Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Blue Forest

"Blue Forest" 16 x 24
Paintings always look different when you walk away and return. Blue Forest is no exception. I painted it very fast, in Mendocino. Then when I took it out of the shipping carton yesterday I spent a few more hours on it, thought it was finished. Got the brushes out again this morning, and noticed that it's time to walk away. Now that I look at it here, there's a few things I want to fix. Aha! Another never-ending painting!

About eight years ago I did a series of still lifes that started with wrinkled tissue paper varnished onto watercolor paper. It provided a nice texture. This was one of those paintings, well, just a start, really. It had the tissue and a background color and that's it. So this practically painted itself in the beginning, since I used folds of the tissue as the tree trunks and limbs. The rest was basically negative painting. Now I've added additional colors, more trees, and a better composition, although not great. I probably should put it away and get back to commissions. I'm starting to obsess.
This is a photo of one of the sheep that lived at the place we stayed in Mendocino,CA. One of three. Sweet!

5 comments:

Annette Bush said...

Baa-a-a. Cool photo. I think it's fun that there are some of the same squiggly lines on the sheep and the painting. AAB

Martha Marshall said...

Well I like the painting the way it is, but of course you're the artiste.

MMComstock said...

I'm with Martha--mebbe more so. I love this painting. I'd hang it in a minute and look at it a lot. Love the atmosphere, the color, the crinkles (more atmosphere), and the subtle surprises of red.

Margot

Walker said...

Good eye Margot! I have exaggerated the red highlights in the final version. With all the good comments, maybe I will enter it in a show (Works on Paper). hmmmm

Emily said...

Defintely enter it in the show...it's got a wonderful feel...like early morning just as the sun begins to rise.