Second and Third Installment of Ponderosa Pine

So . .  . here is the next image of the work in progress on Ponderosa Pines. Here I have continued adding more foliage to the trees and the undergrowth also.

I am also playing with the colors across the roadway -- it is a paved road, but that does not mean it will stay a paved road! I totally enjoy putting the most vivid colors as the underpainting in many places on the painting. That aqua will be a good color to show through the following shadow layers.

You can see that I am putting down some greens in the tree foliage, but I have mixed them from various blues and yellows -- even adding some reds to tone them down. I know that I will follow those up with some brighter colors and then layer again with a few greens.

In my pastel classes I am always telling the students to not start out with green if you are painting a mostly green scene. In this painting I am doing the opposite. It is always good to try a different process and see where it leads you.

You can see in the undergrowth that I am using many warm colors -- with the hope the warmth will show in little sparkles through whatever I choose to paint on top. I feel the area under trees is normally a warm color even though we get a feeling of coolness in the shadows. Remember there is usually no reflection from the sky on the undergrowth.

There is still a lot of the actual birch board still showing. I hope to leave some of it uncovered, but that will be something I will have to deal with as I continue the painting process. The painting many times tells you what it needs, even though you might have a plan in mind.

So . . . here is what I did as the day progressed. I have covered more of the board and attempted to choose some of the colors, values and temperatures that are showing through the many tree trunks. If you could see the photos that I am working with, there would be no blue showing in those background colors. But, I know to accomplish the aerial perspective, I will need to "blue" the colors as they recede.

For the painting of the undergrowth, I have added some greens and blues on top of the warm underpainting. And, I have started putting in some sky showing through all the tree foliage. I skip around the painting adding here and there to help me see if these colors, values and temperatures are working. I don't finish one area before moving on to the next!

At this point I am thinking I want a yellow sky. I tend to not use blue for sky very often . . . but as soon as I tell my students how much I like pink or yellow skies, that particular demonstration will always tell me it needs a blue sky. Darn, I usually say to myself. But, we shall see what happens in the next days as I continue working on the painting.

This painting is being done in my living room -- this was the only place I could put my large easel so I could actually use the "crank" to raise and lower the painting. We have a slightly cathedral ceiling in the living room and would accomodate the easel. There is also a large picture window which helps with giving me some natural light during the day to go along with the "canned" light fixtures in the ceiling. And I have a color correcting bulb in an adjustable light attached to the top of the easel.

So, be sure to come back to see the next installment. I love comments, so be sure to let me know what you are thinking.