Past The Rocks

"Past The Rocks" was created using Holbein's acryla gouache, a flat acrylic paint, on a 30 inch by 24 inch canvas. The canvas was initially colored using Winsor and Newton's lower grade raw sienna acrylic paint. The brushes used was a selection of Winsor and Newton's Artisan line. Very little pencil sketching was then placed on top of the initial canvas color.

STAGE 1: Darks

The first stage was to block in the general pattern of the darkest darks. To create the look of black without using black paint, a combination of dark colors was used: deep violet, deep green, navy blue, prussian blue, sepia, and deep magenta. These colors were mixed directly on the canvas.

After the general darks were blocked in, the darker shades of green in the foliage were placed in the background. Deep green was used along with viridian, navy blue, and green.

STAGE 2: Main Color

Once the darks were down, blocks of the main color were painted. The initial rock shapes were painted using beige, flesh, misty blue, and misty green.

The initial foliage forms were created using pale mint, pale lime, and leaf green.

STAGE 3: The Rocks

As they are in the foreground, the rocks were focused on first. Using the same color selection that was used for the first set of darks, the dark areas around the rocks were further developed.

This was followed by developing the actual shapes of the rocks. Dry brush technique was used to drag darker colors over the initial very pale rock forms, as shown in the close-up picture on the right and the picture below. Acryla gouache worked exceptionally well with this technique; the bottom layers created significant "pull" against the newer layer. Touches of olive paint were used to add warmth to the rocky foreground.


STAGE 4: The Foliage

Working from darker colors to lighter ones, the foliage was completed quickly with wet paint mixed on the canvas. The mid-tone foliage was painted using leaf green, green, and ash yellow. The lighter colored foliage was created using lemon yellow, misty green, light lime, pale mint and ivory white.

Additional tree trunks were added using ash blue, with lighter tree trunks in misty blue. Areas of the trunks were highlighted suing warm colors such as cream and raw sienna. Darker areas were created using deep violet and deep magenta, along with ash blue on the lighter tree trunks.

STAGE 5: Final Touches

When most of the areas were completed, final touches were added to the entire painting. Raw sienna was used along with deep magenta to create warmer areas of the path. Many layers of darker color was added to the rocks, as shown in the close-up to the left, adding form and shadow to the rocky area. Deep magenta was also added in areas of the foliage.

Spots of yellow were added to the foliage with extra highlights coming from spots of luminous yellow and luminous green.

The two light colored trees rooted in the rocks and the "Y" shape small tree on the right side of the painting were the last items painted in this piece.