Learn How to Paint with Chris Vidal

Painting Blue Mountains

I did this painting from a photo taken at a location in Blue Mountains.

Colours used:

Cerulean Blue, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine Blue, lemon yellow, cad yellow light, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, rose madder genuine, alizarin crimson, titanium/zinc white, vermilion, viridian, Australian red gold.

I started with the underpainting, where I used pure gum turps to dilute the paints.

I mixed first grey by mixing equal amounts of cobalt blue and white, rose madder and touch of lemon yellow. From the darker colour I also mixed two tints. 

Using a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue I blocked in the rock on the left while the front grasses on the right and foliage were blocked using a dark mix of burnt sienna and viridian. 

Another grey (ultramarine blue with some white, vermilion and touch of yellow ochre) was used for the tree trunks. 

I then blocked in the background using the first grey starting from the darkest color and using the lighter tints for the more distant cliffs.

The sky was done using various combinations of lemon yellow with white to the areas from where light is coming and a mixture of cerulean blue and touch of alizarin to the left hand side area.

I left the painting to dry a little bit for around an hour, since I used turps the paints will dry quickly and becomes tacky. 

The I started from the back adding details and highlights. I used a mix of white with lemon yellow and madder, from which I prepared two tints. The lightest tint was used for the background grasses on the top of the cliffs, getting darker as I move forward.

Using a palette knife  and the same colours I added the trees in the background on the side of the cliffs. The distant trees where blended using a mop brush to soften the edges. 

Using the darkest background colour, and by adding some white to it, with a horizontal brushstroke I added the cliff faces in the shadowy area of the closest cliffs.

The other cliffs were added using a mixture of white and rose madder.

Highlights and more details to front trees were added using cad yellow light/viridian and for the foliage shadow burnt sienna/viridian with alizarin.

Highlights on teh front tree trunks where added using a mix of white with cad orange.

The lighter part of the rocks were added using various mixtures of yellow ochre, alizarin, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.