Forest Passage 8x14
Mastering Intervals and the Art of Leaving Things Alone
Forest Passage 8x14
The Challenge of Fogged Vision
I have to apologize right off the bat - you’re going to see the camera gradually fog over during the drawing portion of this painting. It’s winter here in New Zealand, so while you folks up north are enjoying warm weather, I’m dealing with temperature differentials that make my camera lens mist up. But you know what? We’re going to push through it, because this painting - “Forest Passage” - turned out beautifully, and there are some key lessons here I really want to share.
Understanding Intervals: The Music of Tree Placement
One of the most important concepts I want to discuss is what I call intervals - and I’m very pleased with how I handled them in this piece. Just like in music, you can’t have even spaces everywhere or it becomes incredibly boring.
When you’re dealing with vertical elements in your landscape - and verticals are always the most attention-getting things because we humans are naturally sensitive to them - you need to vary:
The width of the trunks (they can’t all be the same)
The spaces between them (avoid that evenly-spaced telephone pole look)
The angles (some diagonal, some straight)
I kept some trees from the reference, discarded others, and used the whole thing as inspiration rather than a rigid guide. That’s the key - let the reference inspire you, don’t let it imprison you.
My Brief: Big Brushes and Loose Definitions
Going into this painting, I had a clear brief for myself: use a good-sized brush and work on that tricky transition where foliage meets bright sky behind it. This is something I’ve been wrestling with for years. Because of my background as a drawer and illustrator, I’ve had a tendency to over-define these foliage shapes too early in the process. But here’s what I’ve learned: if you make those shapes too defined too soon, it becomes difficult to get air into the trees. My new approach? Leave things quite vague in the drawing stage. Let the definition come naturally as you build up the painting, rather than deciding from the start “this is going to be black or white, this is going to be on or off.” You can see this whole process blow-by-blow in the YouTube Members area, where I’ve got hundreds - maybe thousands - of live painting sessions available for just six bucks through Google.
The Trekell Brush
People in the members area always ask why I love the Treacle brushes so much. It’s all about that filbert shape with its versatility:
The little toe acts like one size brush
The beveled edge gives you another brush size
The flat end for broader strokes
Press down and the whole thing becomes a larger brush
You can see me leaning heavily on that beveled edge throughout this painting - it’s doing the bulk of the work.
Avoiding the “Smeary” Look
Now, when I talk about leaving things vague, I don’t mean the kind of vagueness that results from blending or smearing colors together. You’ve probably figured out that doesn’t look good - it doesn’t look professional. That’s some Bob Ross territory there, though even Bob wouldn’t do that everywhere. He’d smear his skies together with a big brush, sure, but then he’d work over that with a knife and give things actual edges. The problem comes when amateurs go over those same edges and start smearing them into the sky. That’s not a good look, and it’s very easy to do with oil paint. This is something I addressed extensively in my book, and actually in a newer book I’ve been working on - though I’m on a bit of a hiatus from editing because it’s a lot of work. There’s nothing quite like working hard on something, then reading it on another device and seeing that a word is missing from the middle of a sentence for no reason!
The Tonalist Way
Speaking of my book, it represents 12 to 13 years of learning how to do this Tonalist thing. I won’t say I’m the greatest of all time, because I’m not, but I’ve worked at it and I have insights to share if you want to take this approach. Some of the processes I’m employing in this painting make me quite proud because they represent real growth in my technique.
Bringing in the Darks
One of my goals was to bring in the darks but avoid getting too contrasty. I want softer transitions. Sometimes I think my awareness of how photography can compress blacks and create over-contrast has influenced me to seek more nuanced relationships in the actual paintings. The challenge with forest interior scenes is that natural contrast between bright sky and darker forest. I’ve painted this scenario many times - you’ll see painting after painting of it if you go through the channel - and while I’ve succeeded in different ways, you can always succeed better. That’s what the Masters made clear, didn’t they?
Don’t Worry About the AI
Let me address something that’s been on my mind lately. We’re in this era where AI produces amazing imagery, and before that, we had centuries of Masters creating jaw-dropping work that made us wonder “how could I ever hope to do anything like that?” Here’s the thing: before AI was better than you, there were plenty of humans better than you (and me - I’m speaking for myself too). But at the end of the day, only you can do the painting you’re going to do. When you approach your work, look for ways to better express yourself and what you think is cool. And the way to do that? Paint more, watch fewer videos (except make sure you tune in to Uncle Mike every week for the best tips out there!).
Start Small, Build Mastery
If something I’ve done inspires you to paint, then go do it - but don’t make it a huge production. Don’t pull out that 2×3 foot canvas you’ve been working on for ten years. Start with manageable sizes and build up your mastery there. I love smaller paintings because I love to get in and get out, like I did with this piece. This painting session didn’t take long, and it has a freshness to it. Everything that needs to be there is there.
The Subtle Art of Blending
In the final stages, you’ll see me doing some subtle blending with a thoroughly wiped brush that still has an affinity with paint - not completely dry, but clean. I’m taking little peaks off what I’ve done while maintaining respect for that initial impetus, that emotional and intellectual reaction to the reference. That’s what we did today - we made a painting with intention, emotion, and just enough technique to support the vision.
Technical Notes:
Size: 8×14 inches on panel
Brushes: Treacle filberts (various sizes)
Approach: Quick, loose, with emphasis on atmospheric transitions
Key Focus: Intervals, soft contrasts, and leaving things alone
Until next time, take good care and stay out of trouble!
Mike