A Productive Week @ OrbisPlanis

Early Spring Road
Acrylic on Masonite
10 x 15 in/25 x 38 cm
Copyright 2010

Hi –
Although we artists do not work “regular” days or hours, that’s for sure, I somehow feel a zip in my step on Fridays. All those years at my “regular” job, I guess.

Anyway, TGIF.

A productive week here in the OrbisPlanis studio. I completed the watercolor, which I showed you last blog. That’s a relief. When I get very near to completing a painting, especially a watercolor, I’m always afraid I will screw it up at the very end. You know, spill coffee all over it or drip a non-lifting color right in the middle. So I’m glad it’s finished, and I can cover it up until it’s framed.

I next worked on my small acrylic, for which I showed you the reference photo a couple of blogs ago. It’s today’s image. I reworked it, and although it didn’t take that much time since it’s relatively small (10 x 15 in, 25 x 38 cm), I tried to give it the attention it needs.

I added a more intense green to the fields in both the foreground and background. To my own surprise I used a mix of Pthalo green and Lemon yellow. When I first mixed the two, I thought, “uh-oh, that green has too much blue.” It was one of those pastel Spring greens you see this time of year on candy eggs and around bunnies. However, when I brushed it across the existing yellow-green, it looked almost right, so I only had to tweak it a little bit.

I also had to daub around the shadows of the trees in the right foreground to make them look more natural. I also added some deeper shadows to the foliage with a mix of Pthalo green (again) and Mars violet, which gives you a nice dark.

I added Cadmium yellow deep to the sign on the right to make it stand out somewhat, although it’s not the focal point. The focal point is where the road turns and goes uphill. I also touched up the faraway treeline and smudged the horizon with Cobalt blue and Titanium white to make it recede into the distance.

Well, it’s no masterpiece, but it was my first acrylic on masonite. It helped me get back into using acrylics again. What a difference from painting with watercolor; I’ll talk about that in another blog.

I think my next painting, which will be larger than this one, will be in acrylic. That’s my next task—selecting the motif from my reference photos.

Until then...