Challenge #2 - Painting Rocks

Finished PaintingPosted - April 21, 2020

In this video I discuss painting rocks and brushstrokes.

Use my reference or take one of your own. Paint at least two to six rocks in an assortment of subtle grays and browns. Make them distinct from one another.

In the photograph: Note the overexposure in the sun and underexposure in the shade of the rocks. As the painter you must compensate for this.

Remember: Rocks are like blocks. The planes facing most perpendicular to the light source (usually the upward facing planes - like ground) will be the lightest in value. Planes at an angle to the light source (usually the vertical planes) will be middle value light or middle value dark. Planes facing down will be darkest, but are also slightly lighter than they appear in a photograph due to light reflecting off the ground or other surrounding objects. Paint the dark value in the rock and then reflect color back into/onto those strokes.

Note: For round rocks soften the transition between the values. Think of form shadows.

https://youtu.be/WGVZxQef-YM

Reference Photo