Dry stone walls
Hi, I have been watching OLIVER’s great YouTube posts for a while. I really like the atmosphere he creates with his work. I am lucky to live in the south of France and I want to paint the places I have become attached to. I recently took this photo not to far from my home. A regular pause on one of my bike circuits (you can’t see it but the view to the right is beautiful ).
My problem is the relic of this stone windmill, or more precisely dry-stone walls. There are a lot here and I can’t find away to represent them in a loose fashion. I could probably do a fare job of a close study but it’s when they stone walls are present but not necessarily the focal point. I want the viewer to know it’s a stone wall, but I don’t want to paint all the stones! In this picture they are too small anyway.
In Olivers pictures there are often drystone walls, they are frequently in the foreground and some of the stones are big enough to identify and paint.
I have been trying to achieve this with different dry brush strokes.
Recent tests…
I like the texture produced but it’s not instantly recognizable as a stone structure.
Any Ideas how I could achieve this ???
Many thanks to any advice you could give.
Peter
(ps if I can get this down, next is vineyards (rows and rows of vines!) tough but someone has to do it!! )
I've seen several people lay down a varigated wash, with a variety of color represented in the stone, and then lay plastice wrap over top. The plastic wrap gets "smooshed" together to create a variety of patterns and then is left while the paint dries completely. The finished version shows good texture. However, the texture I've created using this method usually produces a larger rock look. I think you're getting the right idea on color with the shaded edge. "All it takes is practice," they say(ha-ha-ha)! For me it never seems to be that simple. You're doing a great job!