Bragg Creek - a work in progress
20" x 24" oil on canvas
I am truly a beginner when it comes to oil paint... I LOVE the gorgeous values I see in oil paintings, but trying to achieve that look and keep things highly representational is not all that easy I have found.
This is a painting of a place about 1/2 hour away from where I live, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. As you can see, it is in the fall of the year. Here in southern Alberta, we have mostly yellows as our fall tree colors, but the bushes and some of the grasses have touches of orange and red.
I have yet to define the "path" which will lead your eye into and through the painting. I will do that with touches of bright color in the bushes which dominate the growth in this painting. As well, I want to add more depth to the color of the mountains in the background to create more atmosphere. Right now, they are too difficult to see.
There's much to do yet... rocks in the water, details in the foreground bushes and grasses, highlights... but I think I will let this layer dry before I go back in. Otherwise, I find that it is quite messy and it takes me longer to develop the painting than if I worked on something else for a bit and came back to this one when it's ready to receive more attention!
I hope to have this one completed in the next couple of weeks though. I want to enter it into an art show that is toward the end of September, and it needs to have plenty of time to dry!
4 comments:
you're doing a beautiful job.
paz
Thanks, Paz! I find with oil painting that I can only go so far before I have to stop and let it set for awhile. That gives me time to work on something else, though, so it all works in the end. Have a wonderful weekend, my friend!
I am in love with this painting and if you are the Joanne G who fed me so many meals and made me part of your family a hundred years ago when I used to teach piano in Calgary, then I am doubly thrilled to have happened upon you again. Regardless, I hope you will give me first dibs on buying this after your show.
Pam Patten (pjpatten@shaw.ca)
I have sent you an e-mail, my long lost friend! I am absolutely SO EXCITED to see your name here... and YES! you can have 1st dibs on this painting! If you want it, I will enter a different one in the show... let's connect. (((hugs))) I am SO HAPPY to hear from you. :-)
Post a Comment