I Am Painting - Lessons and Tutorials
Painting Lessons
Use whichever brush you feel comfortable with. I usually use a flat bristle brush for most of my landscape work and rounded bristle and fine tiped bristle for my portrait work. Remember there is no right or wrong way to paint! If your painting doesn’t turn out like mine – then congratulations! You created a unique one of a kind painting.
Tuscan Landscape - Beginners Acrylic Painting Tutorial
The first thing I did was to paint the bottome half of the canvas with any earth tone colors. Nothing fancy here! This step is simply an underpainting. Many artists do this so that no white will show through.
Now wet the sky area or top half of canvas with white gesso.
Then with a little yellow and a touch of orange added to the same brush, start at bottom of the sky area and work your way up. Use long horizontal strokes. Take the strokes right off the canvas while blending the yellows and orange into the white gesso as you work upward. Gently blend right up towards the top of canvas. Wipe the brush off with a paper towel.
Now add a touch of ultramarine blue and purple to the brush and start at the top of the canvas and work your way downward in the same fashion as you did the yellows. Don't over blend!!! If you do you may end up with a green sky since yellow and blue make green.se sky colors (a mixture of white blue and purple) and paint in furthest hills – mountains. Notice how these hills show very little detail and are very soft looking.
Darken the mountain (sky) color and paint in next layer of hills. You want to make sure that you let some of the previous mountains show. Keep the tops interesting with some variations.
Add some earth tone to the very distant hills. You can use browns, tan, etc. Keep it dull though. Just add white to dull paint color. These are in the center of painting. Add some hunter green and start dabbing or scrubbing in the bushes. This should be a dull green.
Landscapes typically get darker and more vivid as you work forward.
Lay in the foreground hills. (you will do the one the left first) Make this one lighter to look like sunlight is hitting it.
To do this start on the left of the painting and pull the paint brush into the center of the painting. Notice the slope of this hill. If you want you could add some rows of green for a field of crops look. (see next picture)
Now darken the mixture and add the hill on the right. Darken it with browns or tans. Too much green will make your picture look unnatural. This hill will be painted the same way but starting on the right side of the painting pulling the paint into the painting and overlapping the previous hill. Continue painting until the entire canvas is covered.
Don’t over blend! Let variations of color show.
Now start adding the tall trees.
If you are using a flat bristle brush, hold it on the side and dab on the paint in the shape of the tree.
In the background they will be duller – or lighter. The ones in the foreground are hunter green. Add purple to the paint to darken the side that will be in shadow.
Add some tree shadows to the ground.
Add one more foreground hill in the very front. The more layers – the more depth your painting will have.
Add touches of reds or oranges for flowers, and some tiny shadows if you want to. Highlight the trees. (use yellow or light green and dab in brightness on the sun side of the trees)
You could easily be finished with your painting now, and let the dramatic tall tree shadows be the focus.
Or…Add some houses. Just draw in simple house shapes paint in the shapes with “dirty white “ and red for roofs. For shadows on the house, darken the roof color under the eaves. Dry brush in some white for highlights on the roof. Add a touch of orange for lights in the houses.
Want to learn how to paint better?
Do you know what to practice so that you improve your artistic talent sooner rather than later. Let experienced artist Richard Robinson show you exactly what you need to know and what you need to practice.
