The acacia leaves are finished in the right hand corner, but I’m considering adding more to the paintings in the lower right quarter. To complete the leaves I added a stroke of Burnt Sienna mixed with Raw Sienna to each leaf, turning them a little reddish-green.
I want to show how the horizon can be made to appear to fade away into the distance so I’m posting a before and after photo here – In the first picture I’ve applied a layer of Ceramic white over the top of the mountains and sky, making sure to cover further than the area that I know I want the glaze to go. The paint extended across the whole horizon line, of course. Using a soft rag (old  T-shirt) to gently wipe away the paint yields a soft coat of very thin white paint which gives the illusion of a distant haze over the landscape, seen in the second photo. I love the way everything appears to be falling back in the painting because of this neat illusory trick.
Meanwhile, in the foreground I’ve been using the same Ceramic white to put down the base coat of the wild roses that line the traveler’s path. In contrast to the thinness of the paint when it was used to make the horizon hazy, here I’ve put it onto the canvas with a soft round brush, letting the paint stay thick and ridged so that it will come toward the foreground and feel much closer. As I add detail to the flowers they will become more distinct and gain some colour.
I’m getting a good sense of how the painting will turn out. Looking good.
