It was the first nice day in months. So I packed up my easel, brushes, and paints and did the only reasonable thing there was to do- paint outdoors.
I walked down one of the bike paths near my house and set up at a favorite place where two bike paths intersect. I looked one way and assessed the scene then another and another. Once I settled on the scene I wanted to do I set up my portable painting kit with easel and paint box and once I put the canvas on it I saw a problem- the sun was shining right on the canvas. This is bad since my eyes will not see the colors clearly when they are on the bright sunlit canvas. My experience in the past is that when you bring such a project indoors the colors that looked bright outside looks dull indoors. So I turned the easel about 40 degrees and settled on a second choice, a view of a bridge with paths leading up a hill behind.
The time of year is the first week of spring and the trees are leafless and the undergrowth is nonexistent; in a few weeks, it will be a completely different scene.
I did a quick sketch using as few lines as possible to set up my layout. Next, I scrumbled in the underpainting with a large brush and strokes of paint that were just short of attacking the canvas. I painted the bridge in and then as I worked over the background I painted it over in part and then repainted it again. I used watery acrylic paint for the earlier stages of underpainting.
After being satisfied with the underpainting, I began to add detail using a smaller brush to develop the middle ground and foreground.
The trees were introduced last. I kept switching brushes from fan to flat to liner brush as I built up the different thicknesses and various wispiness of the bare trees.
I brought my attention back to the bridge and repainted it, I developed some of the detail of the area around the bridge.
The last hour was spent on adding details and touches here and there. The painting was completed in about five hours.
I had a lot of fun painting it and talking to the many people who were on the path.
It is painted in acrylic on stretched canvas, the size is 16 x 20.
I walked down one of the bike paths near my house and set up at a favorite place where two bike paths intersect. I looked one way and assessed the scene then another and another. Once I settled on the scene I wanted to do I set up my portable painting kit with easel and paint box and once I put the canvas on it I saw a problem- the sun was shining right on the canvas. This is bad since my eyes will not see the colors clearly when they are on the bright sunlit canvas. My experience in the past is that when you bring such a project indoors the colors that looked bright outside looks dull indoors. So I turned the easel about 40 degrees and settled on a second choice, a view of a bridge with paths leading up a hill behind.
The time of year is the first week of spring and the trees are leafless and the undergrowth is nonexistent; in a few weeks, it will be a completely different scene.
I did a quick sketch using as few lines as possible to set up my layout. Next, I scrumbled in the underpainting with a large brush and strokes of paint that were just short of attacking the canvas. I painted the bridge in and then as I worked over the background I painted it over in part and then repainted it again. I used watery acrylic paint for the earlier stages of underpainting.
After being satisfied with the underpainting, I began to add detail using a smaller brush to develop the middle ground and foreground.
The trees were introduced last. I kept switching brushes from fan to flat to liner brush as I built up the different thicknesses and various wispiness of the bare trees.
I brought my attention back to the bridge and repainted it, I developed some of the detail of the area around the bridge.
The last hour was spent on adding details and touches here and there. The painting was completed in about five hours.
I had a lot of fun painting it and talking to the many people who were on the path.
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| Bike Path Between Hesperus and Ellots Oak Rd. Columbia MD |
It is painted in acrylic on stretched canvas, the size is 16 x 20.
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(c) Adron
