I love getting to spend time outside with a notebook and pen and some paints. I have been surprised at the difference looking at my subject in the outdoor light makes in studio time. After recording something from life it stays in my head, and then in the studio I can paint it more realistically.
This sketch was done one summer afternoon last year while a storm rolled across the land. I still can see it in my minds eye, whereas if I had taken a photo, it wouldn’t mean much in the studio. I’ve been surprised at the difference this has made in my painting.
Later, in my studio I could recall so much of it as I worked on this painting:
Yesterday I stopped along the road to get a gander at some Brigham Tea bush and decided to record it for a later painting. I like working loose, but so far have only been able to work that way in sketches. I get carried away in “Real” paintings!
Contrast it with this little painting, which I tried to do from memory and couldn’t stop painting till I’d over painted it! As usual…..
Well, if simple is the goal, I have a lot of work to do! Upward and onward!
No comments:
Post a Comment