Blue Heron of the South

I hate to throw out paintings and after showing someone how to paint this type of background I decided to try to save this painting and painted in the bird and the foreground. Its not the best composition but… it will do. Unfortunately my last painting, a koi…was a bit wet wjen I placed it on the scanner, so those orange spots on this painting are not actually on the painting but on the scanner screen.
Quick lesson…
Here’s how you do this background, you choose a couple of warm colors and a couple of cool colors like blue, purple and burn’t sienna, & sepia then you paint the background in various mid values in a vertical stroke, creating a horizon line, when the paper has lost its shine, pull out some trees and limbs with a pin knife or palette knife.
Last, you will darken some areas, and when all is dry glaze over ( yellow) certain pulled out areas to create lighter and brighter areas that will also create interest and posssibly a secondary focal point.