Tonal Study: Three Picture Planes

This demo is aimed at beginner painters or anybody who would like to review the basics. If you are interested in learning to paint the landscape, a monochrome is a good place to start.

This demonstration is about rendering the three planes that are typically found in a  landscape painting; the foreground, the middle ground and the background.  It is done as a monochromatic  study, which is often used by painters as an under-painting.  Monochromatic studies are an excellent way for painters to understand the tonal relationship of their subject.

There are three stages to the painting process:

1. Initial drawing: This is done with burnt sienna oil paint that is thinned with mineral spirits. I use a small round brush and keep a rag handy to wipe away any mistakes.
2. Colour block-in: I mix a specific value (tone) of colour for each plane of the composition. Notice that although the details of the shapes are rough and simple, there is a strong sense of depth.  That is the principle aim of doing a colour block-in.
3. Detailing: This is the last stage of the painting. The shapes are refined and a few intermediate tones of colour are added.