To begin this monochromatic atmospheric perspective piece, I started by sketching out the five “layers” in pencil so I could plan where the trees, mountains, and birds would sit in the landscape. I worked from the foreground toward the background to help me visualize the depth of the scene. Partway through planning, I decided to add a moon because I liked the idea of creating an early-morning feeling, like the very start of a new day.

Once the layout was planned, I chose green as my base colour since it’s my favourite. From that base, I mixed two tints (lighter greens) and two shades (darker greens). When I started painting, I worked from the background forward, beginning with the lightest colour in the distance and gradually getting darker as the layers moved toward the foreground. This helped create the sense of depth that atmospheric perspective is meant to show.

As I got into the painting process, I realized it would be much easier to paint each layer as a solid colour first and then go back once it was dry to add the trees and birds. That approach made the details much easier to manage instead of trying to paint around everything at once. One challenge I ran into was getting the paint to look even. I went over each layer several times, but it still dried a little streaky in places. I also ended up running out of one of the tints I had mixed and was a bit nervous to try recreating it exactly, so I decided to keep working with what I had.

One part I’m really happy with is the trees in the foreground. They turned out close to what I had imagined when I first planned the painting. The trees in the middle ground were a little harder to get right than I expected, and they didn’t quite turn out the way I had pictured. The birds were also surprisingly tricky. I actually thought about painting over them at one point, but in the end I decided to keep them because they add a bit of personality to the piece.

This painting reminded me to be a little easier on myself during the creative process. Even though the final piece might look simple, it pushed me outside of my comfort zone. Art doesn’t always come naturally to me, but I’m learning to appreciate both the process and the finished work. If I were to give this piece a title, I think I would call it Early Birds.