Otisco Field, 16"x20"

Good news: I had two paintings accepted into the 7th National Northeast Pastel Exhibit at Old Forge, and this one won the Mary Bonner Chapman memorial award.

From the beginning I had a good feeling about this painting. Perhaps that was due to the strong impression that the light of the setting sun on the tree tops produced in me.

The scene had some composition issues: there was a row of trees in the middle ground, the row of trees in the distance continued to the left, and the grasses pointing to the left guided the eye away from the focal area and outside the picture. I could have made the grasses face the other side, but often when you change too many things from a scene you end up with something totally different and the feeling for the place is gone. Anyway, I think I solved the problem by creating an S-shape design. When it came to color, I had to take risks and push it further.

Winter Shadows, 20" x 16"

One more basically done for the show!

I decided to jump into this one while taking a "break" from my other 3 started paintings.

It was smooth sailing from the get go and I think that's because even when I was taking the reference photo I knew what I was going to do to make the scene work for me: create an opening in the middle ground, add more variety to the foreground hedge, change the direction of the corn-stub rows, and change the time of day.

Even with a good sketch I found myself making a few changes midway, but they were minimal. I know there is more I can do to it but I'll wait. Done on re-coated Ampersand pastelbord.