Day 10 – Blades in the Wind

Negative Painting for Grasses

Technique level: Intermediate to Advanced
Duration: ~30-40 minutes

Objective:
Learn the negative painting technique – painting around your subject rather than inside it. Today’s subject: tall grasses or reeds blowing in the wind. You’ll create layered depth and motion by carving light shapes out of darker washes.

Materials:

• Cold press or rough paper
• Round brush (size 8 or 10) and a smaller detail brush
• Pigments: transparent earths and greens (e.g., Sap Green, Raw Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Umber)
• Optional: scratchy old brush or credit card for scraping

Steps:

1. No Sketch Today: Start straight with a brush – load a juicy, mid-tone wash (e.g., light olive green or golden brown) and paint abstract horizontal/diagonal strokes to suggest background haze. Let dry.
2. First Layer – Negative Shapes: Mix a slightly darker tone and begin painting around the shapes of grasses. Imagine tall blades, angled or swaying. Keep the strokes soft and irregular. Let dry.
3. Second Layer: Go even darker, repeating the process – paint around some of your previous light blades, and also overlap others. This builds depth and layering – like grasses weaving in and out of each other.
4. Final Pass (Optional): Use a rigger or dry brush to add a few crisp light-colored strokes overtop, or scrape thin lines into damp paint with a card or fingernail for texture.

Focus:

• Think in silhouettes and spaces, not outlines.
• Work from light to dark. Don’t rush the drying – each layer needs to be fully dry to stay crisp.
• Let go of realism – focus on rhythm, flow, and a sense of layered air.

Bonus Tip:
Try shifting hues between layers: green -> ochre -> indigo to add richness. Grass doesn’t have to be green to feel alive.