Drawing and Painting the Landscape - Duotone

Sheep Grazing from the Mon & Brec
Duotone - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink on Paper
13.5cm x 9.5cm (5.25" x 3.75")

Lesson 15 of Drawing and Painting the Landscape by Philip Tyler continues with the black, white and grey studies introduced in the previous lesson (Drawing and Painting the Landscape - Negative Painting).

Walberswick Beach
Duotone - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Ink on Paper
9.5cm x 13.5cm (3.75" x 5.25")

The focus of the lesson is identifying the grey shapes and thinking about the balance of the three tones - is the scene mostly grey with a few black shadows and white highlights?

Kennet and Avon
Duotone - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Promarker on Paper
9cm x 12.5cm (3.5" x 5")

Phillip recommends the use of photo editing software to help simplify the landscape into tonal masses. The initial exercise uses grey and black promarkers (permanent alcohol-based markers) on white paper. Phillip then suggests making a series of three-tone studies using a range of dry and wet media on white and toned surfaces.

Near the Otter Estuary
Duotone - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Promarker on Paper
16cm x 11cm (6.25" x 4.25")

I did a lot of experiments and particularly enjoyed the ink on toned paper. Some of these are more detailed and lack the spontaneity of Philips examples, but this can be a symptom of drawing and painting from photographs.

Moorings Near Hugh Town
Duotone - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
Promarker on Paper
16cm x 11cm (6.25" x 4.25")

The lesson reminded me of the Five-Value Monochrome Study from Tom Hoffmann's Watercolor Painting (see Five-Value Monochrome Study). This provided a useful connection because Tom's exercise isn't about accurately replicating the tones in the landscape, it is about creating a picture that makes sense to the viewer.