Prep and Background Work
Painting is most definitely a daunting task to take on and so my goal with painting my backdrops is to achieve a simplicity that tricks the eye if it happens to wander far enough through my Douglas Fir forests. My goal is to add depth, not to realistically paint specific vistas or scenes. I can get away with this due to my narrow and tight benchwork. My railroad is vary much an "in your face," intense, mountain railroading experience, and busy, intricate backdrops would be overwhelming for the viewer in my case.
My focus, therefore, is only on color and shape. If I can accurately portray the "feel" of an area without getting the "look" with just color and shape, I not only save time and resources, but I can focus on using other scenery methods to achieve the look with my backdrops in support. Also, I want to paint a minimal amount, just offering, as Bob Ross would say, "indications" of distant hills, trees, and haze. Enough talking, let's get painting.
For this guide, I will be focusing on an area of backdrop above between Tunnel 18 and Tunnel 17. In reality Tunnel 18 will be extended almost to where the "59.0" marker is, pushing tunnel 17 around the bend just a bit. This area, as reflected on the plan and also in reality is dense with trees, however the separation between the two tunnels offer a perfect point for a slight opening in the trees to look out and give size, a perfect juxtaposition with the tunnels and trees.
As I have mentioned before, I am modeling a gray, rainy day typical of the region, and my base sky color is aptly called "Evaporation." I apply two coats and allow it to dry completely before I begin painting.
It can be difficult to see, but before I put paint on the backdrop I have lightly penciled in 4 distinct areas of focus and lines I need to pay attention to. First, I draw in where my foam scenery terrain with go, paying attention to tunnel location. Next I draw the tops of my immediate hills, then my middle ground hills, and finally in the valleys, the very distant hills.
I mentioned in my other post on backdrops that my palette is very limited and I try to only use 3 colors: a base green, blue, and my sky color. Utilizing ones sky color is paramount as it allows the colors to blend with each seamlessly. In addition, I use only 3 brushes and for a majority of my painting only 2. Simplifying before actually painting helps when the process becomes more complicated.
Begin with painting the smallest hills, the most distant. For this I start with a glob of my sky color and then add dabs of blue until the color is dark enough. Before I apply it to the backdrop, I add just a hint of green. It makes a huge difference, even if the color looks the same on the palette. Then using my smallest brush, I apply the paint over the pencil line in short vertical dabs. This creates the indication of distant treetops.
Something to note, I mix my colors on the palette as I got with my brush to create natural variation. Up close the differences look dramatic and frankly awful, but at normal viewing distances these subtle variations give depth to the hill, showing the various layers of trees and land formations. Remember, the pencil lines were merely guideline, not areas to fill in exactly, let the hill take on the most appealing shape when paint actually starts to fly.
It is easy to see the variation of the hills and how the various colors reveal themselves and add to the painting naturally.
The next posts will deal with more detailed work.
