The Art of Painting Mountains!

The skills learned in painting mountains are important to any artist! For one thing, you are dealing with patterns, ranges, depth perception, color transitions, and composition of a mountain background!

If done right, a mountain background can add a lot to your world you are trying to create!

They are powerful symbols that link your ideas to the world you are trying to create in your painting. For example, a single sharp peak can invoke a feeling of alienation where as a few mountain ranges on a orange sky can symbolize peacefulness.

Depending on your focus, you need to also be aware of how the mountains will interact with your ambiance and light sources.

Keep this in mind: there is no one way to painting mountains. It depends on your mood, your style, and what you know about rock variations.

1. The values

For this example, I have opted to have a grassland foreground and a mountainous background. My sky will be blue as I want to show a neutral mood for now.

I use my chalk brush and began painting each of the elements on their own separate layers. The reason for this is that I intend to work on each element individually and I do not want it affecting the other elements.

Think of it as a simple sketch to get ideas down. Right now, no details are necessary.

Should you need to create a more solid object, don't hesitate to duplicate and merge the different elements together. This will help 'build up' and solidify the shapes, for the purpose of preserving its transparency, so can paint without fear of going out of the shapes' confines or distorting it.

2. Surface constructions

Perhaps this can be the most confusing part about painting mountains. As you follow along, you are greeted by this jagged shape that you must turn into a mountain. Seemingly impossible, your mind goes blank figuring what to do with the object in front of you.

This is common as there is no easy way to plan a mountain pattern. Therefore, you must think in terms of natural progression. With your digital brush, begin making random shaded and light areas that you feel is right. Keep in mind where your main light source is.

For me, I have placed the light source somewhere on the right side. The beauty about this steps is the overlapping elements of design. Basically, each time your light and dark angular shapes overlap each other, it creates another mountainous crevice.

Use this to your advantage as you randomly create patterns. You can spend a few minutes or a few hours depending on when you feel the patterns are right as this method of design is to pick your creativity with an empty canvas.

3. Detailing mountain landscapes

Painting mountains by itself can be fairly easy. The difficult part is figuring how it interacts with the environment. If we are just painting a single peak, then the sky would be the only element worth interacting. However, since we also have a grassland field, we need to think about how it merges with the mountains.

Any quick observations in nature can tell you there is usually a tree line going up a particular mountain. With that in mind, you will need to paint some green hues going up the mountain top. At the same time, the color can not be pure green. Make sure there is a tint of mountainous colors in it.

Switch to a smaller brush to work out the fine details like actual trees itself. Of course, you don't need to paint every single tree. Concentrate on creating a forestry illusion with simple shadows and light.

At the same time, now would be a good time to refine the mountain tops too. Snow is a common feature. Make sure to put some snow near the top and slowly let it transition all the way down the slopes. Keep in mind of where your light source is. Use a scattering type brush setting to help you speed up the process.

4. Finishing your mountain paintings

The final steps for painting mountains involves what you know about creating depth. Since we have already detailed our mountains and its surrounding environments, we need to think about enhancing these details through color management to create a sense of depth.

The mountains can by split into ranges simply by light and shadow differences. Mountains that are far away have a flatter, less detailed tone. Mountains at the forefront are more detailed and have a lighter appearance in color.

This is the same for the forest elements going up the slopes.

At this time, use whatever tools are available to you like the dodge and burn tool, layer transparencies, smudging and blurring tools, and other color management options.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson on how to paint mountains digitally. Have fun and be proud of your creation (and show it off in the gallery)! But most important, keep practicing and building up your artistic foundations!

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