Two Shores: Step 4
After the basic composition has been brushed onto the canvas, it’s time to begin painting. Before I do that, however, I have to consider the colors I need. I usually approach a painting by thinking in terms of distance, from far to near. It’s usually easier to paint the furthest elements and then move forward. This isn’t by any means a rule set in stone, since some effects look much better when painted differently, but in general it’s a guideline I like to follow. So my first consideration is the sky.
I want the setting of the scene to be after sunset. This will allow me to use a lot of rich, warm colors, which goes with the mood I’d like to evoke. I’m already planning on making the foreground and bridge itself very dark to provide good contrast to the eventual lights I’ll be adding to the background city and bridge. This means I can’t make the sky too dark, otherwise the whole painting might turn out looking rather grim, which isn’t at all the effect I’m aiming for. My solution is to make the top half of the sky a regular, bright blue, as if I were painting a scene set in midday. The horizon, then, will be where I place the subdued, evening sunset colors. But because blue and orange are complimentary colors, I know that if I just created an even fade between the top and bottom of the sky, I’d end up with a dull gray area in the middle. I don’t want that to happen, so I need to break up the transition area by adding some clouds that will be much more pleasing than a dirty gray fade.
I apply the colors loosely, mixing them first on my palette. I’m not trying to be too precise at this time, I’m only interested in getting the right colors into the right places to satisfy my idea of how the sky should look. It’s easy at this point to make drastic changes, if necessary, although I seldom do. It may not look like I’m being very accurate at this point, but that’s not exactly true. My accuracy at this stage isn’t accuracy of minor details, but rather accuracy of color. I’ll worry about refining the details of the composition later. At this point, the most important thing is to be certain the background colors are exactly the way I want them. The main reason for this is that the colors I choose now will have a big impact on the rest of the painting. They dictate the mood of the picture and the color palette I’ll use for every other part of the painting. If I don’t get them quite right, it could cause problems down the road.
After I chop in the sky, I use a little burnt umber to fill in the horizon area that overlaps the sky. The reason for this is ease of blending. It’s much easier to blend two regions when both are wet. If I wait for the sky to dry completely before painting in the horizon, I won’t be able to blend the two together and the result will be a harsh hard line separating them, or a muddled forced-looking blend that won’t appear at all natural. Since the horizon and sky are in the far distance, it’s important to have a good, soft blend to create the illusion of atmosphere. The blend I use isn’t dramatic. All I really do is take the harsh edge off of the division line by hitting it with a small soft brush. It doesn’t seem like much, but the overall effect it creates is very important to my technique.
Tags: Damon Denys, Two Shores
