Free Oil Painting Lessons & Demonstrations

You can see that in today's work session I've begun developing patterns of color and texture in the grass forest floor, always working from dark to light. I've also completely repainted each tree trunk, to re-establish the outlines and to build up the paint layer. I like a substantial layer of paint on my foreground subjects. Today's colors are: Raw Umber, Permanent Sap Green, Cadmium Orange and Naples Yellow.

Lecture notes:

Here's an important tip about values and perspective when painting. Always keep in mind the big shapes that hold it together. The simple geometric construction to the left shows the basic shapes beneath this painting. When you know this you know why the ground gets darker beneath your feet and appears closer because of this. Managing this perspective is the "lesson" of this picture.