Pastel FAQ: How Do I Paint the Greens of Summer?

'Counting Sheep'        8x10        pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $165

The land of green is even greener than usual! We have had plenty of rain in North Georgia and the green in the landscape is at its peak!  I seem to be painting a lot of green paintings perhaps influenced by the time of year. So I have been dealing with the challenge of green.  One of the challenges we have when painting landscapes with an abundance of green is how to make the green more interesting....how do we tame the green?

The key to successful greens is to introduce other colors into the green masses. I like to remind myself of the following....

"If it is green and growing then there needs to be some dirt"   

This reminds me to paint the green stuff by layering 'dirt' colors such as reds, yellows, violets with the green. These colors add interest to the green masses but also bring them to life and make them feel more believable and filled with light. Read on to see how I put this idea into action.

My drawing with a 305 Nupastel on Yi Cai paper

 My scene is a summer meadow in Sweden. It was incredibly green. On first glance the only other color I saw were the white sheep in the distance. If I looked closely though I could see bits of gold and orange peeking through all of the green grass. Perhaps some dried grass or bits of the earth. I know I would have to exaggerate these first colors to add interest to this very green scene.

For my initial underpainting or block in I decided to use Nupastels and rub in with some pipe insulation foam for a soft dry wash. I selected the dark blue spruce 305 for the trees, pale blue and cream for the sky and some wonderful earthy ochre and dull orange for my DIRT.

The first layer rubbed into the paper

Pushing the pastel into the paper for this first layer allows me to build the rest of the painting with several layers of green. I am careful not to cover all of my dirt colors with green!
The painting also needed a little violet dirt. So I used a few muted purples in a few areas of the grass and trees. Click to enlarge the photos to see the violet.

up close and personal

TIP: When painting green in the landscape move beyond the local colors of green and introduce dirt colors....red, pinks, oranges, yellows and violets. These colors can be put down in the underpainting or as you layer and build the masses of green.

I like to think of DIRT when I paint green but I will never forget a lesson I learned from Richard McKinley who tells us the secret of green is orange and violet is the friend.

There is science behind this secret and you can read all about it in Richard's Pastel Pointer column here:http://www.artistsnetwork.com/medium/pastel/painting-greens

Dealing with Green in a Pastel Painting

'Feeling the Peace'         6x12          pastel     ©Karen Margulis  sold

Green is upon us here in the Southeast.  We live in the Land of Green here in Georgia and I look forward to my trip to the Southwest for a little relief from all the green.  Don't get me wrong. I love our landscape. I love all of the variety of trees and flowers, the rolling hills covered in green. But it is a challenge to paint.

It really hit home at the Elizabeth Mowry workshop. It seemed that many of the artists expressed the same thoughts about the challenge of dealing with green.  Over the last few years I have gathered tips about green that have helped me. I have blogged about many of them but thought it would be timely to just sum up some of my favorite tips and techniques for painting green landscapes.  These are not all my ideas but tips I have gathered from reading and studying with other artists.

My Green Chart

• Take stock of the green pastel you have. It is best if you can put all of your greens together. I like to organize my pastels by color and value so I have a green section. This allows me to see them all together and better judge the value and temperature of each green compared to one another.

• I take this a step further and make a chart showing my greens from lighter and cooler to warmer and more intense. This helps me achieve better atmospheric perspective.

• Make sure your greens include some cooler blue greens to warmer yellow greens. You also need some grayed down neutral greens.

• The green pastels that come in many introductory landscape sets tend to be very much middle value and often bright pure greens.  These greens can be too intense almost garish in a landscape. I like them but reserve their use to smaller areas....I consider them my spices. Be sure to supplement these greens with grayer more neutral greens.

• That being said....it is nice to have some bright artificial looking greens to use in small doses....again like a spice.

• Richard McKinley tells us the secret of green is orange and violet is the friend. So True!!!  I like to introduce some oranges to red and some violets into my green landscapes. These colors provide relief from all of the green and makes them more interesting

• I introduce these colors to green in either the underpainting or in building up the layers of pastels.

This is just a few of my random thoughts on dealing with green. I hope that you find them helpful!

A Tip for Painting Green Landscapes

'Signs of Spring' 10x10 pastel ©Karen Margulis

painting available for $95 with paypal or check click here

Everything is turning green! I live in the Land of Green so it is important to know how to deal with the many greens in the landscape. It is a challenge to paint a very green landscape and make the color interesting rather than all green. You can certainly use just variations of green, dark,light,warm & cool to make a green landscape read correctly but it may not be very exciting.
Richard McKinley teaches about the 'Secret of Green' in his writings and workshops. Knowing this 'secret' and how to make greens more interesting has made a big difference in how I paint the landscape. Richard teaches that the secret of green is orange and violet is the friend. I like to say that Green Loves Red & Orange and likes Purple to visit too. So what does this mean for your paintings?

• Introduce some orange or red in your green masses and add a little purple somewhere instead of only using green by itself.
• Underpainting with these colors is an easy way to introduce them. (though it's not the only way)
• See how I have some orange underneath my grasses in today's painting? This was the underpainting. The purples were added as I added pastel.

Sometimes we think we need every imaginable green pastel or tube of paint to paint a green landscape. But as you can see, knowing how to make your greens more interesting with other colors is helpful to keeping your palette simple.

If you wish to read more about Richard McKinley's secret to green and why it works see his post in the Pastel Pointer's blog Here

My Tip for Painting Summer Greens

'Summertime'          8x10      pastel      ©Karen Margulis
available for $95 by paypal

I live in the 'Land of Green'.  The Southeast is a beautiful part of the country especially if you like green.  In the summer you will find every shade of green in the hills and trees. It can be a challenge to paint the summer landscape and make some sense of all the green. Of course with pastels we never think we have the right green no matter how many pastels we have. I encourage my students to find ways to make the greens they do have work for them. I'd like to share my favorite tip...Lay out your greens before you start painting.

The palette I used for 'Summertime'

I always lay out all of the colors I will use in a painting before I start. I like to have a starting point with my color choices. I may add or take away during the painting process but I always keep the pastels I am using separate.
In the photo above you can see I have set aside some darks, some sky colors and some hay bale colors. I have also pulled my greens. I take the greens a step further and line them up as best I can by value and temperature.  This helps me when I start painting a green landscape.
 I know that generally the greens are cooler and lighter in the distance and get warmer and more intense as they come towards the foreground (there are always exceptions but this is true a good bit of the time)  Now when I start painting the greens I can more easily see the cooler vs warmer and darker vs lighter greens.
 When your green pastels are mixed in with all of your other colors it is harder to judge what kind of green it is. Putting them all together helps you see the temperature and value more easily. Now I can paint my meadows and trees more intuitively without having to hunt for the 'right' green.

My chart of meadow colors

We all have different brands of pastels and so our green collections are all different. I made a chart of my greens so I could see if I had enough variety of cool vs warm and light vs dark and greyed greens vs more intense greens. It was a great exercise in seeing and it helped me see where I was lacking in greens. Sometimes we have trouble deciding if a color is warm or cool. What I do is take a really yellow green one that is obviously warm. Then take your pastel and hold it up to this warm green. Ask yourself if this pastel seems to lean more to blue or to yellow. The more blue you see the cooler the green. Comparing a stick to one you are sure of will help.  I encourage you to make a chart of your greens and try a green painting!  There are other tips for painting a green landscape which I will share in another post.

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A Tip for Painting the Greens of Summer

'Summertime'          8x10      pastel      ©Karen Margulis

Enjoy this post from the archives while I am away teaching a workshop!

I live in the 'Land of Green'.  The Southeast is a beautiful part of the country especially if you like green.  In the summer you will find every shade of green in the hills and trees. It can be a challenge to paint the summer landscape and make some sense of all the green. Of course with pastels we never think we have the right green no matter how many pastels we have. I encourage my students to find ways to make the greens they do have work for them. I'd like to share my favorite tip...Lay out your greens before you start painting.

The palette I used for 'Summertime'

I always lay out all of the colors I will use in a painting before I start. I like to have a starting point with my color choices. I may add or take away during the painting process but I always keep the pastels I am using separate.
In the photo above you can see I have set aside some darks, some sky colors and some hay bale colors. I have also pulled my greens. I take the greens a step further and line them up as best I can by value and temperature.  This helps me when I start painting a green landscape.
 I know that generally the greens are cooler and lighter in the distance and get warmer and more intense as they come towards the foreground (there are always exceptions but this is true a good bit of the time)  Now when I start painting the greens I can more easily see the cooler vs warmer and darker vs lighter greens.
 When your green pastels are mixed in with all of your other colors it is harder to judge what kind of green it is. Putting them all together helps you see the temperature and value more easily. Now I can paint my meadows and trees more intuitively without having to hunt for the 'right' green.

My chart of meadow colors

We all have different brands of pastels and so our green collections are all different. I made a chart of my greens so I could see if I had enough variety of cool vs warm and light vs dark and greyed greens vs more intense greens. It was a great exercise in seeing and it helped me see where I was lacking in greens. Sometimes we have trouble deciding if a color is warm or cool. What I do is take a really yellow green one that is obviously warm. Then take your pastel and hold it up to this warm green. Ask yourself if this pastel seems to lean more to blue or to yellow. The more blue you see the cooler the green. Comparing a stick to one you are sure of will help.  I encourage you to make a chart of your greens and try a green painting!

How Many Green Pastels Do You Need?

'Fairyland'         8x10        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
available $125

You know you want them. More Green pastels! And if you are a fan of Terry Ludwig pastels you surely covet his 90 piece set of greens. But do we really need to have 90 green pastels to paint a landscape or anything else green? Before I answer I'd like to share my 'green pastel' story.

Terry Ludwig 90 piece set of greens

I was fortunate to discover Terry Ludwig pastels soon after taking my first pastel class. I quickly bought a small set to replace my Rembrandts. One small set was soon followed by another. Every opportunity I could I added to my collection. (sound familiar?) For some reason though I avoided the set of green pastels that Terry is famous for. Even the smaller sets of green seemed overwhelming. And the set of 90.....sensory overload! I couldn't imagine ever needing so many greens!

Looking back now I realize that I just wasn't ready for all of those greens. I wouldn't have known what to do with them. I didn't understand warm and cool and neutrals. Green was green. I was happy with just a few. I have learned so much in the last 11 years of painting. A few years ago I treated myself to the 90 piece set and I haven't regretted it for a minute!(and wish I had gotten them sooner)

Instead of being overwhelmed by all of the green choices....I have actually learned more about using greens. By comparing one green to another and using them in a painting I started to see the difference. Not all greens were the same and I could see the subtleties. Having the 90 piece set and keeping them separate from my other pastels has taught me how to use green more effectively. I didn't know how much I really needed them!

Reusing a failed painting for today's green forest painting

So how many green pastels do we really need? As many as we can afford. I suggest making sure you have a variety of both warm (yellow greens) and cool (blue greens) and neutral (grayed down greens). You also need a variety of values.....light, dark and mid value greens. Finally you need a few 'spicy' greens...pure intense greens for spice. Don't skimp on your greens and your landscapes will be richer.

Convinced?  Now is the time to add some Terry Ludwig greens to your collection. They are 20% off this week! See the website for details and the extra goodies included in the sale. Click here.

Take the Green Challenge!

'All About Green'       8x10       pastel        ©Karen Margulis

Green. You either love it or hate it. Sometimes painting with green can be a challenge. With pastels it seems we never have the right green. No matter how many greens I have collected I am always searching for the right one. And even though I have a lot of green pastels how do I know which ones to use?......Which ones are warm? Cool? Neutral? And how about all of those vivid artificial or acid greens?

It's green overload! What is the solution?

Terry Ludwig Pastel 90 piece Green Set.....this should do it!

The solution isn't to keep buying greens. The solution is to get to know the greens you have! Take them all out of all of their individual boxes. Play with them. 

• Group them by value....put the dark ones together, the light ones and middle values ones in their own piles.
• Try to group them by temperature....which ones seem cool (more blue) Which ones seem warm (more yellow) Which ones are hard to tell (probably neutral) 
• Group the artificial greens together....these are the vivid, intense artificial looking greens (spices)
• Make some marks with the greens to see how they look on paper. Remember that they will appear different depending on the paper color and what they are next to. (simultaneous contrast)

Make notes about which greens you seem to lack. Now you won't just buy random green pastels you will buy green with a purpose. 

A very green underpainting. Pastel with alcohol wash

CHALLENGE: 

After you experiment and play with the greens in your collection, paint a very green landscape. Remember that in a typical landscape the cooler greens (and lighter) will be in the distance and they will gradually transition to warmer greens in the foreground. There are always exceptions but this is a good general truth.

Take the challenge to the next level and paint the same scene but vary the greens to create a different mood. Perhaps turn a sunny day into a gray moody day.

If you'd like some tips on using green in the landscape have a look at my pdf demo available for $6

click here for details

Last days of my Spring Painting sale. Select paintings are available at 50% discount. See available paintings here: www.etsy.com/shop/karenmargulisfineart  Click on the Spring Sale section and use SPRING17 at checkout

Add Some Punch to Green

'Beautiful Dreams'        5x7       pastel         ©Karen Margulis
available $75

 The Spring blooms have faded leaving behind a very green landscape. That's how it is in the land of green....the southeastern US. I do enjoy the wonderful variation in the greens we see here but in a painting it can be overwhelmingly....GREEN.  There are ways to tame the green and make it more interesting and believable in a painting. I will be sharing some of my favorite tips with you soon but here is a teaser tip....

Add some punch to your greens!

Terry Ludwig 90 piece set of green, Diane Townsend soft form greens.

I wanted to try my new set of Diane Townsend soft form greens so I found one of my Smoky Mountain summer photos. It was very green. Perfect for my little painting. I also took out my Terry Ludwig 90 piece green set. That should be enough green!

I definitely had enough greens. I had a very analogous painting of blue green and green and yellow green. It was OK but it was missing something. It was just too much green. I decided to look at the analogous color wheel for inspiration. The answer was red-violet. That would be the color to use to add the punch I was looking for.

• I used some dark red violet in the grass and the dark areas of the trees.
• I used a light veil of mauve (lighter red violet) in the mountain haze.
• I used some touches of pure red violet and a very pale pink for some summer wildflowers.

That was better!  It works every time. Add a little punch to spice up you greens! I am thinking of a little punch bowl filled with some delicious pink-purple punch. That's a visual I can remember!

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I have added a workshop to my 2017 schedule! I will be co teaching a plein air workshop with Marsha Savage in Blue Ridge Georgia this Labor Day weekend. Here is a little blurb about the workshop from Marsha's website:

This will be the third time Karen Margulis and I will be teaching a workshop together! Come join us this September. Karen and I will be teaming up to teach a 3 day plein air workshop in Blue Ridge Georgia. I have a wonderful rustic cabin on the river where we will paint, but we will also paint in some other wonderful spots....we know the secret spots!

Imagine driving  on peaceful country road. It winds it's way slowly alongside the river. You can smell the freshly mown hay and hear the gentle sounds of the river. As you round each bend the views get better. Soon you arrive. It is time to get settled in and take a deep breath of the sweet country air.

Imagine staying in this spot for three days. Painting. Learning. Laughing. Imagine being surrounded by other passionate artists. Artists of all abilities. Artists who just want to become better artists and who share the same passions as you.

This is a plein air workshop on Labor Day Weekend, Fri., Sat. & Sun., Sept. 1, 2, & 3. It is suggested if you are traveling from outside this area, you would want to arrange to stay somewhere close to Blue Ridge, GA arriving on Thurs., Aug. 31, and leaving on Mon., Sept. 4. And, we like to have the students over for a meet and greet that evening before. We can give you ideas or point you in the direction of accommodations.

Click here for more information and to register:https://marshasavage.com/workshop/11681/team-teaching-by-karen-margulis-and-marsha-savage

Get Ready for Green!

'Back to Stone Harbor'                 12 x 19.5             pastel              ©Karen Margulis
sold

 Green. I used to avoid it.  Dare I say I didn't even like it! Painting with it that is.  But since I live in the Southeast which is the Land of Green I have come to embrace it and maybe even like it.  I still long for the desert and the wonderful colors of the Southwest. But as long as I can visit at least once a year I am happy living and painting in the Land of Green.

 Most of my paintings have been very green this week.  I think it is partly due to being winter weary and ready for spring.  I also did some green paintings as demos for my classes on creating depth. It is easy to show how to create depth with a green landscape. It gets trickier with warmer colors.

Are you ready to paint the greens of spring and summer?  Here are a few quick tips....

'Florida Wetlands'             8x10            pastel
click here to purchase $125

• Make sure you have the *right* green pastels. If you plan to paint a lot of green landscapes you will want to have a good selection of greens.....light, middle and dark values. You need some warm and cool greens but you also need some neutral of gray greens.  Many introductory sets don't include enough of the right greens. Many have a majority of middle value in bright artificial looking greens. These greens can be overpowering in a landscape unless balanced with neutrals.

• Lay out all of your green pastels....give them a good cleaning with a paper towel or by shaking them in cornmeal or sand.....now evaluate them. Make a list of the greens you are lacking and order some open stock of your favorite brands.

• Remember that you can make your green landscapes more interesting by incorporating the complement in your green masses. Greens are more exciting with some red or orange.  Add some purple for the finishing touch.

'Down by the Creek'          8x10        pastel
click here to purchase $125

Get Ready for Green!

'Into the Land of Green'         8x10         pastel        ©Karen Margulis

 Green. I used to avoid it.  Dare I say I didn't even like it! Painting with it that is.  But since I live in the Southeast which is the Land of Green I have come to embrace it and maybe even like it.  I still long for the desert and the wonderful colors of the Southwest. But as long as I can visit at least once a year I am happy living and painting in the Land of Green.

 Most of my paintings have been very green this month.  I think it is partly due to being winter weary and ready for spring. Are you ready to paint the greens of spring and summer?  Here are a few quick tips....

More green tips this week on Patreon! See the video demo
of this painting.www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

• Make sure you have the *right* green pastels. If you plan to paint a lot of green landscapes you will want to have a good selection of greens.....light, middle and dark values. You need some warm and cool greens but you also need some neutral of gray greens.  Many introductory sets don't include enough of the right greens. Many have a majority of middle value in bright artificial looking greens. These greens can be overpowering in a landscape unless balanced with neutrals.

• Lay out all of your green pastels....give them a good cleaning with a paper towel or by shaking them in cornmeal or sand.....now evaluate them. Make a list of the greens you are lacking and order some open stock of your favorite brands.

• Remember that you can make your green landscapes more interesting by incorporating the complement in your green masses. Greens are more exciting with some red or orange.  Add some purple for the finishing touch.

Get Ready for Green!

'Into the Land of Green'         8x10         pastel        ©Karen Margulis

 Green. I used to avoid it.  Dare I say I didn't even like it! Painting with it that is.  But since I live in the Southeast which is the Land of Green I have come to embrace it and maybe even like it.  I still long for the desert and the wonderful colors of the Southwest. But as long as I can visit at least once a year I am happy living and painting in the Land of Green.

 Most of my paintings have been very green this month.  I think it is partly due to being winter weary and ready for spring. Are you ready to paint the greens of spring and summer?  Here are a few quick tips....

More green tips this week on Patreon! See the video demo
of this painting.www.patreon.com/karenmargulis

• Make sure you have the *right* green pastels. If you plan to paint a lot of green landscapes you will want to have a good selection of greens.....light, middle and dark values. You need some warm and cool greens but you also need some neutral of gray greens.  Many introductory sets don't include enough of the right greens. Many have a majority of middle value in bright artificial looking greens. These greens can be overpowering in a landscape unless balanced with neutrals.

• Lay out all of your green pastels....give them a good cleaning with a paper towel or by shaking them in cornmeal or sand.....now evaluate them. Make a list of the greens you are lacking and order some open stock of your favorite brands.

• Remember that you can make your green landscapes more interesting by incorporating the complement in your green masses. Greens are more exciting with some red or orange.  Add some purple for the finishing touch.

Friday Art Challenge: The Many Moods of Green

'I'll Take the Path on the Right'           8x10            pastel          ©Karen Margulis
sold

Green. You either love it or hate it. Sometimes painting with green can be a challenge. With pastels it seems we never have the right green. No matter how many greens I have collected I am always searching for the right one. And even though I have a lot of green pastels how do I know which ones to use?......Which ones are warm? Cool? Neutral? And how about all of those vivid artificial or acid greens?

It's green overload! What is the solution?

Terry Ludwig Pastel 90 piece Green Set.....this should do it!

The solution isn't to keep buying greens. The solution is to get to know the greens you have! Take them all out of all of their individual boxes. Play with them. 

• Group them by value....put the dark ones together, the light ones and middle values ones in their own piles.
• Try to group them by temperature....which ones seem cool (more blue) Which ones seem warm (more yellow) Which ones are hard to tell (probably neutral) 
• Group the artificial greens together....these are the vivid, intense artificial looking greens (spices)
• Make some marks with the greens to see how they look on paper. Remember that they will appear different depending on the paper color and what they are next to. (simultaneous contrast)

Make notes about which greens you seem to lack. Now you won't just buy random green pastels you will buy green with a purpose. 

CHALLENGE: 

After you experiment and play with the greens in your collection, paint a very green landscape. Remember that in a typical landscape the cooler greens (and lighter) will be in the distance and they will gradually transition to warmer greens in the foreground. There are always exceptions but this is a good general truth.

Take the challenge to the next level and paint the same scene but vary the greens to create a different mood. Perhaps turn a sunny day into a gray moody day.

If you'd like some tips on using green in the landscape have a look at my pdf demo available for $6

click here for details

Dealing with the Greens of Summer ...Pastel Demo

'Summer Green'            8x10        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
SOLD

It's been raining in Georgia just about everyday this summer. So everything is very lush and green. My weeds are out of control. But it's raining so I spent the day inside painting instead of pulling weeds.  I decided to paint a summer landscape from a tiny photo I took of a roadside mountain stream.  I took some progress photos so follow along and see how I tried to make a very green landscape interesting.

I started the painting on a piece of Uart 600 grit paper with a loose charcoal drawing. I then underpaint the shapes with some orange and red NuPastels. I blend in the Nupastel with a piece of pipe insulation foam.  I chose the reds and orange because I knew I would be adding a lot of green. So in using the compliment of the greens I would make the greens more exciting.

I started blocking in the dark shapes. I am now using soft pastels. This painting was done only using Terry Ludwig pastels. Next I put in the bright yellows in the sunlit areas of the grass. One of the things I liked about this scene was the strong light and shadow patterns so I wanted to be sure to get them in place early on.

I am using a variety of greens from Terry Ludwig's green set. I have some dark cool greens in the distance and shaded areas.  I then put in the sky using a very pale blue green. I also use the same colors in the water.  I try to break up the shape of the trees with sky color.

I now introduce some purple in the tree trunks and along the banks. One of my favorite quotes from Richard McKinley is about the secret of green. He says the secret of green is orange and violet is the friend.  I like to keep this thought in mind when I am dealing with a lot of green in the landscape. In this painting the orange is the underpainting and the violet is the little touches I put in as I finish the painting.

I continue building up the layers of green. I am using bold strokes. I want to let some of the orange peek through and the bold stokes keep me from overblending the green and orange which could make the greens look muddy. I add the final punctuation marks such as the orange in the tree trunks and little purple marks in the grass.

Dealing with the Greens of Summer

'Summer Green'            8x10        pastel        ©Karen Margulis
SOLD

Are you dealing with the greens of summer? This post from the archives will give you some tips!

It's been raining in Georgia just about everyday this summer. So everything is very lush and green. My weeds are out of control. But it's raining so I spent the day inside painting instead of pulling weeds.  I decided to paint a summer landscape from a tiny photo I took of a roadside mountain stream.  I took some progress photos so follow along and see how I tried to make a very green landscape interesting.

I started the painting on a piece of Uart 600 grit paper with a loose charcoal drawing. I then underpaint the shapes with some orange and red NuPastels. I blend in the Nupastel with a piece of pipe insulation foam.  I chose the reds and orange because I knew I would be adding a lot of green. So in using the compliment of the greens I would make the greens more exciting.

I started blocking in the dark shapes. I am now using soft pastels. This painting was done only using Terry Ludwig pastels. Next I put in the bright yellows in the sunlit areas of the grass. One of the things I liked about this scene was the strong light and shadow patterns so I wanted to be sure to get them in place early on.

I am using a variety of greens from Terry Ludwig's green set. I have some dark cool greens in the distance and shaded areas.  I then put in the sky using a very pale blue green. I also use the same colors in the water.  I try to break up the shape of the trees with sky color.

I now introduce some purple in the tree trunks and along the banks. One of my favorite quotes from Richard McKinley is about the secret of green. He says the secret of green is orange and violet is the friend.  I like to keep this thought in mind when I am dealing with a lot of green in the landscape. In this painting the orange is the underpainting and the violet is the little touches I put in as I finish the painting.

I continue building up the layers of green. I am using bold strokes. I want to let some of the orange peek through and the bold stokes keep me from overblending the green and orange which could make the greens look muddy. I add the final punctuation marks such as the orange in the tree trunks and little purple marks in the grass.