This is the current painting I am working on. My first attempt which I call "before" will appear below. I don't think it's done yet, but it's definitely looking better. This is 16" X 20", acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas. This is my re-use of one of the canvases I had gotten as a sample to review. I covered up the test parts with gesso and it was easy to paint on the rest. The view is from the bike trail Joe and I took a few weeks ago.
When I looked at my first attempt, my initial impression was that it was very boring. The trees, lake etc. were all in the right place, but without spirit. I came up with these questions and comments for myself and tried to answer them.
1. The light and colors seem too cool, add some warm?
2. The background trees, blur more? lighter? soft edges, less intense, cooler?
3. Test out viridian and cadmium yellow mix.
4. Use a warmer brown for the main tree trunk.
5. Review the values, too much medium? Where should it be light/dark?
I worked on answering those questions and comments to myself today. Now I'll leave the painting for a few days to see if I want to do something else with it. Original photo of the site below:
Early spring, deciduous tree leaves light yellow green. Location: off the rail trail, Auburn, NH, south of Clark's Pond (Depot Road). To see larger images, just click on any of the images above.
2 comments:
Love your paintings. I am a writer and have 19 books published. However, art is my love. I also have a blog. This morning I talked about detours on our paths (wrecks on highways) and how they sometimes bring us to wonderful scenes to paint. Once I ended up in the middle of nowhere with a flock of 100 sheep looking at me. http://morningtalkswithjohammers.blogspot.com
Thank you. I have been traveling for the last few weeks. I'll take a look at your blog when I catch up with myself a little! My husband is also a writer (www.joesmiga.com)
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