Weekend Art update

The first weekend art update of the new year! (I didn't have a camera last week.) If you haven’t been following the progression of this painting but would like to see the earlier posts on it, you can find them here and here.

Okay, so let’s look at what I’ve been doing recently.

(click for larger image)
Today’s palette included: Terre verte , sap green, cadmium yellow, burnt umber, and indian yellow. (leaves and bushes) I also used a little red ochre because I moved the male tree’s arm over probably about half an inch.

I’ll be honest, I’m not much for meticulous, repetitive details, like painting a gazillion leaves. I don’t mind spending days getting one leaf perfect, but it better be the only one I do for the painting. *only a small exaggeration* (don’t ask why I decided on an image with an all foliage background) So, I am currently trying to cheat and make it look like bushes and leaves and such without actually defining anything. We will see how that works.

Starting next week I'll probably have to use close-up photos because, for the most part, I'm past the point of radical change. i.e. I have the forms well blocked out in paint and it's time to start tackling details (which won't be as apparent from the distance I have to stand to photo the entire canvas.)This marks the begining of the hardest stage of any painting (for me at least.) Up until this point, I've worked in 3 to 5 hour blocks of time on the painting and changes have been very obvious, so when I put down my brushes, I feel accomplished. But, from this point on, hours upon hours of work will make very little noticeable difference to the painting. That can get very discouraging. (I would estimate I’ve put between 20 and 30 hours into this painting thus far. I probably have at least that, if not double that, amount of time left to put into it before I finish) The painting will gradually become more and more finished, but there are no chapter ends or word counts to mark my progress like in writing.

Well, I hope you stop back by for the next installment!

Comments

Rachel Vincent said…
Wow, I'm surprised by how much your painting process mirrors my writing process. I know nothing about art, so forgive me if I say it wrong. But your "blocking out the figures" makes me think of a rough draft, when I just get the basics on paper. Then I go through and do tons and tons of detail work, which takes every bit as long (usually longer) than the rough draft.

Fascinating. Thanks for the glimpse at your art. ;-)

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