Background Layer

Thinking about the reference picture of the lodgepole pines that emphasized the trees in the background, I decided to begin with this image.  I painted the entire canvas in a range of cerulean blues, and then clouds.  Many of my paintings include a distant, horizon-line type thicket of scrubby trees and shrubbery, so I decided to include that type of brush here, as well.  As soon as I began painting, however, I realized that they types of trees and shrubs had to be very different in shape, size and color that those I included in my Florida Keys scenes.  The colors also needed to be not only darker, but much more muted and.....purple. 

The band of horizon-line trees and grass includes pines, hardwoods, and birch.  Note there is also prairie grass. 

Right from the start, I began using tape to maintain a straight, horizontal horizon line.  Later, aspects of this line might change, but for now, this creates the basics for me.

Building on top of the most distant layer, note the addition of the second layer of trees and prairie grasses.  I will need to proceed carefully so that the prairie does not appear to have a series of railroad tracks running through it maintaining the horizontal line. 

Sky, clouds, trees #1, and trees #2 = four layers