LATE AFTERNOON II - PITT MEADOWS

I'm back in Canada again staying in the Maple Ridge area south of Vancouver. This time I brought along my plein air set-up so I can work with oils in the field. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to finish the larger landscape shown in my previous blog before I left but will get back to it when I return. In the meantime, I have posted this recently completed painting which is similar to an earlier work. This one like so many of my other paintings, is destined to become a series of work from the Pitt Meadows area. I have sent this one to the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa OK, for their annual Art in Miniature show. It's a 9" X 12", in oil on canvas.

LATE JULY EVENING - PART 2

After evaluating the sky, I feel that I should add some of the darker tones at this point so that I can better judge the overall tonal value and see how that is developing as it these deeper tones that are integral to the painting. I first do some more work to the mid-ground using various shades of bluish-purple then start on the riverbanks. Here I mix different amounts of permanent green, yellow ochre and raw umber then indicate grasses and some of the smaller bushes before putting in the two trees on the left and part of the one on the extreme right. So far there is a good sense of depth and I feel that the work is coming along fine but I also realise that I will probably have to spend some time later on with subtle glazes to bring out the correct tones. I don't want to go too dark at the beginning then have to repaint some areas to make them lighter later on.

LATE JULY EVENING - PART 1

After finishing the study of Late July Eve, I decided to do a larger version. Since I wanted to slightly change the format, I chose a canvas that has a more typical landscape look - in this case 24" X 36". I then proceed to draw out the image using thinned raw umber oil concentrating on getting a good balance between the sky, water and landscape. With this done, I sat the canvas on the floor of my studio and looked at it over the period of a few days planning and dreaming how I would go about the painting process. When I was ready, I started on the sky working wet-into wet and blending most of the colors on the canvas. I particularly wanted a softer effect in the upper sky with the lower clouds being more hard-edged. The study was helpful here and I referred to it often during this part of the painting. I added a little more warm red/orange to the lower sky than in the study then put in the distant ridge using a slightly deeper purple than what I had used in the sky. On reflection I was happy with the painting so far but realised that there would be a few slight alterations which I would address later on. Next, I work on the distant landscape and start to detail the mid-ground.