09-26-2015, 08:19 PM
For drawing mountains, and really most other things too, think of big shapes and blocks first and only later take care of little cracks or ridges. So your thought process might be something like this:
1) What’s the big shape and the silhouette of the mountain? What kind of mountain is it - rounded, pointy, massive, blocky… what is its character?
2) Where does light hit, and where are shadow areas? (Think of planes. Which planes are facing the sun, which aren’t?)
After you block in the big masses, and separate light and shadow areas, it should already look like a mountain (or whatever it is you’re painting). Then you can go into detail, and render it any way you like, add cracks, snow, etc. But whenever something’s not working the way you want it, it can be helpful to try to simplify it (at least in your mind).
Good job on doing lots of studies by the way! :) That’s the way to go… study, apply, study, apply. Are you drawing and painting from life as well (i.e. still lifes)? Or at least mindfully observing? While I do think photo studies are useful, there are many things that the camera can’t show as well as the human eye can see it.
An example of what referencing from real life can teach you: In the desert painting above, the intense sky clashes a lot with the intense orange of the ground and rocks. In real life, the color of the sky affects everything else, so maybe mix some of the sky-blue in the shadows. When strong light hits a reflective surface, it will also bounce off a bit and illuminate parts that are in the shadows - I'll attach a quick overpaint for you to see what I mean.
Also good job on all the anatomy and face studies. Just keep them up :)
1) What’s the big shape and the silhouette of the mountain? What kind of mountain is it - rounded, pointy, massive, blocky… what is its character?
2) Where does light hit, and where are shadow areas? (Think of planes. Which planes are facing the sun, which aren’t?)
After you block in the big masses, and separate light and shadow areas, it should already look like a mountain (or whatever it is you’re painting). Then you can go into detail, and render it any way you like, add cracks, snow, etc. But whenever something’s not working the way you want it, it can be helpful to try to simplify it (at least in your mind).
Good job on doing lots of studies by the way! :) That’s the way to go… study, apply, study, apply. Are you drawing and painting from life as well (i.e. still lifes)? Or at least mindfully observing? While I do think photo studies are useful, there are many things that the camera can’t show as well as the human eye can see it.
An example of what referencing from real life can teach you: In the desert painting above, the intense sky clashes a lot with the intense orange of the ground and rocks. In real life, the color of the sky affects everything else, so maybe mix some of the sky-blue in the shadows. When strong light hits a reflective surface, it will also bounce off a bit and illuminate parts that are in the shadows - I'll attach a quick overpaint for you to see what I mean.
Also good job on all the anatomy and face studies. Just keep them up :)