Green, green, green! This time of year can be overwhelming to paint. Making sense of the masses of green foliage can be difficult and frustrating. I try to keep in mind the pattern of light and dark. What’s in the shadow and what’s in the light? Then from there, I try to think of those shapes as planes or facets that are facing either the light or reside in the shadow.
Where is the light coming from? I make sure the forms in shadow stay in the value range I’ve chosen for shadow and likewise for the lights. Also, I tried to pick values that fall in the middle range of darks and the middle range of lights, so that I have room in my palette for the darkest darks and lightest lights when I need accents and highlights. I don’t want to get stuck!
If I can do that, then it doesn’t matter what color I use. I can play around with the color from there, but I have to get the patterns first.
With Warmest Regards,
Marla
