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Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Gary S - 06-13-2011
continued from previous page
Now, inside the red area, start stippling on the darkest greens and olives, even mix in some black and gray, in a varied pattern, not one color. Go ahead and get rid of all the sky color in the red area. Then stipple in the various darker colors and maybe some medium colors up above the red area. In the gray area, put in a medium green and olive. This will help lend depth to the scene.
Stipple some more dark and medium right along the upper part of the solid color, inside the red area below, to make the area gradually go from solid to "sky showing through". Also use medium green and stipple into the remaining empty areas below the tree - sky junction
Next, add tree trunks using a small brush and antique white paint. Thin the paint a bit with water, not too much though. There is a perfect consistency where the paint will flow off the brush, but not run or become too transparent. Practice. Use the photos for reference, even other tree and forest photos. If you try the trunks from memory, just what "seems" right, the trunks sometimes look "toy-like". Spend some time viewing tree trunks to get a feel for how the branches extend from the trunks, etc. Not saying I am any good at it, but look at nature, and look at the photos, and paint what is there. Certainly a little artist's license is necessary. My trees are definitely different from my photos. Still, I used the photo for the overall feel of the real thing. I actually added more trunks than what shows in the photo.
Once the trunks are dry, use a fine pencil to darken the trunks a bit, darker on the side away from the sun. Even the limbs can get a thin pencil line on the side away from the sun. Can't so much tell in the photo below, but the darkening of the trunks on the left, while leaving them lighter on the right, certainly gives a feeling of dimension.
Didn't mention earlier, but you don't want to stipple new paint into wet paint on the backdrop. Using a hair dryer to dry the paint will save some time. I use this alot.
continued....
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Gary S - 06-13-2011
Now stipple medium olive onto a tree. Start with one of the trees that seems to be behind the others. Leave some of the tree trunk showing through. Here, we are working on the tree in the red box.
Use the hair dryer, then stipple light olive, starting at the top and working down. This is where the proper stippling technique is crucial. You want tiny little spots representing leaves. Also, the lighter colors should mainly be where the sun would hit. What we are creating is the shadows and highlights - the areas in bright sun, and the areas in dark shade. Study photos of real trees. Go out and view nature, and take photos. Print them out and study them. Not saying I have got this stuff down to a tee, but I'm getting there (I hope).
Continue on to other trees, varying the colors, even mix some paint together to create new colors. Always use the hair dryer when changing colors, otherwise the backdrop becomes a mass of a monotonous color.
Here's a photo of stippling, lightly dabbing a loaded brush onto the backdrop. Go straight in, perpendicular to the backdrop.
Added more lighter stippling up around the top areas. The trees left of the red line is finished. As you can see, another possibility would be to do minimal extra stippling, as the right side of the red line looks somewhat acceptable for more sparsely leaved trees.
Further away:
Will also take a black wash and darken the tree trunks quite a bit. I'll still be putting some bushes along the lower section, so this area is not complete yet.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Gary S - 06-13-2011
One other thought... if too much green gets put on, and the sky isn't showing through enough, the sky color can be stippled on to leave more openings. Also, if the tree startes getting too light, without enough shadow, a darker color can be stippled on. One thing that surprised me is that to create obvious shade and light areas, the greens have to have quite a bit of contrast, more than I would have thought.
After the area is completed, a thin wash of the sky color over the whole thing will mute the saturated colors and tie things together. Stuff that is really far away can get two or even three washes. Just be sue the washes are completely dry between applications.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - torikoos - 06-13-2011
Gary thank you very much for the tutorial!
I did have a feeling that you did use a stiple method to get the effect of leaves, but you never know. They look great, I like the way the tree trunks have come up. I will definitely have a go at this when I get to that stage.
I'm needed to re-lay some track after I get home from my current business trip, and then add a new back drop panel. Then let the fun begin :-)
Thanks again!
Koos
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - faraway - 06-14-2011
I can't wait to see the backdrop with hand painted branches and leafs on the trees. That is very different from the usual painted abstract background trees used to form an impression as an assembly.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Svein - 06-14-2011
Simply stunning, Gary!
Thank you so much for sharing your methods with the rest of us! 
Svein
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - cnw1961 - 06-14-2011
Gary, you really mastered the art of backdrop-painting
. Thank you for that tutorial.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - FiatFan - 06-14-2011
Thank you for sharing your technique. Outstanding work.
Tom
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - AC87 - 06-14-2011
Looking sharp Gary!
Aaron
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - tetters - 06-14-2011
Well done Gary! Thank you for the how to.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Ralph - 06-14-2011
Wow! What more can I add but to express my admiration of the care and talent you put into your backdrops. Gorgeous!
Ralph
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - Charlie B - 06-14-2011
Gary, thanks for the tutorial. this really should be placed in the Academy.(moderators?).
I will be using your techniques to super detail mine when the time comes .
Thanks again for taking the time to spell this out for us.
Charlie
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - MasonJar - 06-14-2011
Charlie B Wrote:Gary, thanks for the tutorial. this really should be placed in the Academy.(moderators?).
Charlie -
Not to worry. This thread has come to our attention
Andrew
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - e-paw - 06-14-2011
Your a regular Bob Ross, Gary. Very nice trees.
Re: WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build - ngaugingnut - 06-14-2011
Yep, definitely Academy material! Thanks very much Gary again for sharing your techniques, you are the backdrop master.