Sunday, March 28, 2010

Another Approach

Even with the tired mud in play I had to get out to sharpen up.  THEY fooled us again.  Wind, damp, cool, and going overcast.  So I picked a scene and based the approach on the block study learnings.  At the beginning the sun was creating some shadows.  So I blocked in the three masses cool or warm depending on which type of light dominated.  Get the values right.  Then correct the colour as they become visible.  Next put in colour variations bringing the colours of the masses closer still to what is seen.  Go through a second round of this.  Remember, every plane change is a colour change.  By this time I was dead into the zone and forgetting the image I had in my minds eye.  My eye knew better.

Fences to Mend, 14x18, Oil on Canvas

As time passed, the light became more diffuse.  Try not to follow or chase it.  Start another canvas if necessary.  Makes a great series.  Here I tried to capture the light about early to mid painting - still warm but going yellow-violet grey.  Every colour in the spectrum is in every mass.

The painting was done with #14 and #8 bristle filberts.  Learn to infer detail using the brush and paint.

The palette consisted of Mineral Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian (weak compared to pthalo), Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Alizarin, and Titanium White.  Note again the absence of earth tones.  These can be mixed from the primaries.  In this case I did much of the mixing on the canvas as I worked through the stages mentioned.

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