As I was working on a couple of these smaller paintings, I took some progress shots just to prove that I'm not always as analytical and methodical about my painting process as I am when I work large.
This first study is a 10x8" of some aspens in the fall. First step is a rough sketch in thinned paint. This study is mostly about color, so I'm not too concerned with the drawing.
Next I block in the general area of the yellow aspen leaves. This is probably the only time I'll ever paint something other than the sky first! I just did this to make sure my yellow stays nice and clean.
Next, I block in the sky with thinned paint.
Then, the rest of the foreground.
And finally, I go back in with thicker paint and add texture and refine everything. 
About an hour and I'm finished. This is just a study to see if it's a subject I might want to do slightly larger, so I won't do any more work on this one. I think it might work better in a slightly taller format so that I can exaggerate the height of the taller tree - maybe a 16x12"?
Nice of you to keep stopping as you're painting and photograph it for us. Always interesting to see a painting as it progresses. Thanks, Barb
ReplyDeleteReally nice, Stacey. From the last image, I would have guessed it was much larger than 8x10. I would not have thought of blocking in the bright yellow foliage first, but it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the demo!
ReplyDeleteBarb - it was easy to photograph the progress since I still had the tripod set up in my studio!
ReplyDeleteJoe - I've tried to paint yellow aspen leaves over a blue sky before and was not happy with the result (a greenish tint to the leaves)!!
Oh. I was hoping before reading that the purple stuff in the first picture was Aspen's first major work of art.
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