Monday, September 12, 2011

Thistle Study I, 5x5"

I'm getting ready for the great Crabtree Forest Preserve Paint Out this weekend. Whenever I paint outdoors, I have a hard time getting color right, so I paint monochromatic studies like this one to get me started.  For this one, I took a new canvas and covered it with wet purple paint mixed with some Gamsol.  To find the light parts, I used a clean brush or paper towel to wipe away the paint.  Then I went in with a brush loaded with thick paint to find the dark areas.

Now that my composition is figured out and my lights and darks are defined, all I have to do is match my color with what's already happening.  Sounds easy, right?  Well, as I looked again at my composition, I decided to tweak it a bit and move things around as I painted.  I'll post the finished product so you can see the difference.

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