This week's theme seems to be difficult subjects. In this case, daffodils and snow, both of which I love but haven't totally captured their essence. This is mostly watercolor. Before I added any watercolor, though, I used white oil pastel to reserve some of the snow. That didn't work too well, so when I was finished, I went back with water-soluble oil pastel to add snow to branches. The water soluble pastel is much softer and more opaque than the regular oil pastels. If you zoom in, you'll notice the texture.
 |
| Daffodils in the Snow 8"x11" |
Still intrigued by snow, I added another hard topic—perspective. It's a cold snowy day on the el platform at Washington and Wabash. Right now, it's at that mid-point where I hate it and am tempted to tear it up and start over with something easier. But I'll keep on and see what happens. I do like the snowy white view of the tracks down the center and the way the angle of the tracks points to the empty white center of interest.
 |
| Washington and Wabash 8"x11" |
And here's a sketchbook study of a street in my neighborhood. When I saw this, the sun hit the red tree like a spotlight, catching some of the yellow leaves too. All the rest was in shadow. I've also done some value sketches but nothing comes close to the actual experience. I may keep working towards a final painting, but this is another hard one—capturing the brilliant colors of autumn.
 |
| approx. 4" x 5" |
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, whatever you celebrate. See you next week.
Well I do love the texture you achieved. And I believe that you have achieved the many brilliant colors of the fall.
ReplyDeleteThese are all so different! The first is classic Elaine! The beautifully painted background of the porch just makes that painting imo. The second has a cool abstraction going with the station roof and tracks. Paint Mr. Wimpy you have sketched in. That will add balance to those abstract shapes. The third one is about beautiful color. I know values do all the work & color gets the credit, but sometimes you just need to let color shine on its own - everywhere! Again, this walks the line between abstraction and realism, but I would just go full tilt abstract here...
ReplyDeleteI think the daffodils and that diagonal slash of the stairs is the star if this week. I'm waiting to see what you are going to do with that wavy el roof. I'd like to see you go more abstract with that last one.
ReplyDeleteI think the texture created by the oil pastels really works with the watercolor daffodils. Can't wait to see what happens with that wild el track painting, it's so intriguing. And your autumn blast watercolor is perfect. Happy painting!
ReplyDelete