Bill always told us how important it is to tell a story in our painting. Today Bill practices what he preaches as he brings us into his story for this painting. Bill talks about someone having a flat tire in New Mexico and needing to walk out into the desert. He talks about the prickly foliage that he is adding. Can you just imagine what that would feel like on your feet? I’ve spent the last 6 weeks in the desert and as I looked out over its vastness, I never thought about what it would feel like to walk on the ground. I might have thought a time or two about how many snakes were living there!

There are several things to learn from today’s Video Tip.

Key Points To Consider:

• The background layer is thin and wet.
• We slowed the video down to show the spring of the brush.
• Bill leaves space between clumps of growth to allow the ground color to show through. This helps define the shrubs.
• Bill is always thinking of the light source throughout his painting. He is painting from his head but he still knows the importance to keep key principles in focus.
• Notice he uses a quick horizontal side swipe to create the look of shadows.
• The shrubs are larger as they come closer to the viewer. Notice that Bill applies less pressure as he creates distant foliage. This causes less paint to come off of the brush and makes the shrubs appear further away because they are lighter in value.
• As he adds the yellow highlights he is using a color that is mixed with Magic White. This makes the paint to be thinner, therefore it is prepared to stick to the thick paint already on the canvas.
• When Bill adds the red to the foreground, he barely touches the canvas. This gives a realistic look to the bushes. If he pressed too hard, too much paint would come off and he would lose the details.

Happy Painting!

Laurie and Dawn

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