Experimenting in finding a technique that suits me when it comes to paint detailed stuff like foliage in nature.

Please note that the program I use is Corel Painter 12 - not SAI or Photoshop.

I noticed that if I reduced the resaturation of my favourite painting brush to 3-4%, it got more affected by the background color. This is something I appreciate, since I love the thought of giving a painting a certain color theme.

Please note that on the two last pictures, I used the same green colors on each background color. But depending on which background color I use, the “primary and secondary” colors appears as either cooler or warmer.

So, my final conclusion is that it’s ALWAYS a better idea to start with the darkest values, and then add the midtones/highlights afterwards.

The size, shape and length of the strokes will also affect the overall appearance of the foliage. I recommend people who are afraid of painting foliage backgrounds to observe photographs/real life study.

Ask yourself:

- How will a bush/tree/grass look like if I use small and round strokes? And how would long, thin strokes make it appear?

- How would it appear if I used a different color than green for the foliage?

- How many different designs of bushes, grass, plants and trees can I paint/draw without looking at a reference? 

- How can I paint a green forest without the risk to make it appear “monochrome”?