Painting Lesson on Sky, Tree and Grass.

With a palette knife, I made about 10 blends of color that would be appropriate to create the sky. I made sure I had the value range that would show where the sunlight was coming from and the strong color differences. I knifed in the color blends onto the canvas in their correct spots and then proceeded to blend in the colors with the palette knife. I would be completely focused, efficient and make sure the color transition is working and not lose the colors. Too much blending can turn gray or muddy. After about 90% of the sky is blended, I use a soft brush (1/4 inch) and softly fill in where a little canvas still shows and slowly soften the whole sky so it looks smooth and flat.
The grass gets the same treatment only I look for hills and crannies and exaggerate where the sun shines on and where it is in shadow. Need a whole assortment of values so the sun and shade will be obvious.        Painting size is 8x10