Farm Village, Perigord Noir, 16 x 20 400 UART

Underpainting with partially completed painting

Reference photo

I’ve just completed my first painting from France. I decided to begin with a relatively easy one, for which I made only smalle compositional changes. Felt like I needed to just get back to painting again. I began with a pencil drawing on 400 mounted UART. I worked from the color photo as I wanted to retain the feel of the place. But I decided to start the underpainting with all warm colors: pinks, oranges, reds, with aqua in the areas that would be hit with light. I used a pale pink and orange for the sky.  I didn’t have my camera yesterday. Took pictures with my cell phone but they came out with very exaggerated color. However, I think there is enough of the underpainting showing to give you an idea of the colors used.  For the painting, I used my new box of Blue Earth greens that I bought at IAPS. A great set!  Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get them!  I guess it’s because I like the green Giraults, which I also used. I decided to give more emphasis to the oranges in the roof and door. Many of the roofs in the Perigord are orange and are quite beautiful when the light hits them. I did the field last and used a combination of duller greens, yellow green, dull reds and oranges.

The warmth of the field and the shapes of the buildings were what drew me to this scene.  This was a small village north of Sarlat that was having an art fair when we arrived on a Sunday morning.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time but we were disappointed in the quality of the work shown.  The “art” for me was in the scenery, which I’m sure they are very used to!

(Note: I decided to add the text first and then the images and I’ve succeeded in getting them at the top!!!)