Underpaintings to identify mass and values

This week I have been studying the importance of value and mass in landscape. Furthermore, site selection, and how it pertains to the work. Both of the scenes here were done with oil paint matching the values of the objects in the scene. To be "readable" the masses must hold together as is demonstrated. Take a panoramic photo and crop it to a specific area that seems to have some directions and mass that can be translated to the canvas then work in one color (like burnt umber) to achieve 4 different value levels. This is a worthwhile experience and will add much value to your work. 

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