Misty Japanese Countryside

Well after painting a few floating cities I decided that I needed a break from the stretching. Buildings are far from my comfort zone and I'm pretty bad a textures when it comes to stone, stucco, wood, tile, etc... It was a push for me and I'm glad I'm venturing that way to solve those problems but for today... A return to the familiar! Ahhh mountains and trees. Growing up I used to watch Bob Ross and I always loved the way he would "cut" the mountains into shape.

In this study I've done just that. It's a super simple three value approach. I start in with a big shape for the dark side of the mountain. Just paint the overall mountain line and fill it all in. After that I've made a layer in photoshop just above it and "clipped it" to the previous 'mountain shape. Here's a quick video about clipping masks if you're unfamiliar and want to know. After creating the clipping mask I am free to paint freely inside of my mountain shape to get the light side and add some tree business. I continued that technique to create all of the shapes coming forward as well. Big shape, dark side, light side, fluffy details... repeat!

I really went nuts with this one and I think it's because I've been tackling subjects that are way outside of my comfort zone. It felt really good to come back to trees and mountains and such. I got to make the mountain seem epic and threw lots of mist around to keep that "quiet of the morning" feel. It's a peaceful scene :)

It's good to try things that are challenging that will really make your brain tired but sometimes it's nice to come back to the familiar. I wonder if this push and pull might be a good way to keep things fresh in your work? Do you find ways to stretch yourself as an artist?