Painting Landscapes with Light and Depth: Technique and Inspiration for Oil and Acrylic Painters by Kennedy Susan & Kennedy Susan

Author:Kennedy, Susan & Kennedy, Susan [Kennedy, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

“Amicalola River, Early Fall,” 24” x 30”, acrylic on canvas. This painting is an example of a possible use of blue reflections in shadow areas to emphasize the glowing early morning light.

These high key warm colors are a visual contrast with the strong blue of the reflections in the foreground water, enhancing the sense of light and atmosphere. I often exaggerate the peachy orange colors of early morning sun, and this painting was a prime example of this.

Similarly, you can make use of cool blues and purples in shadow areas to emphasize the glowing contrasting lights in the background. Incidentally, the painting above captures another giant tree personality and I’ve tried to make the scene seem mysterious and dramatic. Live Oaks make me think of ghosts and sadness because of their association with plantations, and when I paint them, I tend to use either sad or dramatic lighting. This one doesn’t have the pale blue-green light of my typical Live Oak painting, but instead has the peachy-gold glow of a sunset peeking through the branches of this imposing tree.

Like me in this situation, you may wish to explore a palette of mostly secondary colors like this and use greens, purples and oranges to make a landscape which departs from the norm. I feel that it’s almost a shift of a quarter-turn of the color wheel, so to speak, with the lavender standing in for blue, the pale yellow greens for yellow, and the peaches and pinks representing red.

Even an artwork which is primarily blue can have a dramatic sense of light.

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