You always have to have a feeling of (separation). -- Bill Alexander We learned about highlighting light against light, now we're highlighting dark against dark. Bill says if you don't create the feeling of separation, then your painting doesn't make sense. What he means is it doesn't make sense as you would view that scene in "Mother Nature." Bill had a photographic memory. … [Read more...]
Mountain shadow color
Bill shows how he mixes his mountain shadow color. Pay particular attention to the amount of blue paint Bill adds to his white -- barely any! Bill's paint is so rich in pigment you need a very small amount to get the proper color for your painting. Using a paint with less pigment means you have to use more paint to get the same job done. Worse -- when you start using a richer … [Read more...]
Finishing the cloud shadows
Bill finishes up his cloud shadows. We've shown you before how important it is to keep your sky layer thin. You can not hypnotize your sky if there is too much paint on the canvas. Even worse, if you are using a thin paint, when you begin hypnotizing you will get a big mess on your canvas. You need a thick, dry paint. But don't take our word for it, listen to Bill in this video … [Read more...]
Mixing the cloud shadow color
Bill takes you step by step mixing the cloud shadow color. Notice how he corrects the color "on the fly". Notice the circular strokes with the fan brush as he adds the shadow to the cloud. Bill doesn't spend a lot of time working on the clouds in this painting because he doesn't need to. A mountain is going to cover a lot of the sky so he only needs a hint of clouds. But he … [Read more...]
Shadow side first
In a twist on Bill's regular method of highlighting tree trunks, he starts this time with the shadow side first. … [Read more...]