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Tutorials Painting Tutorials WHICH GREEN IS RIGHT IN OILS
WHICH GREEN IS RIGHT IN OILS
Wednesday, 26 May 2010 14:42 Joan du Plessis
Posted in Painting Tutorials
WHICH GREEN IS RIGHT IN THE LANDSCAPE WITH OILS?
Green is often thought of as a tricky colour as there are so many different shades.
It is considered best to mix them rather than using the pre-mixed paint that you buy which is good advice but one needs to learn what to look at to choose and mix the appropriate green.
Winsor Blue and cadmium Yellow gives a mid-green which is sharp and not ideal in a landscape. To warm it up, try adding more yellow and a little burnt sienna or light red and maybe a little white to lighten it. You then have a modification of the first mix. For darker shadowy areas, Burnt Umber added to the first mid-green mix will give you a more suitable green for these areas. A very cool light green can be mixed from a generous amount of Winsor blue with a little Yellow or a touch of Burnt Sienna as well as quite a lot of white.
These mixes will enable you to start putting in the foreground of your landscape. Remember to consider the changing light as you work. Also the distant greens should be cooler with more blues and greys to give depth to your painting.
Consider what your focal point should be and where it should be in the picture. Do not make this area too small and do use brighter colours to give more impact. If you paint two complimentary colours next to each other. possibly bright red flowers against the green it should immediately draw the eye of the viewer to this area.
The focal point is where the most detail to your work should be but this does not mean you should overwork it! The area of secondary importance should be less detailed and somewhat understated so that the focal area of your picture really stands out.
Do remember that oils darken slightly as they dry so the last dabs of paint to finish off your work should best be left until nearly dry which is maybe a couple of weeks later. It is always good policy to never add wet paint to that which is only half dry as it can cause problems later on.
