30 BRP Paintings #2 - Looking Glass Rock

 

 

 

Well Folks you are going to see the bad and the ugly.  This is the fourth shot of this second landscape of the series, the frontal side of Looking Glass Rock and it is taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway around Mile 418.  I keep reworking it because I am not happy with it, but I have to stop now. 

 

I think one of the things that isn't working for me is getting the values in the right place.  John F. Carlson says to make a landscape work you need values to:

1)  1st value is the lightest value which is the sky (because I have such a stormy mood in this this doesn't hold true for the entire sky

2)   2nd lightest value is the land or ground plane, which directly reflects the light of the sky - think I got this with the last mountain ridge

3)  3rd value which is darker than the first two values is the slanted planes, mountains, slanted rocks, hills, etc get less light

4)  4th value, which is the darkest should go on upright planes, trees, buildings and other upright planes get the least amount of light falling directly on them.

 

Also I can't seem on this sanded paper to get the right amount of pastel on it, seems like I don't have enough to blend and then I have too much.  it still takes another layer but I end up with lots of pastel crumbs that I have to clean off.  I did try on this picture to do an alcohol wash, yep I used some pretty funky undercolors.  I am finding it a challenge to come up with all these greens for trees and the ridges that are covered with trees.  Maybe I will work through that, I hope, as right now I am making pretty good mud. 

 

Well, as they say, tomorrow is another day!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.  Comments and suggestions would be much appreciated.