Let’s compare!

I brought the piece into the studio to bring it to a finish. I spent about 40 minutes just looking, feeling, (perhaps a little singing), thinking about color, and painting. It was quite peaceful.

Let’s look at a few spots to take note of…

I used some of the same blue that I put in the sky and darkened it slightly to match the value of the road and added a spot or two of that color into the road to see if I liked it. I did, so I added just a couple more and left it. It adds a little harmony, without going too far. Notice that I also added just a tad of the blue in a lighter value into the white door.

I wanted to give you a close up of how entirely SUGGESTED this red rake machine is. NO detail at all. If the piece was much larger I would refine it a bit, but at this size, a suggestion is all you need.

I added a touch of red next to the side of the barn. The road takes an eye back toward the dark door. The spot of red draws the eye and pulls it away from the door. If the eye is traveling clockwise in the other direction, the red draws the eye down from the clouds into the painting instead of possibly running it off the line of the roof and out of the painting. It also adds just of touch of balance for the bright red rake.

I wanted to add interest with a variety of line and shape at the base of the barn to suggest the taller grass and un-manicured nature of a farm. I did this with brushwork in varied directions, a pop of darker values beneath the sun lit grasses, and a spot of red to compliment the green and make your eyes dance. Are they dancing? I hope so.

I softened the transition from the pale purple in the clouds to the brightly lit areas with a neutral pinkish tone. I chose not to over-noodle the clouds. I liked the billowing nature them and din’t want to over-soften them. All in all, I think this turned out to be a sweet little piece.

I can’t wait to see what you create and share in this section. Share your beautiful scenes from all over the country. Enjoy Mother Nature. She will watch over you out there and perhaps sing to you as you work to translate her beauty.