Work In Progress: Glade Creek Grist Mill, Update 16
Nearly finished! Much of the foliage of the hemlock has been added, as well as the trunks of the other two trees.
When the background woodlands and sky were added way back I the beginning, I masked out the trunks and most of the branches of the trees on the right. Now I went back over the masked areas with a dark mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue, painting in the branches. The branches were painted in while leaving some white to indicate snow. I also added in many more branches than I had masked out originally. To add some depth I made sure that some of the branches would pass over one or more of the trunks, indicating they were closer to the viewer. I also made some branches thicker than others, and longer or more intricately subdivided, or shaped, to add variety – so they wouldn’t all be the same. Variety is important in keeping interest in a painting. Then I added foliage to the branches. I also kept variety in the masses of foliage, making irregular shapes and sizes and placement. Some of the masses passed in front of the rightmost trunk, others behind it. Some of the branches were made to look like they were coming forward, others backward.
The masses of foliage were painted in stages. I painted some and then stepped back to look at the placement, to see if I needed to increase the size or irregularity of the mass. I didn’t want to add too much, so I went at it slowly – analyzing each pass to see if there was enough.
Somewhere in the middle of all this I filled in the snow and ice behind the trees, then added the branches over it. I left out much detail in the background snow because it would be mostly covered up and I could add some suggested detail later, after I had all the foreground foliage and branches in.
The two lighter tree trunks, deciduous trees, were painted in with the same mix of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, but with a bit of raw umber. In this mix I kept the mix more fluid and transparent. Then darker mixes were added to indicate bark and give form to the trunks.
I’ll continue to add in branches and foliage until I think it’s done. Then finish up any other areas that need it. I was hoping to be finished this week but that didn’t happen. Should be completed next week.
