Oakridge Backdrops: Enhancing the Base

In a previous post 2 weeks ago I discussed establishing a "base" on the backdrop for further detailing and scenery development. In Oakridge, a town that is surrounded by prominent hills, I wanted to take some time to work on developing my base painting at a higher level of detail, specifically detailing the prominent features in the background before I move on to any foreground painting.

To lay out the hills behind Oakridge, I used Bing Maps (Google does not have Oakridge in Streetview) as reference for the surroundings. I simply lightly sketched the real background to the yard onto my backdrop, and then filled in those hills with my mid-back ground paint color.

Background hills laid out behind Oakridge.

Base background hills directly behind Oakridge.

One of the things I really struggled with initially is color. I included a photo of my palette just to give an idea of some of the colors I was working with. For starters, I have moved away from cheap craft acrylics and am now working with artists acrylics. In my previous posts I wanted to use the cheaper paints as I experimented, but now with more established techniques am working with higher quality paint. I used a blue, yellow, black, and white and mix colors from there.

                   

The photo below demonstrates how I am working the detail the base. First I add a colors that in ever so slightly darker than my base which is serving as my mid-range value. This establishes my dark shadows. From there I add 2-3 layers of green to form the trees. Here I have only done a small area, but the results are worth the trouble.

In progress of background hill work in Oakridge

With time I will update the progress of this painting effort, but wanted to document this process within approximate time frame to my post on "Base Painting" to demonstrate how I am working in subtle detail into my backdrops.