My sister took up painting recently, which is pleasing to see. The world could always use more artists!
She’s been working on a wonderful mountainscape scene but was getting frustrated with the deceiving mountain colors.
I provided her with two of the most impactful tips I could think of at the time. You might also benefit from them.
⁃ Start with the big, simple shapes first. Particularly the shapes that define the lights and darks. Once you get them right, then you can focus on the tiny details. Many beginners get it the wrong way around—they get caught up in the tiny details from the start.
⁃ The colors will appear to change as you progress through the painting. That’s because color is relative. How we perceive a color changes based on the surrounding colors. A dab of orange tends to look more vibrant when surrounded by dull blue than it does when surrounded by red or yellow. My sister was struggling with this, as do most artists. She would work on the mountains until she thought she had the colors just right, but as soon as she moved into the middle-ground, the colors appeared to change and look off. To combat this, you need to trust your initial judgment and wait until the whole canvas is filled with color before you reassess. Otherwise you’ll get caught up in a vicious reworking loop.
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
drawpaintacademy.com