Here’s a painting fresh off the easel: Misty, Green Landscape. This one was much harder than it looks. There was little room for error with the greens and the misty background. If I used just a touch too much color or if I was slightly off with the temperature, it would look completely wrong. I needed to be much more controlled and careful with my colors than usual. I’ll walk you through how I painted it.
Reference
Below is the reference photo I painted from. You can also download a high-resolution version here. Feel free to paint it yourself if you like; just let me know how you go!
I took this photo on the last morning of my Noosa hinterlands trip, when I was out running and exploring. Ideally, I would have painted this subject plein air as the photo doesn’t do the colors and atmosphere justice, but it serves as a good reminder of what I saw. As I painted, I relied on both the reference photo and my first impressions from that morning.
What I Used
The following is what I used for this painting. Pretty standard. I just made sure to have a good range of blues and yellows so that I could mix all the diverse and rich greens.
- Brushes, palette knives, and oil paints.
- Surface: Ampersand gessoboard, 12 by 16 inches.
- Oil paints: Ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cobalt turquoise, cadmium red, magenta, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, cadmium yellow deep, cadmium yellow light, viridian green, raw umber, and titanium white.
Refer to my supplies list for more details about what I typically use.
Step 1: Sketch
(Keep in mind, some of the following progress shots are underexposed and are a touch too dark.)
I started with a loose sketch, capturing the major shapes and lines. I didn’t need to do much as it’s a simple subject, and color and ambience are the main focus.
Step 2: Foundation
I started with the dark trees. These play an important role in providing a point of contrast for the light sky and grass colors. They also provide structure to the painting.
Notice how I ignored a few of the trees at the front. That was because they were a touch warmer in color, and I wanted to use more detailed and playful brushwork there.
I then pushed up to the sky. The sky is simple but important. I needed to capture the soft, diffused glow of the sunlight. This came down to getting the temperature and value just right in the context of the painting. I went with a slightly cool and light gray. I worked this sky color in with the tops of the trees, creating a soft edge.
I jumped down to the grass in the foreground and loosely mapped out the colors. This area, along with the misty atmosphere, is the focal point of the painting. So I was careful to get the colors right. I started timidly, then consolidated from there.
I completed the foundation by painting in the trees at the front. These greens were a touch warmer and lighter. I used a bit of playful brushwork here, but not so much that it detracts from the painting’s understated nature. I also added a few warmer colors to the foreground to suggest exposed dirt and rocks.
Step 3: Refine
The rest of the painting was all about refining what was on the surface and making sure it all worked together as a whole. It was the last 20% of the painting process, but it took 80% of the time.
I spent a lot of time problem-solving and trying to get the atmosphere and the greens in the foreground just right. I’ll run through some things I did along the way.
I used my finger to soften the edges of the trees, so that the trees gradually melted and disappeared into the mist.
I used a palette knife to rough up the fading trees and to scumble light colors over the top.
I used a brush to gently scumble light yellow and green highlights over the grass.
I painted over the exposed white surface at the bottom of the painting. This area was partially hidden by the bottom of the easel.
Step 4: Sign Complete
I signed the painting complete in the bottom left-hand corner using a fine Kolinsky brush and magenta.
Here’s the finished painting again:
Overall Thoughts
I’m fairly satisfied, though there are always areas for improvement! Some parts look a bit laboured to me, but that may be because I know what went into it. Fresh eyes may see the painting differently. What I think the painting does well is capture the overall atmosphere and feel of the landscape. I also like the overall color theme, with the dancing greens in the foreground against the restrained colors at the back.
Here are a few close-ups:
Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Also, in a few days we will be opening Color Masterclass for enrollment. This is by far our best and most comprehensive course to date, and we only open enrollment a few times each year. Make sure to join the waitlist if interested.
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
I love your Misty Green landscape! Beautiful
Very very nice !!
Great inspiration, and thank you so much for sharing the steps which are very clear and helpful to follow.
This is one of my favorites that you have painted lately. Beautiful!
I really love the final painting and appreciate you sharing the steps…classic.
Very atmospheric. You manage to turn an ordinary photograph into an extraordinary painting. I think that is the key – to not over complicate the composition and stick to the facts, colour + light = MOOD!
BRAVO
Mist is hard to capture! Especially as it affects the whole scape.
Beautiful! Loved reading about your process.
I feel your painting succeeded, without belabouring: starting with the loose sketch, capturing the major shapes and lines so simply. I particularly enjoyed the palette harmony, and the snap of yellow in the foreground grass, accented with the dirt on the lower right edge of the work…lovely placement, enhanced tone & touch of purple in the hue
Α wonderful painting Dan. More atmospheric than the actual photograph! Thank you for the lesson.
I love the way you use directional brushwork to help distinguish planes and entities, such as the shrubs against the misty woods and the horizontal field foreground. I love greens like a person thirsty for water, and have done a few atmospheric landscapes, but I have yet to achieve any looseness like this. Really, really nice.
Love your brushwork on this one…soft and lovely. Your colors make the painting more appealing than the photo, in my opinion! They make the painting look more “rich”. Wonderful as always, Dan!
Is it oil or acrylic?
Hi John
It is done in oils.
Dan
I am so impressed with the way you captured the atmosphere and colour of this misty morning, I love the colours, the brush strokes and palette knife effects. It is simply beautiful. I feel the freshness of this misty morning! Perfectly portrayed.
I think that this is one of your best paintings ever! I absolutely love the softness of it, the “Come sit here and we’ll have a picnic!” feel. You captured the cool mist with the soft background and brightness in the foreground! I hope you’re pleased because it’s beautiful!
Thank you for sharing 😊
Thank you for sharing this painting! I love the final result. All the greens are just great, they look real and not derived or ‘cheesy’. I work in watercolor and creating good greens is a challenge for me. I might just try this reference photo myself!
Thank you for sharing your process so generously.
I am drawn to the transition between trees and mist. On my monitor the mist is a gray-violet, beautiful.
Thank you for sharing the details (the paint colors that went into the painting) and the step-by-step process. It’s beautiful! It makes me smile!
Thank you for posting all the steps and I particularly liked the close ups. So very pretty! I enjoy and appreciate all your emails.
Lovely! Atmosphere dramatized certainly improves the scene. Great example for when painting is better than the photograph. Thanks Dan enjoyed this one.
Your painting is alive with brush strokes that dance and flow across the canvas. This is one of your best efforts/
Beautiful! You really captured the setting.
Your painting is beautiful. I love misty days!!! It was really great that you walked us
through the steps to create this look/feeling. Thank you!
Ahh, I have been working in acrylic for years now. You make me yearn to pull out my oils again. This painting was so lovely and moody. I wouldn’t change a thing!
I admire this painting, it is very close to my soul. Thank You very much for sharing this great work. All your comments to work process are important and useful because I’m still beginner and I find in every your post something very important for my own paintings process. Thank you very much, Dan, for all your big work you are doing for your students.
Hi Dan: Thanks for sharing so much with us.
I don’t like what you did with the tree on the left. More green and less white, rather small pockets of sky. Otherwise the atmosphere you managed to conjure up is most appealing.
Thanks again for your generosity.
Jean
This is definitely one of my favourites of your paintings! I love the atmosphere and the softness of the style. I would absolutely hang a print of this on the wall, it feels like it invites you into the landscape. So beautiful!
I found the painting moody or should I say that it invoked a feeling of emptiness within me but also of expectation..of mystery..that something was about to happen..a person appear from or disappear into…a watery sun about to suggest appearance, or a small animal …I really wanted a person, maybe just silhouetted or back shaped in wet weather gear going into the bush, head down etc.. i dont know..would have given the painting much more depth, introspection for me. The use of colour discipline and time taken was evident and really appreciated.
Pleeeasssse spell enrolment… not enrollment …drives me nuts!
Raewyn
Loved the painting and its progression. So difficult for me. But I notice the responses are dated May 16, 2025…it’s 5/15 in Missouri. Where are you?
Hi Raewyn
Thanks for your feedback. There are two ways to spell “enrollment/enrolment”. We go by the American version as most readers are from America.
Thanks, Chontele 🙂
That’s exactly what the green hills of the Blackall Range feel like. So familiar, green and misty. Lovely watching the process. Thanks Dan.
Thank you Dan, you’ve captured the ‘mood’ really well. I don’t believe in ‘making mistakes’ in art. If anything, it’s “feedback” to yourself & not ‘mistakes’.
Hi Dan,
Congratulations! it’s not only a painting it’s a poem a symphony a dream it took me for a walk lost in my own thoughts in this beautiful misty greens.
Very well done. thanks always! Really enjoy reading all your post. Also appreciate you sharing the great artists and their master works with us.
Love this painting and thank you for taking us on the journey of its creation. I learned a lot from seeing the steps in tge process.
This is a beautiful painting. I really don’t know how you would have improved it plein air. Incredibly atmospheric. More than photograph.
Love your painting. It is beautiful and so much more so than the photo Dan. My husband and I love the mist and I get so excited to see it. Hardly happens the mist I mean. So this painting and how you did it is especially lovely. Thank you.
Es un cuadro impresionante. Muchas gracias por compartir todo su proceso. Tengo la sensación al mirarlo que puedo oler la frescura de la hierba húmeda por la bruma. De nuevo gracias
This is beautiful. You’ve captured the mood and the mist perfectly. Bravo!
This is beautiful and I really enjoy the step by step pictures and explanations. Thank you so much.
What a lovely painting and very inspiring! From nothing to a whole lot 😊🌼