Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Flower Field, 13" x 19"

The weather has been rainy and cold, not conducive to painting outdoors... I have been busy doing some studio paintings for two upcoming shows, but deep in my heart, I cannot wait to be outdoors. I'm hoping for at least one glorious fall day while the leaves are still on the trees.

This painting was done on location, one evening in late August. My favorite part is the distant hill. I used a pale orange hard pastel, followed by pale blues and greens, and the mix set the tone for the rest of the painting. It was one of those experiments that turn out to work well. I finished the painting at home from memory, but all it needed was some adjustment in the color temperature of the shadow in the middle ground.

Contrary to what I would have done, one of my fellow painters suggested no to give much definition to the foreground sunflowers. I think the idea is to let the viewers look at the painting and spend some time figuring out what's in there. I'm still figuring out myself if that's the way I want it... I might even crop it.

5 comments:

Tatiana said...

Beautiful work, Adriana!

Christopher O'Handley said...

Adriana, I remember you commenting on my blog a while ago...now that I'm back to painting I wanted to take a look at your work. You're doing some really fine things here! I'm not sure about the sunflowers in the foreground of this one, they are painted well but the painting might work a little better if they were toned down a bit. Always hard to tell from photos. Foregrounds are one of the most difficult things for me.

That Barker Road plein air is fabulous! Beautiful greens. I think my favorite is "The Field", it's a great simple composition with just the right balance between the trees and the foreground. Easier said than done. The water in "Green Lake" is very well done.

Keep up the good work! Glad I stopped by.

Adriana Meiss said...

Thank you Tatiana!
Christopher, I'm glad you stopped by too, and for your suggestions about the sunflowers (I'm still thinking about the whole foreground) and other comments.

Donna T said...

Beautiful painting, Adriana! You really have a way of creating distance. I never know what to do about foregrounds! Too little detail and it looks out of focus. Too much detail and it stops the eye. I hope you're out painting more like this.

Adriana Meiss said...

Hi Donna! Foregrounds are very difficult! You have to keep them simple or they take attention away from the focal area.