The sky is responsible for much of the drama in a landscape. In the August 2011 issue of The Pastel Journal, master pastelist Albert Handell outlines some key considerations for handling composition, color and cloud control in order to make the most of this key landscape component. In this gallery of paintings, Handell describes the approaches he took to each.
TREES AND SKY INTERTWINED
Here, the tree and sky are inseparable. This gets tricky. The only element not moving is the tree, so I start by placing the tree where I want it in the composition.
I then paint the tree, and only lightly suggest the sky. For I know when I start dealing with the sky it will be entirely different, realizing that the top two-thirds of the tree is basically a silhouette in front of the sky, and it is dark in color. That was the clearest and thusly easiest part to paint so I pastel it first. That was very important for later I related the colors of the sky and clouds to the dark silhouette of the tree. This then allowed me to focus in on the movement and different colors of the sky. Also, notice that the movement of the clouds from upper left to lower right helps create a sense of looking up.
TREES AND SKY INTERTWINED
Here, the tree and sky are inseparable. This gets tricky. The only element not moving is the tree, so I start by placing the tree where I want it in the composition.
I then paint the tree, and only lightly suggest the sky. For I know when I start dealing with the sky it will be entirely different, realizing that the top two-thirds of the tree is basically a silhouette in front of the sky, and it is dark in color. That was the clearest and thusly easiest part to paint so I pastel it first. That was very important for later I related the colors of the sky and clouds to the dark silhouette of the tree. This then allowed me to focus in on the movement and different colors of the sky. Also, notice that the movement of the clouds from upper left to lower right helps create a sense of looking up.
PASSING CLOUDS
These drifting clouds—which were anything but still—just grabbed me. Where to start? I covered the surface immediately using watercolor. I used were Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue and a bit of reddish purple. The watercolors all flowed into each other and dried quickly. I then painted using pastel. I picked out a grey for the clouds that was the same value as the blue of the sky. (Notice the top dark greys of the clouds at the top of the pastel). Then I picked out the pastel blues that were to go over the watercolor washes and I went from there. This is another example of a sky painting that took an hour or less to paint. Are you getting the idea that when painting these skies from life they are quickly painted?
HIGH HORIZONS
Here we have a high horizon (the top of the rocks). The painting is basically about the rock formations and the area for the sky is approximately one-seventh of the composition, and is behind the mountain. It’s also a small shape and makes up the negative area of the pastel. The colors of the sky are a combination of a rich Ultramarine Blue plus a cool mauve. Both colors are identical in value. As I apply both colors a vibrant effect is established. Also part of the sky on the viewer’s left starts drifting into the rock formation, helping to tie in both areas and adding atmosphere to the pastel.
No comments:
Post a Comment