Friday, June 25, 2010

The Awakening



"The Awakening" - Oil - 20" x 24" - $2400

"Spring has a special brilliance and these yellow wildflowers rose to the occasion. I painted this with extra passion and energy." --- SFG

WORK IN PROGRESS:



Apologies. I forgot to take a shot in the drawing stage. As I drew, I paid attention to the shapes I was creating and to the perspective of the upslope. Here I've laid in some of the dark shapes of the foreground and the cooler, lighter, more distant hills and mountains. The big shrub in the upper left serves to stop the eye and provides value contrast and structure.



In preparation for the blooms to be laid on top, I painted the green leaves in a value close to that of the ground.



It was important to reserve the lightest, coolest yellow for the top surface of the blanket of flowers, so I under-painted the area with a warmer, darker yellow. I even picked up the red-orange areas that I saw in spots.



In the finished work, you can see the loaded strokes and the texture that I reserved for the finale. The pattern of the large and small strokes moves the eye around and creates a lively display. A little calligraphy for the shrubs finished the work.

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