Art Blog

To Fog or Not to Fog

The question is to fog or not to fog on the mountain. Ever wondered what fog is?

The underpainting is done. Here is a refresher peek at the sample provided. To me this appears like a foggy day of snowing on the mountain. Toning down all the colors by applying a layer of gray and then rapidly wiping with sponges to remove layers.

Before the Fog

wall A Before Fog Here is a picture of wall A before the fog layer is applied to the mountain scene. You can see the bright trees and slopes very clearly.
After the fog layer application here is how it appeared.
After the Fog wall A after fog wall A after Fog with B The difference is really noticeable when you look around the corner at wall B without the fog. Hmmmmm. I took a few more comparison looks and my gut reaction was a solid YUCK! So, before I proceeded any further, I walked up to the ski resort offices and asked the big cheese to come down and take a peek.

He walked in immediately noticing wall B located straight in front of him (which had not been fogged), and he said he liked it. Then he turned to his left and saw wall A (with the fog layer) and just blurted out, “I hate it!” He much preferred the other walls and so did I.

Fixing it

That meant I had to remove as much of the fog layer of paint as soon as possible. I spent the next half hour scrubbing with sponges and towels and was able to lift off about half the gray. Color changes were to add more green tints to the faraway tree line on the horizon. It was a couple of hours of fine-tuning to get the vibrancy back so all three walls were friends again. Here is how wall A looked after the re-do was complete.

wall A redo

These kinds of things happen, but I am getting better at trusting my instincts and questioning whenever I get a feeling things are not right. I never assume that I know better than my customer, making an effort to always listen to what they want. Re-do’s aren’t much fun so if I can limit it to a lesser quantity I am a lot happier.

Tree Perspective Values

initial tree sketch My thoughts were on tree shapes and tree perspective values as I drove up the mountain. Distant trees almost seem to disappear into softness as we traveled the road through some pretty thick fog this morning. As a result of the poor visibility, we had to go real slow until we got about halfway up the hill and then we broke through the fog layer. Surprise! The brilliant sun greeted us, with everything sparkling and lightly frosted, which was absolutely gorgeous. We pulled into the resort and unloaded tools.

Sometimes, it is hard to figure out what to start with. When that happens I start on the first thing I see. This morning that was, sketching the first tree in simple impressionistic shapes then adding a cast a shadow. Quickly placing the rest of the trees on the wall gives me a good idea of how this will be looking.

trees in wall A

Check Out Real Trees

chair one fog
When in doubt take a look at reference material. Taking a coffee break we walk outside and take a peek at real trees on the hill before we paint any further. It is always really neat to look at the real colors of nature.

The chill was noticeable and another layer of heavy fog was drifting down from above, making everything real quiet. Here is the view from the bottom of chair one where Max and I admire the hill. Winter is on the way!

Using a mixture of natural colors along with primaries, I continue to fill out tree bodies. Colors used include burnt sienna, umber, white, and mixtures of the primaries of yellow, red, and blue. I add little cast shadows on the snow from the tree trunk bases, and instantly don’t like it. When I step back I realize that I am also not getting the depth that I want yet. Everything looks as though they are at about the same “depth of field” (the same distance away from me). I need to do something different. treeline full greens

Perspective in the Trees

trees gray green white Starting in again I work on the tree perspectives by using greys and white much more boldly. Immediately, you can see remarkable results. There is a real distance accomplished. It is astonishing to me, how this change in value really makes the tree take a step back in space.

As I add more greys I am being careful to reserve enough dark forest green shadows in each tree. I want to feel as though I can reach into the branches and touch a trunk. Using a lot more white on other groups of trees gives an occasional “frosty the snowman” surprise tree in the mix.

trees with no shadow

Are you a sharp eyed individual?

You may have noticed missing cast shadows in the foreground. The shadow lines just seemed too busy and not to serve any purpose. Thank goodness I am using wall paint latex, so I can eradicate errors easily. BArtists are allowed to change their minds.

Ski Lift View

The Ski Lift view always takes my breath away. This is an oil rub-out painting entitled, SunThruSnowyTreesL804, which focuses on the sun rays shooting through trees early in the morning up at 49 Degrees North Ski Resort in Chewelah Washington.

One of the most entertaining parts of skiing is the ski lift ride back up to the top of the hill. After putting some real effort out speeding through whatever terrain you are doing, you quickly slip into the lift entry gate to catch your breath. Then as you take your seat you experience a take-off into the tree heights. Up to a level where you can observe pristine quiet mountain views as you float over and through the treetops. It is a real meditation time with soft breezes and nature to the max. Some of the most peaceful and extravagantly beautiful skies and mountain scenes I have ever seen were from my seat on a ski lift. It never gets old.