Autumn Complements, 14″ x 11″, UART 320

Underpainting, stage 1

Underpainting, stage 2

I actually had time to do a painting today that was not for my class!  I’ve been really busy doing demos and filming them, as well as paint alongs of still life.  Haven’t had any time to just paint what I want to paint!  But that is changing.

Several weeks ago we took a ride into the country and then to Frederick, MD, where I’m in the District Arts Gallery.  It was a beautiful day and I took a number of pictures.  This one caught my eye because of the blue green door and the red orange tree: complements!

So to begin with, i have to tell you that the color in the photo just isn’t right.  I’ve tried both camera and cell phone but can’t get the right color of the door and post.  It’s more of a peacock blue green, whereas the picture makes it look straight blue.  I thought the color of the door was really great, along with the red oranges of the tree, and the light hitting the front of a restaurant.  Then there is the shadow of the tree being cast on the wall at right.  It’s quite a complex but intriguing picture.

I used a dark turquoise for the sky–it was the only thing bright enough.  I used dark blues primarily for the porch of the restaurant, then added turquoise light onto it.  I always like this part!

The green underpainting for the right wall worked really nicely.  I used a dull grayed yellow on tip and let some of it show through.  I then added the shadow on top.  It was fine.

For the side walk I used a combination of cool and warm reds with some blues and blue greens mixed into it to vary the value and temperature.  The last thing was to add the fallen leaves and that was easy too.  I’m disappointed that I can’t seem to capture the exact color of the door but I”m happy that I’ve finally done this painting that I’ve been thinking about.

I’m now waiting for some UART boards from Dakota and plan to do a series of horizontal trees with leaf patterns.  Excited about those!