Advance Painting
Assignment 2
Genre painting with the process of layering and atmospheric perspective
Student examples:
Atmospheric perspective- The perception of depth in nature can be enhanced by the appearance of
atmospheric haze, although this haze is most commonly humidity (or cloudiness), it could be rain or show,
smoke, or any other kind of vapor. Atmospheric perspective is the portrayal of that atmospheric haze—one
means to add to an illusion of depth in depicting space on a flat surface. It is achieved by using less focus, along
with bluer, lighter and duller colors for the distant space and objects depicted in a picture.
Image 1: Step 1 start with a simplified landscape of 3 to 4 colors on water color paper. Step 2 after your
landscape is dry, add a transparent wash (light blue) and paint over half the piece to create a sense of
atmosphere. Please glue this into your sketchbook.
Image 2: Create an image of a genre scene using the process of layering. Follow the process of the example
on the next page. Paint the background first then the middle ground second and lastly the foreground. You are
allowed to use a full pallet of colors. Incorporate tints, shades and tones of these colors. In the process of
creating your painting include atmospheric perspective into the back ground of your painting.
Genre
Genre paintings depict people in their everyday surroundings: at home, in a café or at work. They appear to be
painted from life, but in reality were usually thought up in the artist's studio. Genre painting, also called genre
scene, attempts to depict aspects of everyday life, via portraits of ordinary people engaged in common
activities. These depictions can be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist. Because of their familiar
and sentimental subject matter, genre paintings have often proven popular with the bourgeoisie, or middle class.
Things to think about while you create this painting:
 What kind of landscape will be in the background? Will it be a cityscape, a park, a mountains vista,
and/or a water scene?
 What kind of activities will people be doing? Will they be commuting, working, in leisure, or
performing a sport activity?
Process of layering: Artist sometimes prefers to work by starting with the background and working toward the
middle ground and finally the foreground. This process allows artists to have smooth or evenly painted
backgrounds.
See example below:
Step 1 background layer
Step 2 middle ground layer
Step 3 atmospheric perspective layer
Step 4 foreground layer
Materials: acrylic paint, 16” x 20” acrylic gesso over water color paper
For your sketch book:
a. Create two pencil studies before you start painting.
Is it essential to plan a painting in thorough detail before you start, or should you let it develop as you go along?
Planning a painting can be a help as you know exactly what you're going to do, but it could also inhibit
spontaneity. Letting a painting evolve as you work is very free and lets you be spontaneous, but also leaves you
open to the possibility that the painting won't go anywhere and you'll end up with a mess. Ultimately the degree
to which you plan out a painting depends on your personality; some people find it essential and others a
hindrance. But regardless of how detailed you like to plan (or not), there are several decisions that have to be
made before you to start to paint.
b. Create a small thumb nail painting of a landscape that incorporates atmospheric perspective.
c. Take a 4” x 6” digital image of the final painting and place (glue) into the sketch book. Make sure your
digital image is in focus, squared off and color and value are comparable to original painting.
d. Describe your painting in a typed paragraph and place (glue) into your sketch book. You will make
observations about what you see. You must be objective. For this part please make no inferences or express
opinions. You are going to create a list of what you see. List only the facts about the artwork and write a
paragraph base on this list:
Subject matter: objective genre scene, idealized genre scene, abstracted or simplifies genre scene
Medium: acrylic,
Style: impressionism, hard edge, pop art, expressionistic, photo-realism, pointillism,
Technique: opaque, transparent, painterly, combination, etc.
e. Analyze your painting in a typed paragraph and place (glue) into your sketch book. How do you compose or
design (organize) your painting? This is where your knowledge of the elements of design and the principles of
design play an important role. The combinations of these, elements and principles help the artist create the
mood of the work or express a particular point of view or message. Base this paragraph on this list:
Design elements: line, shape, value, color, size, direction, texture
Design Principles: repetition and rhythm, dominance and subordination, unity and variety,
contrast, balance, emphasis, scale and proportion
Student examples:
Layering process example:
Step 1 under color
Step 3 glue collage element
Step 5 paint middle ground images
Step 2 over paint with crackle and blue paint
Step 4 paint atmospheric wash over collage and painting
Step 6 paint foreground image