Red Barn, Boyds, 12 x 12 Pastelbord
I went out to paint this afternoon on a cold, cloudy day, along with six friends of mine. We went to a lovely old farm in Boyds, MD, at the invitation of a friend of my husband’s who is renting there. We stood on a windswept hill overlooking a large farm pond and three barns beyond the trees that are part of the property. I was the only one to paint the barn–I always go for the buildings! I decided to use a 12 x 12 board for a change and liked the way the composition worked with it. Rather than looking for graphite, I opened my box of hard pastels and began by using a blue hard pastel stick, using varying amounts of pressure. Then added alcohol to make a wash. Over this I added color, using green under the red and reds under the green. The barn was some distance away and in front of it were a number of trees in early spring foliage. I loved the curve of the tree in lower right. The roof of the barn and shed were a cool green that I think I captured fairly well. I ltried to give a feeling of there being some sunlight on the silo and barns.
Not a masterpiece, but it was good to be outside with friends facing the challenges of painting in the elements again. Next time we are thinking about a local winery! If not to paint there, at least it would be a great place to end up!
I spent the weekend working on a 20 x 24 complicated stream scene which I hope to finish tomorrow and share with you. Hope you are all enjoying spring. 
Underpainting
I like the way you built distance into your underpainting with warm red in the front and cooler violet in the back. Even though it’s underpainting it already adds to the blue hue that sends the green towards the back.
Thanks Dana. I was reacting very intuitively to the underpainting. Using opposite colors in the buildings, but using what I thought would be good background colors in the surroundings. It’s always a challenge to work outside!