Two Shores: Step 6
In a lot of ways, I’m taking the same approach to painting this bridge as I do with painting a figure painting. I now have the background and foreground of the painting completely blocked in, sans detail, but the bridge itself remains untouched. This is often the same approach I would use if the bridge was actually a figure. In this step, you can see one reason why it’s useful to wait until the background has been properly dealt with before going ahead and painting in the main items of focus, such as the bridge or a figure as the case may be.
While the paint is still wet, I use a dry fan brush to gently blend the entire background. This takes the harsh edge off of the loose brush strokes that were used to quickly put the colors in place. While doing this, I continually clean and dry my brush (I actually use several brushes for this) to keep it dry and free of paint. Blending with a wet brush is about as effective as performing surgery with a garden hoe–You can be as careful as you like, but you’ll more than likely end up with a disappointing mess.
I’ve included before and after images to illustrate how dramatic the blend actually is. By comparing the accompanying image to the previous step, you can see how the image has become much softer and is gentle on the eyes. You can also see how the blending has bled over the borders of the bridge. This is a big reason why I haven’t bothered to block in the bridge yet. By waiting until after this stage, I’m saving myself the trouble of having to either paint the bridge twice, or complicate my blending by trying to carefully mind its edges.
This soft background is an important part of my personal landscape technique. If my painting was a Big Mac, this would essentially be my secret sauce. The painting may seem hazy right now, but this is the perfect backdrop for adding details. And by adding just a few details to the gentle fade, I’m able to retain the soft sense of the painting while simultaneously creating as high a level of realism as I like. And another useful part of this technique is that even when the faded background has dried completely, it’s very easy to paint consecutive layers on top of it that appear seamlessly blended, even though a wet-into-wet blend is impossible. It’s effectively a trick for achieving wet-on-wet blending results from a completely dry layer, which allows me a lot of freedom throughout the rest of the painting process.
