Serene Landscapes 🌲🏞️🧡(Step-by-step guide - Week 29) (Patreon)

Hi!! 🤗

For these two illustrations I decided to use many colors so they would become much more bright and cheerful then their references 🤗. Also in the one on the right, there is a reflection of the house in the water, which is a nice challenge for this week!

You will find my tips & step by step instructions from base layer to final illustrations below, together with the materials I used!

Tips

Here are some tips for this month's references:

Focus on the main subject: In these sketches, the red houses are the main focus point in the illustration. So make sure to add more details and more contrast to these houses. You can keep everything else a bit looser.

Simplify the trees: Instead of drawing individual leaves, think of trees as large organic shapes. You can create the suggestion of leaves by adding texture with a few darker scribbles.

Keep the background soft: The mountains or distant trees don't need many details. You can use lighter colors and softer scribbles to keep them in the background. If you add too many details, you will loose depth in your illustrations.

Let the water stay simple: Use mostly horizontal strokes for the water with only a few subtle reflections. The less you do, the more convincing it looks.

Enjoy the imperfections: Loose sketches look more lively because they're not too perfect. Focus on capturing the feeling and the colors of the place rather than every tiny detail.

Hill Landscape

I used the following Brush pens as a base layer:

Tombow 126 (Light olive)

Tombow 133 (Chartreuse, Light green)

Tombow 772 (Dusty rose)

Tombow 912 (Pale Cherry)

Tombow 991 (Light Ocre)

Tombow 553 (Mist purple)

Tombow 491 (Glacier Blue) or 451 (Sky Blue)

Start with a stroke of trees and slowly build up your illustration. Use Light Olive for the trees and greenery. Use Light Green for the grass of the hills. Around the lake there are different colors of bushes, so before you draw them, first draw the lake with Glacier or Sky Blue. Use Pale Cherry, Light Ochre and Light Olive to add the bushes around the lake.

For the second layer, I used the following colored pencils:

Faber-Castell 157 (Dark Indigo)

Faber-Castell 217 (Middle Cadmium Red)

Faber-Castell 278 (Chrome Oxide Green)

Faber-Castell 188 (Sanguine)

Faber-Castell 108 (Dark Cadmium Yellow)

Faber-Castell 120 (Ultramarine)

You can use chrome oxide green for all the greenery. You can vary in the amount of pressure to add a lighter shade or a darker shade of green. Use Sanguine to create some details in the grass and to add a bit of orange in the grass. Around the lake, you can use Sanguine, Light Olive and Middle Cadmium Red for the bushes. Trace the outline of the mountains with Ultramarine.

Red house with a pier

I used the following Brush pens as a base layer:

Tombow 126 (Light olive)

Tombow 553 (Mist purple)

Ecoline 374 (Pink Beige)

Tombow 991 (Light Ocre)

Start with the rooftops of the houses with Mist Purple. Capture the silhouette of the houses by drawing the greenery around them with Light Olive. Use Light Ochre for the shore and the little beach in the front of the illustration. Draw a few spots in the water as well. Use Mist Purple to add the reflection in the water and to draw the mountains in the back.

Tips: Draw the reflection more loose and imperfect, so you can see that the water moves.

For the second layer, I used the following Pencils:

Faber-Castell 157 (Dark Indigo)

Faber-Castell 278 (Chrome Oxide Green)

Faber-Castell 188 (Sanguine)

Again, start with drawing the rooftops of the houses with Dark Indigo. Use sanguine to draw the two chimneys of the second house. Use Chrome Oxide Green to add details to the greenery and the shore. Use Sanguine to add some depth to the shore as well. Use Dark Indigo to draw the Mountains in the back and to create some details in the water of the lake.

Have fun with this week's references! Don't hesitate to ask me any questions or show your illustrations in the group chat 🤗

Celyn 🌸