Painting a backdrop

Putting up the divider

I built a divider down the middle of the module to separate the two scenes on either side.  One side is Sausalito which was the southern terminus and the spot where ferries to San Francisco left.  The signature backdrop scene for Sausalito is the vista of Mt. Tamalpais with the town of Mill Valley nestled in its foothills.

On the other side is Duncan's Mills (how could I resist given my name is Duncan too). It is where the deep redwoods give way to the drier coastal golden grass hills.  I wanted to piant a scene that reflected that.

First I put on a coat of white gesso in to which I had mixed a very small amount of blue.  The gesso gives the surface some tooth to make it receive paint better.  Before this was dry, I put a thin line of blue across the top and then mixed it downwards with X strokes.  You can see this technique by the master of quick landscapes, Bob Ross.  Just search his name on YouTube.

Over this I painted with acrylic colors. I mixed in some slow-drying media to give me some time to blend the colors.  Otherwise acrylics dry too fast to blend. As the colors recede you want to mix in some light blue sky color and some Payne's grey to represent the depth of the atmosphere. on the side of the hills in shadow you can add some blue and some Payne's grey to represent the bluer, darker light of the shadows.  Similarly add yellow and white to the lighter side.  Distant hills get very little color added so that the highlights and shadows are just a little different from the basic blue-grayed base color.
this kind of painting is complicated by the fact that as the acrylics dry, they will become darker and while wet you cannot always clearly see the difference in color that will appear later. So some faith that the differences are there is needed while painting and some experience is needed. However, you can always paint over wiht a new color so I try to get the forms right first in a close color and then change them later with a second coat to something I am happier with.  Finally, accidents are your freind in this kind of painting.  Often just daubing colors from a pallette in the general places gives you a really nice effect and is more successful than trying to carefully paint "within the lines".  Release your inner Guagain and go impressionistic!

A divider down the middle was added and some carved foam scenery.  Then I got out the paints and had fun. First I covered the layout with building paper and just used this as the palette to mix the paints right on the paper.  I didn't take any photos of this colorful mess. Oh well.

 

Mt. Tamalpais as seen from the Sausalito direction scene.  Tamalpais means the sleeping maiden in Miwok.

Dunca's Mills scene is more made up as there really is no signature scene like at Sausalito that I know of.  Its been a long time since I was there and I couldn't find many photos on the web of the scenery in the area.  I painted a woody gorge leading up the bridge on the right and some grass-covered hills on the left.  the bridge was made from a piece of balsa wood painted to look like concrete.  The rocks are all carved foam to keep the weight down.  they are then painted by stippling on various grays, umbers and siennas of craft-store paint.  the trees were painted from green craft-color paints using a fan brush and dabbing the colors on - not stroking. Use a dark green for the body of the tree and then add some lighter green highlights.