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 the Downloadable Resources of this lecture, download this PDF to review the key points to focus on when doing your preliminary drawing study. There is also the finished drawing for your reference.

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

In this video I complete the underpainting.

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

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 mountains), and work our way forward. 

We will continue to move forward in the landscape, doing the field in front of the barn, the fence, and the grasses in the foreground. Only after the largest shapes are laid in, we will begin adding the smaller details to the painting.

We clean up some larger shapes to be more accurate to what we want. We can now add all the juicy detail all over the painting - leaves, flowers, details on the fence, etc.

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.