Companion Piece to Autumn Fence

During my solo show in November, one of my collectors really loved the oil painting, Autumn Fence. However, it was not quite large enough for the space she had available in her home, so she asked if I would be willing to do a "companion piece" for it. She wanted a fence on the other side of the canvas in the companion piece...and that's all she stipulated.


At my show last year, this same collector was torn between two paintings, and ended up choosing a watercolor titled "Waiting". The other painting she loved is called "Country Road". Because she loved the subject matter in that painting, I decided to include a country road in her companion piece, as well as the fence she requested.


Autumn Fence is done in oil paints. The way I usually begin an oil painting is with an acrylic underpainting, toning the entire canvas so there is no white left. (Not all of my oil paintings are done this way - but most of my landscapes are.) In the photo I took of the companion piece and the original painting, you can see the underpainting, and how it continues the theme of Autumn Fence, along with the country road. 

Companion piece to Autumn Fence
- a work in progress in oil paint

I think I must be somewhat ADD as I tend to have a number of pieces on the go at the same time - usually in different mediums. That way, I can leave a painting for a while if I have come up against a difficult area, and when I go back to it, the solution seems to be waiting for me. I have procrastinated in doing this commission for over a month, thinking about how to make it work - and the idea of the road just came to me. Now I can tackle it with gusto, knowing she will like this composition! (She told me there was no rush to get this piece done, so I felt comfortable waiting to begin. :-)

Autumn Fence

Autumn Fence

oil on canvas

18" x 24"

This one is done. I really like the juxtaposition of the mowed grass on the one side of the fence and the long grass on the other side. As well, there is a lot of texture in the trees, but the fence is relatively smooth. All in all, I like this painting, and think I learned a lot about painting in oils by persevering through to completion.

Working on this...

Autumn Fence

18" x 24"

oil on canvas (not yet finished)

This is the painting which is currently on my easel. I LOVE old wooden fences, and this one is not far from my home, along a side road that I happened to travel down one day last fall. I am surrounded by such beauty... I can hardly go anywhere but that I see a painting waiting for me to do!

I do like how I can blend in oils, but painting with oils is quite a messy process for me. Somehow, I am hoping as I continue to work in them, I will end up using less paint - so that it is all on the canvas, not half on me! But I am persevering, and it is getting somewhat better. I absolutely cannot tell you how much the brilliance of the color in oil paints has captured my passion to paint. Any subject is fair game with this medium!

I still have quite a lot to do on this painting... the trees, the bushes in the front, and then detail on the boards. But, I am planning on finishing this one up in a few days, and then it is on to a watercolor commission. Switching back to watercolor will be a challenge I am sure... totally different technique. It will keep me on my toes, so to speak!