I missed last week because of a snow storm but I came close to finishing this week. Its also the last class and I’ll have to do the finishing touches at home. Here is the latest update. Its coming along quite nicely. I think my favorite part is the part I was most afraid of, the trees. In fact, I think I’ll go back and touch up the house a little.
I Had my third class this week. I had a lot of fun and the 3 hours flew by. This week I focused on the ground, adding some dark areas to make the light areas pop a little more. It looks a little “paint by numbers to me right now but I think that might change when I start adding the atmosphere and background trees. I also need to soften up the grass area on the right because the contrast is a little too jarring and dark green is a little too dark. I also need to tone down the distracting oranges near the house and walk.
One thing I have been focusing on in class is mixing colors. I getting a lot better at it too. The teacher suggested 4 colors to work with:
Titanium White
Cadmium Red Medium
Diarylide Yellow
Cerulean Blue
Anthraquinone Blue
I have tried to mix colors before but they never really worked out because my basic colors (red, yellow, and blue) where horrible. Each color always had some tint in it that I could never get rid of. These colors, however, are amazing. I can make any color I want and its always what I wanted. It may take a while but it works great.
I had my second full class on Tuesday and things went really well. I am finally slowing down and taking my time. I usually go way too fast I’m disappointed in the result. So far I’m not disappointed, but I have long ways to go. This image is the result of being about half way done with the 2nd stage of the painting. First I blocked everything out with light washes of color. Then I started going back over it with darker and more opaque paint. So far I have gone over the house and one tree. The rest of the painting will be much darker than it is now.
Here is the reference image. As you can see. It will look much different when I’m done.
In an effort to become more wise, I started taking a painting studio class. I’ve only had one class so far but it seems like a good start. If nothing else, it will get me painting again. Perhaps I’ll post my work as it progresses.