Materials
- An easel
- A canvas
- Paints
- A filbert brush
- Water
- A jar
- Rags
- A palette
- A pencil
- And a sketchpad
Steps
Step 1
Choose your paint
Choose if you want to work in oil, acrylic or watercolor. Whatever you decide, choose the appropriate paints for your medium.
Step 2
Get a filbert brush
Leave all of your brushes at home except for a single filbert brush. As you progress in landscapes, add and experiment with other brushes.
Step 3
Bring water and rags
Bring lots of water and rags.
Step 4
Set up your easel
In the middle of the day, go set up your easel In a comfortable location that has a good view.
The light changes the least over a given number of hours in the middle of the day.
Step 5
Sketch your drawing
Using the pencil, sketch your painting on your sketch pad. Make only very rough shapes — triangles, arcs, blobs —to give it a general look and feel.
Painting is less about the medium (paint, pastel, pencil) and more about how you create the image. Drawings use lines. Paintings use shape.
Step 6
Work out values
When you’re happy with the composition, it’s time to work out the values, or lightness and darkness. On a scale of 1 to 10, choose a key object with a middle value.
Step 7
Eye the composition
Eye your composition, or structure. What’s lighter than the object you chose? What’s darker? What’s in between and by how much?
Step 8
Choose values for all other objects
Using that value as your key, begin choosing values for all of the other objects in your composition.
Step 9
Color your key object
Once you’re done, turn to the canvas and select a color for the key object.
You will probably need to mix paints to get the value you need.
Step 10
Paint the rough key object
Paint the rough shape of your key object.
Wash your brush thoroughly between colors in your jar of water. Dry on a rag.
Step 11
Paint another object
Choose an object touching your key object. Choose a color and assign it a middle value. Paint its rough shape. Stick to the middle values, avoiding highlights and shadows at this stage.
Step 12
Keep painting
Keep working around your composition until you’ve blocked off the whole piece.
Step 13
Appraise composition
Step back and look at your composition. Does it feel right?
Step 14
Assign and develop contrast
Now go back in to your piece and begin assigning and painting colors with more accurate values for ever-smaller shapes around the piece. Your contrast will begin to develop.
Start with lighter values, then move toward darker values.
Step 15
Add shadows
Add in your shadows in. Generally, you’ll want a cooler color. Avoid pure black.
Step 16
Add highlights
Finally, add the highlights. These will be something in the family of the color of your light source, but avoid pure white.
Step 17
Sign and date the painting
When you’re satisfied with your painting, sign the front, and, when it’s dry, use a marker on the back to identify the title, place, and date.