Today I had a chance to go over what I’ve done these past weeks (a month if you count my time away in Maine for some R&R with the kiddos). This afternoon, I added what I think is the most important layer: Texture.
Texture and heavy brush strokes or smears with the palette knife will add life and light, as well as catch and cast shadows of its own on the composition.
Why put down all that paint just to cover much of it up? Depth. A richness that will have the viewer seeing a variety of colors, in this case calm cool and warm hues that are mostly neutral. It will hopefully, by tomorrow, be done and done and have all the interest that I intend it to. And it’s a good thing, because I need and want to piece to be dried then varnished so that it can be mailed to it’s new home as soon as possible.
What a fun ride this piece has been. I had to hit the restart button a couple times to change the orientation and simplify the subject and colors but I am very happy and hope that tomorrow goes well! Below is a photo of the heavy texture going on today over the blended hues between the trees. It’s more dramatic when only part of the saturated color shows—Kinda like showing a little collarbone on an otherwise modest dress.
This is the right side of the upper canvas. I really like how the chunky paint and the ethereal, lighter blended hues contrast each other. As if the farther away, the blurrier the branches become. The lighter outlines represent new growth on the trees so perhaps I was intently thinking on spring when I first began this sketch…