|
Step 1: After drawing in the main shapes, I wet the sky with clear water, then drop in some cobalt blue and alizarin crimson. Using a slightly stronger mixture of these colors, I put in a couple of shadows.
|
|
Step 2: With a warm mixture of cadmium red and raw sienna, I paint the barn shapes entirely (the shadow side as well), then continue with the raw sienna into the sheep. I add burnt sienna and quickly brush in some ground, then carry it right up into the tree. Sepia, a rich dark, gives some form to the tree.
|
|
Step 3: Time to use darks to pull things together. The brush pile is painted leaving some white of the paper, then carried across to the shadow side of the buildings. I add some smaller darks around the sheep, then "splatter" some of that dark mixture in the foreground. The distant trees are painted loosely with a little variety of color. I break up the large white foreground with some big strokes of raw sienna and cobalt blue. Dry paint "scrubbed" onto the large tree indicates winter foliage.
|
|
Step 4: Finally, I add the dark window in the barn, a fence section, some blue in the snow of the brush pile, and the little branches of the tree. The direction of strokes in the foreground lead the viewer's eye from the lower left towards the trees, then back toward the group of sheep. I think this painting gives a sense of the sheep relaxing in a warm winter sun.
|