Jason Scheier: Landscape Digital Painting Creation.

Here are three videos I recently put together documenting my quick sketching process in Adobe Photoshop CS5. They usually begin with an abstract layout, keeping in mind foreground, middle ground, and background. My process is usually very fluid and organic. Being malleable in the initial stages will help the paintings become spontaneous and fresh as they develop further. Incorporating reference photography quickly creates textures and blueprints for how the paintings will develop. The idea with using photos, is primarily for jumping levels quickly from painted to photographic. The trick is to control the amount of painted elements by creating a balance between both.

It's important to start applying some key rules with speed painting. Local colors, bounced light, focal point, and emphasis of design. Unification of elements such as shape design, and visual cues to bank the eye throughout the landscape.

Important things to keep in mind even in the loose sketching phase:

Perspective, A sense of reality, lighting, selective vision, whether its an establishing shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, rules of thirds, size relationships, screen direction, avoiding tangents, abstractions, positive and negative space, atmospherics, order vs. chaos, and complex vs. simple.

The key is to start abstract, and to apply grounding rules as you progress in your painting.

Thanks for viewing and I hope you enjoy! If you would like to see future demos, I encourage comments and feedback. I love helping others find their working process, and inspiring most of all.

-Jason Scheier