SUMMER SKETCHES WITH ELENA BAZANOVA. LANDSCAPE WITH A POND

Now is the very beginning of summer and the foliage on the trees is young, clean and, as it were, glowing with freshness, and watching this, I always want to go to captivity air, immerse myself in this atmosphere of a riot of life and colours. For the composition, I chose a pond in an old park. Trees surround it on all sides, the golden rays of the sun break through the foliage, illuminating the space with bright reflections.

First, I make a light drawing, placing several trees on the right and left in the foreground, slightly shifting the central point of the horizon to the right, where in the background there is a small cape on the opposite side of the pond. The cape in the background is well lit by the sun's rays, while the trees in the foreground are in shadow. Having finished with the drawing, I generously moisten the sheet on the back side so that the paper absorbs the maximum amount of water and can remain wet for as long as possible. Then I turn the sheet over and moisten the sheet to a lesser extent on the side of the drawing. I'm starting to paint.

For the palette I chose 5 colours: 1. 271. Nickel Titanat Yellow (P.Y.53 *** ■△), 2. 256. Prach (P.Y.3, P.O.64., P.W.6 *** ■◮), 3. 399. Pyrrol Orange (P.O.73 *** ◨◮), 4. 635. Sunset Mist (P.B.29, P.O.73 *** ◨◮ G), 5. 705. Cobalt Green Deep (P.G.50 *** ◨△ G), 6. 763. Yellowish Green Mist (P.B.35, P.Y.3 *** ◨◮ G), 7. 595. Sea Mist (P.G.50, P.B.15:3 *** ◨◮ G), 8. 837. Spinel Grey (P.Bk.28 *** ◨◮ G) 

Next, I move to a Middle ground. I start with the trees. I make the first pass on the trunks with a mixture of Nickel Titanat Yellow + Pyrrol Orange + Sunset Mist, obtaining a beautiful and transparent brownish background colour of the trunks. I add Spinel Grey on the shadow side. With the second layer, when the first one had dried a little, I painted with a mixture of Pyrrol Orange + Cobalt Green Deep, adding Sunset Mist or Spinel Grey in the shadows to get additional depth and volume. Spinel Grey pairs beautifully with Pyrrol Orange to produce sheer, muted shades of brown that can darken any mixture. And the general feeling of a reflex from the mass of greenery is given by Cobalt Green Deep.

Having finished with the trunks, I move on to the foliage in the middle and a piece of the bank in the foreground. Using a mixture of Cobalt Green Deep + Yellowish Green Mist I go through the undertones of the tree canopies, and adding Sunset Mist to the mixture creates depth and volume. This way I get the feeling of sunlight shining through the foliage. I add cool flecks of shadow on the trunks using Sea Mist. These are falling shadows from individual branches, with them a feeling of space appears. 

Grass and a piece of shore are on the shady side of the pond, in the foreground of our landscape. For the grass, I use the same colours as before, but add less water, resulting in a denser colour. To make the greens in the foreground a little denser in both the trees and the grass, I added Pyrrol Orange to the mix. For the shore, I also use the same paints as for the trunks, but I also add less water. For a complex, deep, cool shade of shadows falling from the trees to the ground, I used a mixture of Sunset Mist + Sea Mist + Pyrrol Orange + Spinel Grey. 

When finishing the work, I soften the edges a little with a damp, clean brush where necessary, and correct small details with a thin brush.