Getting the Color and Value Right on Objects in the Background of Landscapes June 10, 2000
It could be mountains. Maybe it’s trees or bushes. A barn or fence post is a possibility. Whatever is back there in your painting you want color and value to be right.
Maybe the best place to start is to discuss relative humidity. That, of course, is the amount of moisture in the air at any given time. The moisture is in the form of tiny particles of water, each of which reflects the blue of the sky. This means that every object we see has a blue haze between us and it. The more distant an object is, the more blue haze we see it through, making it bluer and paler.
If we paint green trees and bushes in the foreground of our painting, we will have mixed those greens by adding yellow to blue. To ensure color capability in our paintings, we should paint our sky with the same blue we used to make the green. Since we now know that we view distant objects through a blue haze caused by the blue sky, all we need to do is add the blue we painted our sky with to the green we painted the trees and bushes with and we have the proper color for distant objects such as mountains, trees, etc. The farther away an object is the more blue we want. A red object in the foreground will appear slightly purple in the distance.
In the above instance, I would have used Burnt Sienna mixed with Antwerp Blue to produce the greents. Using more Antwerp blue than Burnt Sienna gives me a cool or blue green. I add New Gamboge or Winsor Lemon to warm that green. Antwerp Blue would be the choice for the sky. If the natural pthalo look of Antwerp is a little star, I would add some Cerulean Blue to make the Antwerp a little creamier.Good painting!
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Enjoy painting!
Robert and Sharon
Robert Long Watercolors
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