Monday, April 14, 2008

Spring in the 'Burbs







Click on image to enlarge.
8"x 10" oil on canvas. Available.

Today in Atlanta was so cold, a high of a windy 50 degrees! But Saturday was a beautiful spring day and I didn't have to go far to view wonderful color. Out for a walk to the end of my street, I caught this late afternoon light spotlighting the cherry blossoms and dogwoods.
I began the painting with a pencil sketch to map out the composition and to get the proportions correct. The next step was to lay in oil washes to establish the light and dark areas, especially important in this piece. Just putting in the dark washes, you already get the effect of the shaded foreground and the strong light cast across the street in the distance. I then began laying some color in large areas to begin establishing the color temperatures, being careful to maintain the values in the initial wash. My goal was to capture the glow of the two trees in the bright sun as contrasted by the cool shadows coming toward me. The correct color notes and values were crucial to achieve this, and to give the feeling of depth. One thing that I chose to leave out of the scene was all the yellow pollen!!!!!! AAAAAAchoooooo.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your paintings. They are are so...descriptive. Your live oaks "quercus virginiana" look like they belong in Atlanta. Come vacation on the Outer Banks, and then go home.

Marilyn M. King said...

Rick,
Thanks for the kind encouragement! "So descriptive" is exactly what I meant by "upper and lower case art".I'm trying to be less "descriptive" and capture the essence of a place or still life. I tend to want to show everything and it's much better to let the viewer imagine some. With my illustration background, I process my paintings more than needed for the fine art images I now want to create. The transition is slow, but I'm getting there. You are ahead of me!! But Hey, I'll take "love your paintings" any day!!!!! Thanks so much.