The Fall Painting

Below are a few steps about how this fall painting was created.

This is the photo (above) that Sarah took which I used as reference.

I started with a masonite board covered with Gesso, then applied a thin coat of burnt sienna for the base. The painting began very abstractly as most of my paintings do because in this way I can realized the large shapes and areas to create a pleasing flow of colors, values, and patterns. The acrylic colors I started with were Ultramarine blue, Napthol red, and Indian yellow. No white at this point.

The painting progressed and more variations within the large areas were added. Care was taken not to loose those large shapes I began with. At this point a bit of white was added to the upper left corner of the painting where the trees were going to be in the distance.

As refinements were made to the painting, negative areas of sky were added to establish the feeling of branches and tree trunks. I worked the entire painting and didn't spend too much time on any one area, in this way the painting can come together as a whole with less surprises of areas that may not work well with each other as the painting progressed. A few more colors were added to the palette at this point including Cadmium Red light, Cadmium Yellow light, Cerulean Blue, and Yellow Ochre.

As the painting began to take shape, Tree trunks were added and patches of leaves were worked into most areas to create more variations.

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HERE IS THE FINISHED PAINTING...