Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"View Above the Lake"



"View above the Lake" - Oil - 16" x 20"

"This vibrant painting expresses California light on a warm... sometimes very warm... summer day. The dried grass of the foreground is broken by a pattern of trees and shrubs. The cooling colors of the atmosphere recede to the background that's made up of hills folding on hills." --- SFG


WORK IN PROGRESS:



As I placed the trees, shrubs, buildings, and lake in my drawing, I paid careful attention to the diagonals I was creating. (I must be in my "diagonal period" since this seems to be a dominant part of my landscapes lately.) I broke with my usual practice of laying in the darks first in order to get the recession of the golden grass as the hills receded, which I felt was more important, and difficult.



Next, I worked on the darks, the trees and shrubs and their shadows, experimenting with the shapes and making them varied and interesting. The distant ones are lighter and cooler.



I eventually decided to eliminate the road in the foreground since it led too obviously to the center of interest, the buildings and the lake. I added color to the buildings and roofs and defined the light reflecting from the lake's surface.



To finish up, I added a bit more detail to the buildings and detail in the distance. I also fine-tuned the cast shadows of the foreground trees.

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