How to Paint Grass in an Oil Painting

Use various shades of green when painting grass.

Artists paint grass in oil paintings in a variety of ways, including brush strokes and a technique called sgraffito. The artist will use a brush to add vertical lines of green and will include both light and dark greens as a way to create light and shadows. The shadows will add depth and give a 3D appearance. Sgraffito is a technique used when the artist take a sharp object such as a palette knife and scratch into the top layer of paint to reveal areas underneath.

Things You'll Need

• Davy's gray oil paint
• Cadmium yellow oil paint
• Cadmium green pale oil paint
• Olive green oil paint
• Palette knife
• Rigger paint brush

Instructions

Brush

1. Create a dark shade of green, such as a mixture of one part Davy's gray to six parts cadmium yellow.

2. Use a long narrow brush such as a rigger and paint light quick upward strokes. Quick and light strokes will make the ends tapers like a grass blade. Let dry.

3. Create a light shade of green such as a mix of one part cadmium green pale to one part olive green.

4. Add highlights using a shade of light green by painting light quick upward strokes. The light against the dark green will give depth to the painting.

Sgraffito

1. Apply a layer of pale yellow green paint to the area you want cover with grass. Let dry.

2. Add a layer of dark green paint over the pale yellow green paint.

3. Scrape out part of the paint while still wet using the edge of a palette knife to create long grass.

References

• Artist Terms: Sgraffito
• "The Complete Oil Painter;" Brian Gorst; 2003