The Weekly Spectrum - Apple Tree and Barn

   This painting began innocently enough way back on May 29th, but was finished about 10 days ago. I can remember taking a picture of this farm - it was one of those rare occasions where I wasn't initially drawn to it by a rustic barn. It was the huge apple tree in front that captured my attention! To say that the barn was dwarfed in size by the tree would be an understatement. Upon closer inspection, however, I noticed that the house was vacant and the barn was literally falling apart on the inside. The tree represented the only sign of life. The irony of man verses nature came to mind - long after we humans as well as our structures are gone, nature will persevere. It is a humbling thought that the Earth really doesn't need our help, unlike the way we depend and rely on her to keep functioning.

   I began with a sketch, painted the sky and grass. I roughed in the leaves of the apple tree, then the roofs of the house and barn. After a few hours, however, I noticed that I put quite a bit of detail into the apple tree - so much so, I had to wait several days before the paint would even remotely be somewhat drier.

   Unfortunately, the painting would sit forlorn on my easel like an abandoned child for at least another two weeks. By the time the paint was once again workable, I had to go in for a long-overdue surgical procedure. Then came the recuperating process. By the time I was ready to paint again, 16 days had passed. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to get back into the habit of painting. My leg was still sore and it was awkward to stand. I struggled for another day trying to recapture the ideas and concepts I had for the work. Frustrated, I called it quits after only two hours.

   After a good nights sleep as well as returned enthusiasm and determination, the painting came alive again. I balanced out the house and barn so the tree wouldn't overpower it. When I finished adding shadows to the painting, I called it done.

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Weekly Spectrum - New Hampshire Farm & Stone Walls

   Everything is still the same, only the title has changed. I thought I had read that somewhere once before, but couldn't remember from where. Be that as it may, the change in the blog title makes sense: "The Weekly Spectrum." Since ending the gallery wall talks series, I've been focusing strictly on using oils again as a primary medium. As just about everyone knows, oil paints take much longer to dry than say, watercolors or acrylics. I have to wait until the paint dries at least somewhat in order for my husband to photograph them without getting a glaring shine. As such, my blogging has been less frequent. Other factors such as schedule changes in our professional lives (we are much busier in the summer), as well as an overdue surgery, all contributed as to why I haven't posted anything in over a week and a half. These scenarios also made me take stock in how realistic my expectations were, and what they are now becoming. Now that we have that out of the way, onward to today's painting!

   This painting was worked on between May 25th through the 31st. In typical fashion, it began with a Burnt Umber sketch and a first layer of color added to the sky and fields (wherever the under-painting would not blend in). Then I let that paint dry. The sky got a touch of crimson to it to represent the evening sun. The trees, cows, barn, and house were then painted in. The stone wall was also done in layers in varying shades of grey. I used a fan brush to paint the foreground grass. At that point, I was satisfied and called it done.

   As I was typing this, my husband asked me where exactly in New Hampshire was this farm. To my best recollection, the farm was located just over the Maine / New Hampshire line in the East-Central part of the state, possibly near Rte. 25, but I'm not sure. We always take the less traveled state routes and back roads to get to most of our destinations. Many times, I will see something like this farm (or whatever else tickles my fancy) and have him stop the car so I can photograph the subject for future reference. The challenge with this farm, was that I photographed it over 15 years ago! So, at this point, your guess is as good as mine!

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill

The Daily Spectrum - South Thomaston Horse Farm

   Today's painting contains several lessons. I wanted to branch out and do something a little different with this particular work and include certain aspects besides a barn. I started this painting around the 3rd week of May - it was on a Monday. It was the last painting I worked on that day and I was getting tired, so I rushed it. Multiple lessons here;
 - Don't rush,
 - Don't paint when you're tired,
 - Who says you have to complete more than one painting a day in order to "accomplish" something?
The end result was a quick sketch of the under-painting in brown, the sky went darker than I wanted it to, and the barn looked horrible.

   The next day, (and over the next several days), I almost started from square one. I reapplied the sky, reworked the grass as well as the dirt, and painted the "character" I wanted the barn to have. Yes, this barn is rather old. It does lean a little due to age, but has good bones - sounds like me sometimes.

   The details I added took longer than I expected, but were well worth it. The trees, two horses, the fence, and the shadows had me flustered at times, but those details made me stop, process the challenge artistically instead of technically, and then move forward. I was thinking for a bit if I should add something to the background in the grass, but my instincts told me that I had plenty of focal points as it is. I touched up a few minor details like the foreground grass and called this painting done... at last!

Until next time,
The Happy Painter,
Jill