Tractor Driving On A Muddy Country Road

This one is drawn head on, an unusual angle for a farm vehicle, and it changes the whole feel of the page. The tractor comes straight down a rutted track toward you, so the two front tires fill the lower half of the sheet and everything else sits behind them. Wing mirrors stick out on long stalks either side of the cab, a pair of round lamps sit low on the hood, and the front weight block hangs below like a bumper.

The track is where the interest is. Tire ruts curve away under the wheels, shallow puddles are outlined as loose ovals, and the mud is suggested with broken lines rather than shaded in. A bare tree and a line of fencing mark the left verge, with more fencing and open field to the right.

Mud is a good excuse to reach for browns you rarely use. Work a light tan across the drier parts of the track and a darker, warmer brown into the ruts and around the puddle edges, then leave the puddles themselves almost white with the faintest blue. That contrast is what will make the ground read as wet.