The Farm with a New Board

We decided to go out painting at Scotsdale farm for a December 1 outing.   The forecast was for sun and 5C.  They got the temperature right.  I suggested we do a simple painting to focus on shapes and values since it was a grey day.  We went to the remains of an old movie set and proceeded to set up for a three value subject with 4 shapes.  Boring, but a good exercise.  I had prepared another raw birch panel that had been sealed with two coats of clear colourless sealer.  I thought the natural wood colour would be interesting to explore.

The Movie Set Shed

From the photo you could argue that there were 4 values.  The sky, the dark opening and "shadows", the trees, bushes and ground.  I saw a green, red, green, red pattern against the greys of the forest.  Squinting, I saw the building and the forest as similar in value, but different in hue and temperature.  

The Next Morning.....

A little disappointing in the morning.  After being told "its done", I approached the easel to find the paint had disappeared into the thirsty board.  In addition, I didn't like the composition.  Apparently I need a better preparation for the raw birch.  Then there is the decision regarding the painting of the exercise.  Work on it or prepare it for the fire?

I oiled it in to get the feeling of the original wet paint on the board.  It looked like this.

Oiled In

What to do?

It is not unusual to return from a plein air session and find the work needs more work to get it into shape to meet the requirements of the original concept.  Given my original concept of an exercise, I decided to work on other paintings that have a destination.  Maybe on a rainy day........