Beach Figures

This week's study involved the use of photographs of beach figures.  I think it is a bit of a challenge to teach people to create an impressionistic painting using photos.  You kind of have to un see what you see. and create what you do not see.  Anyways here is my little impressionistic study of a mother and daughter at the shore.  It is on auction this week on Ebay  CLICK HERE to visit the auction and my ebay gallery.

This week's project

This is what I have been working on this week.  I went to a friend's house out in the country for a fall bonfire/potluck.  Thankfully I had my camera with me.  I was struck in the gloaming, of how the grass was almost a spring green and the fall trees glowed with the last hurrah of the sun.  I threw in a dramatic sky in the background from a photo that I had taken earlier in the same week.  I had fun knitting the two together.

I begin with a wash of burnt sienna, a quick abstract of the basic composition, a block in of basic colors and then refine, refine, refine while trying to hold on to the painterly brush stokes and some of the under painting.  That is the trickiest part.  I will sit with this now for a week or so and give it another look to see if there are areas that need more work.