08-18-2014, 11:14 AM
"And I didn't do a sketch beforehand, I just threw "paint" onto the digital canvas." If you're making a study instead of a painting or illustration that's not as big a problem. However it's better to get into the habit of making preliminary sketches.
Plants changing while you paint is an occupational hazard and you just deal with it. At least it's not a prancing horse you're studying for some knights painting, right? You can also take a photo of it at the beginning to reference later on when some leaves fall off or something.
I suggest for you, next time if you're calling this one done, to block out the main mass of this plant with 1 dull base hue first, painting it as if it's a shadow on a wall. On top of that you can start to add layers of more saturated and brighter shapes of hues. Use contrast of hue and value to create edges that separate one leaf from another. Slowly separating out layers of leaves that way is less confusing.
Here's a kind of paint over trying to demonstrate what I meant. I filled in the plant with a dark green, then added brighter and brighter green over it:
Plants changing while you paint is an occupational hazard and you just deal with it. At least it's not a prancing horse you're studying for some knights painting, right? You can also take a photo of it at the beginning to reference later on when some leaves fall off or something.
I suggest for you, next time if you're calling this one done, to block out the main mass of this plant with 1 dull base hue first, painting it as if it's a shadow on a wall. On top of that you can start to add layers of more saturated and brighter shapes of hues. Use contrast of hue and value to create edges that separate one leaf from another. Slowly separating out layers of leaves that way is less confusing.
Here's a kind of paint over trying to demonstrate what I meant. I filled in the plant with a dark green, then added brighter and brighter green over it: