Landscape Commission - Final

"Name to be determined"

12 X 16 Oil on archival canvas board

Today I finished this painting! It was such a

pleasure to work on. When I first saw the

photographs of this place, I instantly got that

little tingle at the back of my neck that I refer

to as my 'great painting material meter'! There

just were so many elements about this place that

I love to paint: the cabin, dappled sunlight, split

rail fence, wildflowers...

Thanks again to everyone for your comments.

I will be posting this up on the

Daily Painters of Pennsylvania Blog as well, so

don't feel as though you have to comment both

places!

Landscape Commission - Step 5

Almost finished! Have some glazing I want to do once this is dry, then will see if any more bright spots have to be attended to. So much fun to paint the wildflowers, but I really had to restrain myself - especially since my client sent me a different picture of them at their peak, which was nothing but a gorgeous riot of color (future painting...).
I've really appreciated your comments along the way. Working with this limited palette (prussian blue, alizarin crimson and cadmium lemon) was a challenge, but so educational in terms of mixing the different colors. Even though I have worked with limited palettes before (the Zorn palette...), I really learned a lot from this one. I was truly amazed at the range of colors I was able to mix. You really don't need any other colors but the prmaries and white!

Landscape CommissionWork In Progress - Stage 2

This is the second stage of the landscape painting I am working on. In this phase of work I am blocking thin layers of color in, keeping them the same value (lightness or darkness) as the underpainting.
I also start to do some refining, without getting into a lot of detail. I shifted the fence over to the left because I felt it was too centered. Think this works much better.
At the end of my painting session, I take a palette knife and lightly skim over the painted surface to remove any thick spots of paint. I want to keep this layer thin, and save the thicker, more textured paint for later on in the process.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Landscape CommissionStep 1 - Underpainting

This is a landscape commission I have started working on recently that is of a log cabin in Wyoming. The light will be filtering in through the trees on the left, creating some great sunny areas as well as deep shadows. In the foreground grasses, there are many summer wildflowers, which I am am really looking forward to painting!

There is a rocky run-off area that starts just off center at the bottom of the canvas, and curves slightly left before disappearing. The fireplace is stone. It's a gorgeous place, and holds lots of happy family memories for the owners.

There may be a glimpse of a log cabin workshop behind the left side of the cabin - checking with my client to see if they want that there (my notes were taken months ago, and are not clear in that area :( )

I thought it would be interesting to post my process in steps. This is the underpainting, which maps out the dark and light areas. Doing this first helps nail down composition as well as the values and is very helpful when starting to block in color. In this particular painting, my underpainting is more detailed than I would normally have because I want the client to get a good idea what this will look like at the onset.

See you when the next step is complete!