Totopotamoy, Spring 13x9
After all these years of painting I still deal with the Hit or Miss syndrome. The hits are far out weighed by the misses. No one out there gets it right every time. I'm just looking for a higher percentage of hits that never seems to come.
I'm happy with Totopotamoy, Spring, it has light and airy feel. Some of the trees are starting to leaf-out while others (in the background) are still gray sticks with little red buds that turn the mass into a mauve. The sky color and greens of the foliage are overall cool, but it still has a feeling of warmth. I didn't fuss with the trees and undergrowth too much and left quite a bit of the salmon tone of the stock show through. So its overall pretty loose with the tree to the left the only thing I put a fair amount of time in.
Hydrangea in August, 12x8
A plein air that I started around mid-day, so it was hot and humid and this was the only thing of interest that allowed me to stand in the shade. I feel like I captured the intensity of the light and heat, but the subject matter and scene were a case of having to make something special out of not much and I didn't accomplish that!
Little River Overpass, 13.5x10.5
Another plein air from a spot near the Little River (Baptist?) Church. There was a nice quite stretch of lawn running along the river that had a playground, rope swing and horseshoe pits. I could imagine the area filled with adults and kids after the Sunday service. The adults playing horseshoes or gathering up the dishes for a picnic. The squeals of children playing in the shallow river, it all seemed very "good ole days". I went to the very end of the stretch of lawn thinking it would be a good idea to juxtapose the organic shapes of the foliage against the geometric bridge. About half way through I remembered that I always struggle with man-made structures. About 95% of the time they end up stale looking and overworked. I guess I just get too involved with trying to get the drawing correct and end up painting it to death!
