Fall Time in Pennsylvania
By Linda Lineman of Lineman’s Porcelain Memories
Fall in Pennsylvania is beautiful. I could go out and take pictures the entire season. The colors are constantly changing. From multiple colors of green to the vibrant reds, yellows, golds and oranges. I designed this scene from a picture I took of the Allegheny River in my home town before the fall changes.
I like the way the large tree framed the picture & can’t wait to see it in the fall. The trees go on and on. Up one hill & then another, it catches your attention. I referred to other photos of fall colors I had, along with this one, to create this painting.
Project Supplies
Stylus
Paper towels
Royal Transfer Paper - White Graphite #RD205
Sponges – I have used the triangle cosmetic sponges from the Dollar Tree.
Surface
Basswood Plank at Michaels Craft store. #40010098019
(Measures 13” wide ,11” high on the right & 10” high on the left.)
Palette - DecoArt Americana
DA190 Winter Blue DA038 Wedgewood Blue DA318 Blue Haven
DA163 Honey Brown DA 064 Burnt Umber DA052 Avocado
DA082 Evergreen DA331 Desert Cactus DA089 Black Forest Green DA228 Bright Orange DA016 Burnt Orange DA169 Tomato Red DA165 Napa Red DA143 True Ochre DA330 Chartreuse DA361 Sand Grey DA068 Slate Grey DA155 Soft Black
DA067 Lamp Black DA01 Snow White Mediums
DAS13 Matte Americana Sealer/Finisher OR DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze Spray
Brushes by Royal & Langnickel
#6 Royal Knight 7150
½” Royal Soft Grip SG16
#10 Royal Majestic 4150 square shader
5/8” Langnickel Angular 3060 Combo
30/0 Monogram Mini Majestic series 4200M
2/0 Round Majestic R4250
Painting Instructions
Background
If you want to trace, transfer the pattern using white transfer paper. Only trace the basics of where the water & hills go at this point. Base the sky in with Blue Haven & Snow White using a very wet sponge and watery thin paint. Use the white to hint at some fluffy clouds in the sky. Next sponge on Honey Brown for the bottom half, again using a wet sponge. I only used a light coat because I wanted to still see some of the wood texture I’m painting on.
Foliage
Start the trees with Avocado. Use Evergreen to show depth & shadows and Desert Cactus for highlights. This places some of the trees in the foreground & others way over the hills. You will notice these are not detailed individual trees. They are just based in with the colors. Touch in Black Forest Green where you want it darker to show a division between the hills or a line of trees.
Fall Colors
I use both flat shader & angle shader brushes to add the colors of fall leaves. Load whatever brush you like best with at least two colors and do a sideways (up & down motion) to lay the colors on the green trees. Using three brushes, all with two colors in them, helps with not having to keep cleaning out the brushes. Notice the trees in the middle, that are the farthest back, have more subtle colors. This helps give the illusion that they are farther away.
Use Bright Orange, Napa Red, Burnt Orange,True Ochre and Tomato Red for the leaves.
Add Chartreuse as a highlight as needed.
Foreground – Bridge, Shore & River
Between the hills there is a bridge. Use Sand Grey to paint it & then shadow with Slate Grey. Paint the ground with Honey Brown.
Next base the river with Winter Blue. Be sure to have the water come out from under the bridge. You will shadow it along the shoreline & where you want to show ripples using Wedgewood Blue. Highlight with Blue Haven. I used a very thin watery wash of Evergreen in the water at the front of shore. This gives the illusion of the green trees reflected also.
Water Reflections
Trees are painted with the same colors you used for the fall leaf colors. Look at where you put the colors on the trees & start adding them into the water a small area at a time. Keep them very watery and once placed, I pulled them down into the water & then brushed across them to give a water effect. Leave a line of water next to the shore before starting the reflections. Remember to keep backing up to look at it, you can’t always see it up close. You want to still see some blue in the water in spots.
Silhouettes
Now is the time to trace the boat, birds & trunk of the large tree. Paint the birds, boat, man & fish with Soft Black. Use Lamp Black for shadows & details on them. Using Blue Haven paint some waves lapping the boat & ripples where fish is coming out of the water. Use Wedgewood Blue to make the shadows showing boat movement. [photo 8] The large tree is painted with Burnt Umber shadows with soft black & highlight with thin Honey Brown. The hole in the tree is made using Lamp Black.
Using a fan brush I then painted the leaves on the large tree using both Evergreen & Black.
Finishing
Depending on the finished look you want, here are two choices. I finished mine DAS13 Matte Americana Sealer/Finisher OR you could use DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze Spray to give it a shiny finish. Using the same colors in the sky & water creates unity in the picture. Same with the trees. What you have in the background, you want in the foreground. This is true in most all paintings. That is why I even put a thin wash of green in my water. I wanted to bring down some of the green background color into the foreground. Thanks for letting me share what I love to do. Now go have FUN!!
Linda!
