4 Ways to Tame Nature's Greens and put Joy back into your OUTDOOR SKETCHING - Painting & Drawing Tips

The sun came out today. But it's -5 Degrees, the Radio said.  

LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD ON A BRANCH - Sketchbook Fun

However, it doesn't mean I can't crack open my sketchbook and pretend I am Outdoor Sketching!!

Outdoor Sketching is one of my favourite ways to feed my creative passion; Head out with Max along a trail, find an interesting spot, set up and paint.  With Max sleeping beside me, nature in front of me, I am good. 

When the weather is cold or gray and wet you can often find me swiping on my phone.  I have tons of photos from summer treks to sketch from.  I enjoy painting nature: mossy rocks, cascading ferns, scraggy old trees, rocky creek beds and picturesque waterfalls. Its fun but also challenging.  I find the biggest challenge is. . .

Everything is GREEN. . .

Summer here on the coast is a Sea of Green

See what I mean!  A sea of green.  When I first started outdoor sketching I often became overwhelmed by the sea of greens.  It was frustrating.  

I persevered. . .

It wasn't easy.  But each summer I felt more and more in control.  Here are things I do to Tame Nature's Green's and put JOY into my OUTDOOR SKETCHING. 

You can also watch my video discussion with examples for further study on Youtube "Playing with Nature's Greens".

Reference Picture for LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD ON A BRANCH - Available as a Printable Download Here.  

1. Keep a simple palette.  I like to stick to a few colours, mostly transparent colours that will mix easily and not turn to mud.  I do use a premixed green (Hooker Green or Sap Green) and premixed orange (Cadmium Orange)  Both premixed colours are great to add one other colour to.  Also much faster than starting from scratch to get the colour I want.  

Using this palette to mix my greens means that every colour will coordinate with the other colours in the picture.  Thus if I use a more pure form of the colour it will still blend with the others.  It wont appear out of place.  It also reminds me to use all these colours and not just stick to green.  

My Palette: Just a few colours but enough to make lots of interesting combos

 2. Mix my colours on the paper: This speeds up the process but also allows me to make interesting combos that suggest green but are really infused with other colours.  This is a wet into wet process.  Put one colour down then add another colour beside it.  They will run into each other but also have areas where they don't mix.  Resulting in blue/green areas, yellow/green, orange/green, red/green. . .  and many more mixtures and colours.  They will suggest green with something more.  

Mixing Ultramarine Blue with my Hooker Green on the paper.  (Get more info from the Video " Playing with Nature's Greens". )

3. Glazing over colours: This is again one of my favourite things to do.  Sometimes I glaze over with a strong yellow, or modify a green with a light glaze of Quin Red.  My favourite is to glaze over some of my greens with a layer of Cobalt Teal Blue.  It really adds a sparkle.  

4.  Add a pure colour that is not green:  This is really my own way of moving outside of the box.  I can be too realistic.  I challenge myself to add the pure form of a colour I would not normally use.  ie. really can't see it.  I like to add it in 3 or 5 places.  Different amounts.  Different values.  This has been an interesting learning tool for me.  I find it usually works out well and introduces me to a new way of suggesting green.  

While the snow flies and the wind blows, grab your sketchbook and paint Nature's Greens.  Spring will be here before you know it and you will be ready.  

Video Support: Playing with Nature's Greens

Free Printable Download: Little Hummingbird on the Branch

A Full list of all my videos and links to their supporting PDF's is on my Website - Workshops - Videos by Wendy Mould.  

Happy Drawing!

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Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy