Across the valley, Stow

 Pastel on Clairefontaine Pastelmat, 19 x 27 inches

Just when you all thought I'd abandoned my default subject in favour of painting the female human form, I'm back with a landscape.  Just want to keep you guessing...

This is a view just outside the delightful Cotswold town of Stow-on-the -Wold.  Looking across a valley, there was a gorgeous feeling of spacial distance, looking into the sunlight.  I rather liked the downward slant of the puffy clouds, countering the upward slant of the field in the foreground, so I made use of that.  The ewes and their lambs provided a nice bit of life and interest and I placed them accordingly to enhance the composition.

The whole painting was composed of an eclectic mix of greens, richer in the foreground trees and getting progressively more blue into the distance.  Again, observation is the key, painting what you see, not what your brain tells you, ie., we all know trees are green in their summer garb, but if all the trees are painted green, even the ones across the valley far away, there will be no illusion of depth, of three dimensions.  

So, in summary, all realistic painting is, is painting what you see before you, easy peasy.  If I give out any more wisdom, I shall be out of a job, so please ignore the last sentence....make sure you paint all your trees, regardless of whether they're near or far, bright emerald green......