So, I think I’ve decided on calling this painting “A Quiet Riverbend” and not just “Riverbend”. The latter is a little plain.
I’m influenced by the background art of Studio Ghibli. As are a lot of artists. I wanted to practice painting in the style they do.
I’ve watched some videos on YouTube on how Ghibli artists do its backgrounds. It requires soaking the paper, both sides, and that allows it to stay wet as the background artist paints. I didn’t do that here. Any blending I would have needed to do, I used a damp brush – dipped into water and dabbed onto a paper towel – and brushed across any dried paint gently to blend them together. I may want to try soaking the paper and painting while it’s still wet in the future.
I think what I’ve gotten right is the shape language of the foliage, the color, and atmospheric perspective. I’m not saying I’m completely there yet, but I think I’m off to a good start. I plan to keep pushing my skills as time goes by.
My underpainting could use some improvement. Remember this from back in part 2 of this series of posts?
While I was able to correct colors as I went, I believe the underpainting shouldn’t be too radically different in color from what I’m going to paint over it. There were some mixtures where I was going too far over toward one pigment or another instead having a better balance between pigments in a mixture. Either that, or colors were too dull.
One example was my Burnt Sienna and Phthalo Green mixture, where I was pushing a little too much toward brown, dulling the mix. The final mixture still has the Burnt Sienna in it – it’s the only way I can achieve a kind of Olive Green – but with more green than brown in it. Maybe there’s also a little more yellow mixed in as well.
When it comes to the shape language of Studio Ghibli, that was a matter of studying stills from the movies. I had a collection of images I was referencing while I was painting.
While my painting itself was fairly original, I was using the screencaps to guide me in a loose way as I painted.
Aside from the screen captures I used photos to help me. I didn’t want to just limit myself to the screencaps.
I like what I’ve done here with “A Quiet Riverbend”, but I don’t think I’m there yet. for this painting, I wanted to start fairly simple. Yes, I have sever features, like water, underwater pebbles, and foliage, but I wanted to keep a balance between simple and some interest in the composition. Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s anything too complex in terms of how I shaped the trees, and the topography is pretty flat with no hills or mountains or other complex features.
I am getting more familiar with gouache paint with just this painting. I feel like I can handle it more intuitively if only just a bit, so that’s a success, at least.
I do plan to push myself in future paintings. I want to get a grasp of this style as soon as possible, even if that will still take some time.