Principal Areas of Interest in an especially boring location

[ThomasR]

That's great news !

[J.Edward]

Nice work Chashio
I like the oblique land there.
Might have to make a little world based on that bit.

I need to do prints, but it feels daunting.
Complicated and frustrating too.

[Chashio]

That's great news !

Yes indeed. Hopefully ...

Nice work Chashio
I like the oblique land there.
Might have to make a little world based on that bit.

I need to do prints, but it feels daunting.
Complicated and frustrating too.

Ya already started it, eh? And probably adding the final touches as you were typing that too.

You should definitely do prints ... and yes... it can be all of those things.

I'm glad you like my lil bit of world. and thank you for your comments - they're always appreciated.

[Chashio]

Here's some progress on sketch #5 from this post.

I started adding color [just painting over the original sketch in PS] and then decided to expand the canvas a good bit. It's turning into a very painterly landscape view, and I'll probably end up with two versions - one labeled, one not.

The current WIP and original sketch for reference...
I did ultimately decide to include the Falls, though it's not very visible/finished atm.

04 25 2017 5mMapSketch5 ColorSketch KaitlinGray.png 04 23 2017 5mMapSketch5 KaitlinGray.png

Hope you like it

[J.Edward]

Oooooh, I quite like what you are doing with this one.
The color choices are very appealing here.
I'm glad you opened it out... made it a broader view.
That expansion really adds a lot to this one.

I'll look forward to seeing what you do with this Chashio.

[Mouse]

Oh I love the composition, and especially the colours. That sea! I love it! I love it!

[Chashio]

Oooooh, I quite like what you are doing with this one.
The color choices are very appealing here.
I'm glad you opened it out... made it a broader view.
That expansion really adds a lot to this one.

I'll look forward to seeing what you do with this Chashio.

Oh I love the composition, and especially the colours. That sea! I love it! I love it!

Thank you J. and Mouse! I'm having a ton of fun with this one [well, all of these sketches, actually] and trying some new things so I'm really glad for your comments and feedback. Very much appreciated.

On the composition: I kept adding another bit and another bit, etc to the right edge of the canvas and slapping the water color around until i got that rough composition of the rocks/sea, then added some more on the bottom to make the final dimensions 12x18 [which is about as large as I can print on my new printer ].

For the colors, I am taking inspiration from a bunch of landscape paintings, illustrations and aerial photos.

I'm quite pleased with how this one is coming out.

[Chashio]

Something I started last night. Just roughing in some stuff atm. Painted in ArtRage.

2017 05 01 CoastalInletsPanoramWIP1 KaitlinGray.JPG

[Meshon]

So I decided to try one of these 5/7 landscape things... and discovered I have no idea how to make landscapes! Do you work from reference photos? Expert imagination? I am now visiting the Rocky Mountains for three days with the intention of sketching some mountains from life.

[Chashio]

So I decided to try one of these 5/7 landscape things... and discovered I have no idea how to make landscapes! Do you work from reference photos? Expert imagination? I am now visiting the Rocky Mountains for three days with the intention of sketching some mountains from life.

Haha I'm glad you're getting in on that - it's lots of fun, etc.

It helps if you start very loose and don't try to refine anything... they're just quick visual notes... and then just keep doing them... whip one out, when the timer goes off, start right into the next. Maybe try approaching it in a different way for each or every two/three. Do a page like that, and then look back and see which ones felt easiest/most natural, and what bits you like best. Try another page in the next day or two.

I use both, reference and imagination, but the expert part of the imagination requires looking at a ton of reference photos and other things to build up a memory bank to help with getting it to look right, and loads of practice sketching.

I love google image search and pinterest for browsing a ton of landscape and aerial photography [pinterest is great for being able to save reference you like in an easy-to-find spot for later]
[Edit: and Paintings! Really useful to look at how artists paint/render landscapes with light and shadow and shapes]
And also... look up Berann; he is one of my favorite inspirations for panoramic maps.

Other than pictures, I also sometimes pan through Google Earth, either the online version (I like my smartphone screen because the app is really simple to pan/zoom/rotate) or with the downloadable desktop version. Google Earth/Maps also has a bunch of photos at various locations that people have put on the map, so you can see how it looks in person as well as the digital 3d render, which is often not as great for detail and the landforms can be quite rough/ill-defined. Photos can help more with lighting and color as well, etc.
Bing also has a sort of similar thing to Earth, with its Aerial View, and I've used that sometimes as well.

Three days in the Rockies :O that sounds awesome! Take pictures too they make excellent reference for later use, especially when paired with memories.

Hopefully that helps and if you have any other questions about it or feel like you're getting stuck/frustrated with some point, I'll be happy to answer more and/or help as I can.
Have fun in the mountains!