Little Lesson #1 & #2

Get yourself an inexpensive canvas board, 16x20, and divide it up into 8 rectangles using masking tape. Alternately get 8 small canvas panels 5x7 to do the excerises on.

Exercise #1, top left, Big Sky

The first exercise in the top left has a low horizon line and emphasises the sky area, a Big Sky painting.

1. For Exercise #1 start by placing your horizon line about 1 in. from the bottom edge of the canvas panel.
2. Mix up a sky color, be careful of the sky it is often lighter in value than you think. In fact, on an average sunny day the sky will be the lightest value in your painting.
3. The sky is darker at the top and gets lighter as it approaches the horizon line.
4. The sky often gets a little greenish near the horizon because the green from tree foliage is reflected back up into the atmosphere.
5. Mix up an earthy green for the land. Either use a tube (green olive, or sap green are good choices) or mix a green from a blue and a yellow. Modify your green, either tube or mixed with something from the red family. Try using an orange, transparent red oxide, or burnt sienna to tone down the intemsity of the green, creating a more believable, natural green.
6. The land will be darker in the foreground close to the bottom of the panel and will get lighter as it approaches the horizon.
7. The green land color can also be warmer (with more red or yellow in it) in the foreground and you may need to add a touch of blue to it as it recedes into the distance.
8. The value of the land at the horizon in the distance should be very close, just slightly darker than the value of the sky. By manipulating these 2 values at the horizon you can create the illiusion of 1/2 mile or 100 miles.
9. Your goal is to create believeable distance.
10. Have fun!

Exercise #2, Land Focused

1. For exercise #2 place your horizon line a little more than an inch from the top of the canvas, well away from the middle.
2. Repeat steps #2-#10
3. Feel free to leave links to your painitngs in the comment section if you like.