Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Mrs. B.'s Yellow House, November


Pastel on self-sanded Arches, 16x20 (Revision, 2015 12 14)

When I first saw this house on a gravel road not far from Harlan, Iowa, I knew I had to paint it.  The house is such a brilliant yellow and sits alone on the corner of country roads.  The November fields were already bare, but the golden and rust of the harvest still remained.  In the mid-morning sun, the long shadows of late fall paint a pattern on the lawn and across the road.

After looking at the 16x20 version for a few days, I decided to crop the painting to 8x20.  This version includes all the important information ans adds the feeling of width and space that I wanted.  The part of the painting I worked the longest and hardest on is the foreground which I could never feel was right.  It seemed to dominate rather than support the image of the house.
 

Pastel on self-sanded Arches, 16x20 (Original Version)

This is the original version - more true to the photograph but "missing something."

 Design Change


Redoing the design with a black and white print and a scissors - removing the bridge and the back ground to do some radical changes to the background.

I dropped the horizon and roughed in the plan for the broad fields and low hill in the background - will work out details of the road and perspective later.

Path in the Pines

Pastel 12x16 on LuxArchival 100 This view of an old path through the pine woods has held my attention for years.  The woods are now a housin...