Painting a Small Mountain Landscape - Part 2 - Building up the Detail and Refining the Painting

Hello Steemers

This is Part 2 of 'Painting a Small Mountain Landscape', where I show you how I painted this oil painting of Mt Talbot and Mt Crosscut in New Zealand. 

In this blog post I show you how I started to build up the detail and refine the painting following completion of the blocking-in stage.

Check out the previous blog post where I explain the initial blocking-in phase of the painting.

https://steemit.com/art/@samuel-earp-art/painting-a-small-mountain-landscape-part-1-blocking-in

BUILDING UP THE DETAIL

So now that I have allowed the painting to dry I start working on the detail. I start back with the sky and begin defining the clouds. I reestablish the cloud highlights using titanium white mixed with a tiny amount of ultramarine blue, burnt umber and quinacridone magenta. These are also the same colours I use for the shadows of the clouds.

With careful brushwork using flat bristle brushes I model the paint and refine the clouds. I'm still saving my highlights for the end of the painting.

Focusing on Mt Crosscut the mountain on the right in the mid ground I refine the sunlit mountain face as well as redefining the shadows in the mountains. I paint reflected light in the mountain shadows by using the same original colour combination but adding a little more quinacridone magenta and titanium white to lift the tone a little.

I refine the snow on the mountain top, lifting the tone but still not using pure titanium white, this will come at the end of the painting.

I add more detail onto the mountain face for the mountain on the right of the painting. Whilst this is still technically in the mid ground its still closer than Mt Crosscut so I increase the saturation of the colour and darken the shadows a little more. Remember as objects get closer to us darks get darker and lights get lighter and the saturation of colour increases too.

Next I focus on the foliage in the foreground using a combination of cadmium yellow deep, ultramarine blue, pthalo green and titanium white. I also mix in a little burnt sienna and quinacridone magenta to earth the greens. 

I sharpen up the shadows by mixing quinacridone magenta and pthalo green and I bleed this into the lighter greens. Sharp shadows really gives the grass and shrubs a more three dimensional effect and so adds a sense of atmosphere to the painting.

I start adding more elements to the painting to subtly lead the eye to Mt Talbot in the distance. This include the log that is in the water.

I am getting near to completing the painting and I am now adding highlights to the grass and other foliage. To create the illusion of the bright sun shining through leaves I mix cadmium yellow and pure titanium white.

I add the highlights to the snow on the Mt Crosscut by mixing pure titanium white and a little yellow oxide.

I start introducing ripples onto the water by mixing a lighter tone on cobalt blue, cobalt teal and titanium white, the same colours I used in the sky.

FINAL DETAILS

As I complete the painting I paint and refine pebbles in along the river bank and I add sparkles in the water and wet rocks using pure titanium white straight from the tube.

After that the painting is finished.

PAINTING TUTORIAL VIDEO COMING SOON...

I am currently making a painting tutorial video on how to paint this mountain landscape which I will upload to my YouTube and DTube channels. 

YouTube Search - Samuel Earp Artist

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and if you found this blog post interesting and helpful and you like what I do, any tips to help support my art career would be greatly appreciated.

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