Impressionism - Paint this Aspen Autumn scene in oil/acrylic

Here I perform the preliminary drawing study in charcoal on paper. I use the following stages in this process:

1: Middle value

2: Simple line drawing

3: Dark values

4: Light values

5: Study of some important details

In this optional stage, I show you how to add some subtle texture to your canvas. Using a trowel and regular artists' gesso, I add a layer of white ground to the canvas. You can experiment here to make all kinds of textural effects, from subtle to dramatic.

This stage is completely optional. Most canvases come already primered with gesso and are ready to paint on. You can watch this video just for ideas, and go right to the Underpainting stage if you'd like.

Here I perform the underpainting, and discuss how important this stage is, and show how it relates to the Preliminary Drawing Study we just did. I discuss the simplified color palette we use during this stage. I break the underpainting down into the following steps:

1: Middle value (now with the addition of color temperature)

2: Simple line drawing

3: Dark values

4: Light values

5: Study of some important details

Bonus video! Here I actually show you how to clean up your palette when your mixing area becomes too crowded. I discuss the importance of this step, and why it needs to be done a few times during your painting. I also show you how to clean your brushes.

I discuss the materials I'm using that help facilitate this step.

In the first stage of opaque painting, I will outline the additional colors on the palette that we'll be using. In this painting we work "back to front", meaning we begin with the farthest object from the viewer (in this case, the sky), and work our way forward. The main light source is the cool temperature of the sky on the left, and the painting progresses to the right to be darker and warmer.

In this video, we continue laying the foundation of the foliage and ground level in large pieces. Remember, larger shapes first, then progressively smaller shapes later.

In this video, we add the trunks of all the aspen trees. We distinguish the ones in direct sunlight from the the ones in shadow.

We finish the painting by going back and adding as many smaller details as we'd like, such as leaves, blades of grass, and fixing edges where needed.

In the Downloadable Resources of this lecture, download this PDF to review the key points to focus on when doing your opaque painting. Also provide is an image of the finished painting for your reference.

I will summarize the painting process in the context of the painting we just finished.

Here you can consult again the PDF flipbook showing each stage of the painting (under lecture 1, look in the "Downloadable Materials" tab). Use this guide to help organize your painting into definite stages.