmospheric depth

   Soften edges where the distant trees meet sky, making them slightly hazier than foreground elements. Increase the saturation and value clarity of foreground grass and the flower bed. Add final touches to the parasol and any key figure accents. Check that your mauve shadow tones read distinctly cool against the yellow-green grass—this contrast is what makes the light feel real.

• The grass green is dangerously easy to make too blue or too pure—it must retain yellow undertones to feel like sunlit lawn. Test your mix against the sky; if they're the same temperature, the grass will flatten.
• The mauve shadows on the grass can easily become muddy gray. Keep them clean and distinctly cool-purple by favoring ultramarine + alizarin over earth tones in those areas; they should feel luminous, not dirty.
• Overpainting the figures and flower bed betrays the impressionistic spirit. Resist adding detail; a few loose strokes for the parasol, minimal indication of faces, and suggested blooms rather than botanical accuracy will read as more convincing.
• The tree foliage is tempting to render as uniform dark green. Break it into warm and cool patches, let the sky peek through, and vary the value significantly—solid dark trees will look dead compared to Chase's atmospheric, almost translucent passages.
• The buildings on the right can easily steal focus if rendered too crisply. Keep them soft, shadowed, and subordinate to the foreground figures and flowers by using the same mauve and muted-green palette rather than bright details.

beginner friendliness

value contrast

palette complexity

compositional simplicity

brushwork visibility