I have been dealing with a lot of dirt lately and I don’t mean the kind that seems to accumulate in my entryway. Since I paint forest scenes and gardens, the trees and plants have to be rooted in earth, soil – or just plain dirt.
Actually, the dirt isn’t “plain” since in the forest, at least, it is also composed of dried fern fronds, twigs, pebbles, fir and pine cones, weeds, grass and fallen leaves. I want to give it some interest, but don’t want it to detract from the main composition of trees and foliage or flowers, so it is always a challenge.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES FOR EACH MEDIUM
When I paint watercolors I use a different technique to give some texture to the s0il around the trees and plants. I lay in a wash of color – usually brown or gray – and then add torn-up small pieces of wax paper while the paint is wet. I salt around the paper and when it is thoroughly dry the next day, I scrape off the paper and salt and have a nice, visually grainy surface. At this point I modify the color and add shadows and emphasize some gravelly areas.
ACRYLIC AND OIL TECHNIQUES
With these mediums I splatter white paint in the areas around the trees and plants. The small dots of paint build up a texture that is grainy and I can paint over them with a series of layers to vary the colors. Sometimes I add small twigs and leaves to add interest and also darken the shadowed areas. I often paint over the foreground several times to get the effect I want.
See the different examples of “dirt” in the paintings below:
Spring Spectrum”, 40″ x 60″ watercolor.
“A Glimpse of the River”, 36″ x 60″ acrylic”
