South Side of Church Road Barn

South Side of Church Road Barn
oil on unstretched canvas, 6x4
7/100 - The {100} Artists

I had to walk up into tall grass to get the reference shot for this barn. Nice from the road, it was amazing from this angle - and I knew I would paint it someday. The somewhat blurry "in progress" pic shows how I started marking my darks, noting the violets (ultramarine violet) where they were present.  Once I had blocked in all the color masses, I then made sure to bounce the color around - reflections of sky color on the ground, sunlit highlights both in trees and grass, and that peachy brush color found on the ground also showed up a bit in the trees.  This was not really a path in the grass, but old dead grass where a tractor had driven over it - making the perfect "lead in" for the eye.  I'm getting used to this large palette knife for such a small substrate - but I will still check out the knives at Creative Cold Snow tomorrow (our local art store).  Painting number 836 in 836 days.

Old Barn on Church Road

Old Barn on Church Road
Oil on unstretched canvas, 6x4
4/100 The {100} Artists
purchase here

Every year that I have been plein air painting in Augusta, Missouri, I drive by this barn - longing to paint it.  We always have other commitments - with several paint-outs every day, it is hard to just pull off the road to squeeze in another one.  I have some really wonderful photos to work from, and that is what I've done today for The {100} Artsists challenge.  The in progress shot is a little fuzzy, but it demonstrates the block in.  I have not bothered to tint any of these miniature canvas pieces, so I have left the whites for highlight areas, and marked the darks, At this point, I probably had 20 minutes in the painting.  Once the surface was covered, I then push to cool and warm, until a nice harmony is achieved.  I'm still using my full size palette knife, but I am learning to stay on the tip for these 6x4 inch landscapes!  Then, my little inner voice tells me to put down my knife, and I always listen.  This is painting number 829 in 829 days :)