Large-scale landscape tutorial

This tutorial will outline the methods I used to paint an aerial view of a harbour. Materials used included professional acrylic paints and chalk pastels, acid-free matboard, and sable/ synthetic mix brushes in sizes ranging from 0 to 10.

Step 1: Starting from the back and top
Some cerulean blue, variously mixed with white, was painted over the sky in a gradient from top to bottom, getting lighter towards the horizon and right-hand side of the picture, where the light source would be. Some of the sky blues were painted roughly over the top of the water.
These gradients were not very smooth at first, but it is difficult to obtain a smooth gradient with acrylic (it dries very fast). I mixed a few drops of water with my paint, to make it easier to handle, and painted several layers. If you want a smooth gradient from the start, try adding a drying retardant (available from art supply stores). This slows the drying process, giving you more time to work with the paint. Also, use the biggest brush you can manage, to make the colours easier to blend across large areas. You can use a smaller brush to touch up errors later if necessary.

Step 2: Clouds
The next step was some clouds. This was to be a light-filled, high-key piece, so the clouds were basically just white. There are really no rules with clouds (in fact, there are really no rules with anything to do with art, but that's beside the point).
While I did use a reference photo for these clouds, I didn't really need to. They are simply pleasingly-arranged white shapes with little tone or shadow to them. They are slightly greyer towards the horizon, with the brightest clouds closer to the viewer.

Step 3: The harbour
Reflections in water tend to be darker than the objects they are reflecting, so the harbour needed to be darker than the sky. However, my main goal at this stage was to create a harmonious balance of land and water. As you can see, the water is much paler towards the horizon, in a similar fashion to the sky.

Step 4: Beginning the city
It's hard to describe the next step. This was the most complex background I've ever painted. If you're attempting something similar, the only advice I can give is to take it one small bit at a time. I started at the back, but took a break from the tiny detail work every so often by painting some buildings closer to the viewer. Remember, objects will be larger and darker close to the viewer.

Step 5: Inspiration strikes
I knew the colours of the work were boring and flat, but I had safely stayed inside my comfort zone. Then inspiration struck and I decided to re-do the entire thing. I added dark reds, blues, greens and yellow to the sky and water to inject some drama into the piece.

Step 6: Repainting the city
This was the same process as step 4, with the inclusion of some beaches in the foreground. The foreground was painted with more yellow than the background, to add depth. Additionally, parts of the sky were repainted (again), to reduce the number of colours. The boats and water reflections were added last.
To increase the feeling of depth, I made sure my greens became more blue as distance from the viewer increased.

Step 7: The finished work
Most of the sky and some of the city and water were drawn over with chalk pastels, which were blended to give a smooth effect. Some clouds were added in the foreground to accentuate the sense of height. This image shows the finished work; click on it to view at a larger size.

All content copyright Donna Quinn.