I didn’t have much to do on this one, but with company over the weekend I didn’t have any time to work on it. But she’s now finished! The client had some older pictures of Mattie she wanted me to look at because Mattie has, as all of us have, grayed with age. Now she looks like she’s actually remembered to and I think all is well.

Final painting

I’ve gotten some good work done on Mattie over the weekend, but I still have a little ways to go. I still have to work on her eyes, her neck (it’s a little flat), and the grass around her as well. Because of the pictures I’m working from she’s proving to be a little difficult, but I will get it, I’m confident of that.

Here’s a full painting shot as well as a close up of just her.

A little more Mattie work.

Mattie's closeup.

Ahhh, the ugly stage. With the way that I paint, I normally go through a lot of ugly stages. I think it’s desensitized me to it now, and I actually look forward to it. It means I’m getting to where I want to be.

I finished up the foreground field last night, and drew Mattie in (again). I played around with size, placement, and then decided where she would be,… and painted it in with white. This gives me a ‘clean canvas’ for just her, and once she’s done I’ll add in shadows in the grass, shadows of the grass on her, and make her a real part of the painting. For now, she just looks like she’s been pasted there.

This is the hard part. I’m working from a few different photos for her. One is the original reference, with where she’s laying in the field (which, of course, I’ve changed a bit, moving her more into the corner and in a better focus area). This is a hard one to work from because it’s not a very clear picture of her at all. Another is a better picture of her laying in almost the same position, but with her head looking towards the viewer. This will make it a little difficult in getting her markings just right, but I will manage. I also have a few more head close ups, and I’m hoping these will help some with the facial markings.

The amusing thing to me is I love this kind of challenge. In this way I’m not copying, I’m creating. I’m bringing Mattie more into the focus of the piece which she isn’t so much in the photo. She’s there, but fairly shadowed and not real distinct. Now she will be.

So, here’s my ugly stage Mattie against everything else which is mostly done (I always do some tweaks at the end, which makes Jon laugh).

The start of Mattie girl.

It still amazes how the direction of a painting can change, even when you’re working from a reference. As an artist, everything can change.

The yellow flowers weren’t working well in my head (after taking some time to look at it), they were overpowering the purple flowers that I thought was actually the focus. So I called the client to get my head wrapped around her memory. See, in my mind, I’m not just recreating a photo, I’m recreating a memory. Even when looking at a photo of an event, you might not see what’s actually pictured. Its just a snapshot that brings up what you remember.

She said she remembered purple flowers everywhere, and that the grass was really soft but not very tall. She said she also remembers some white flowers, too, but not a lot of yellow. So this is the direction I took.

I think this works a lot better. I am still going to put some yellow in, but in smaller amounts. I will also be adding some white in, too. I still have to ‘blend’ the grass and the flowers some as well, but that is actually mostly done.

Not bad for a day and a half of work.

Foreground adjustments.

I’ve gotten quite a bit done on the flowers in the foreground, but still have a ways to go. The purple flowers are pretty much done (although I might add more little hints of them throughout later), and now I’m starting on the yellow flowers. This is the challenge. The yellow flowers can’t overpower the purple ones, but they need to be there. After they’re mostly done, I will go back to the grass and bushes and get it all pulled together. I’m feeling quite good about it, though!

I’ve also sketched Mattie back in (again), and will be playing with her size to see what looks right.

Oh, and this picture is a little more accurate on the color. I tweaked it a little in Photoshop to get the flower color to actually match the painting. See, they are purple!

Foreground flowers over half done.

I’ve gotten a good chunk of the flowers done, and thought it was time for a better picture to show them off. I just wish I could get a better picture. Even this doesn’t show it all real well.

The flowers have been fun to do. They purple flowers (and yes, they are purple. Show more blue in this picture, though) are about 5 different shades, all mixed together. One of the last things I did last night before stopping was to put just a hint of shadow under the flowers. It made such a huge difference to it! Jon noticed it right away, and said he knew something was missing, but he didn’t know what.

Today will be even more flowers, working forward, and if I can get them all done today (still have to work a lot on the yellowy-orange flowers, they’re way too bright), then tomorrow I get to start on Mattie herself.

Once I get her done, then I’ll go back and do all the little tweaks that need doing. A little on the mountains, a little on this or that tree, some adjustment to the flowers. But I’m coming along with it, and I’m quite pleased.

It’s not often I take partial photos when I’m working on a painting, mostly because I like to show the whole progress, but in this case I’m making an exception. I’m getting some good work on the flowers, and besides wanting to show the client the picture, I’m also looking for feedback from my art friends.

Unfortunately, taking a picture indoors with somewhat bad lighting (good lighting for painting, not so good lighting for photographs), with an old camera that badly needs replaced,  it’s not quite the level of quality I’d like, but it will have to do with the circumstances. Sometimes I wish I had a scanner I could use, but I’d need a scanner that was at least 18×24, as that’s the common size I paint. It would be cheaper to just get a better camera, I think.

But this is where it’s at as I close up shop and head to sleep. The greens in the foreground and the purple flowers are much brighter, but hopefully we’ll have a good weather day tomorrow, and I can try and get a better overall picture with some more flowers added in to show. I am, however, pleased with the progress I’ve made on this. The flowers will be fantastic, I think, and I’ve got them all set in my head on how to do them. I’m only on the beginning of the first stage. There’s much more purple to go in, as well as a smattering of yellow and white to be added to the further foreground field, and then there’s more yellow along with purple in the near of the foreground field. May add a few more bushes, too. I’ll decide that as the painting grows.

But enjoy this for now. The client was very pleased with the last picture she saw, and I hope this one yields the same results.

Partial foreground flowers.

I had some hiccups on the work on the foreground field, but I took a small break and went back to it, and am glad I did! It ended up coming out much better than I expected, and it’s ready for flowers to be added now. I’m very much looking forward to working on that today.

I’ve also sketched Mattie in roughly, just to get an idea of both placement and size. There are a few bushes left to go into the field as well, and I want to make sure they don’t look weird with where she is.

Work on the foreground.

Well, I’ve actually got it mostly finished. I still need to put in the ‘distance haze’ as Jon called it. But I wanted to get a picture of it as is, before putting that one. Unfortunately, this is an indoor picture so it’s not the best one, but it gives a good idea of how it looks.

I really like how the flowers have come out. I’m hoping the client is as pleased with it as I am, but I can always make any adjustments she would like done to it. Although she was very thrilled with the last picture she saw, and said it looks just like the place (and not like the picture, which is what I’m really going for, helping to capture that memory), so I think she’ll be happy with this.

Most of the flowers were done with a small brush, carefully put in, but I did, of course, use my trusty sponge (one of the many in my collection. I have a whole drawer of the things!) for some as well, just to get a more ‘overall’ look to it.

Now to put the haze in, which is a mix of zinc white and the smallest touch of blue, very thinned down. It’s a layering process, putting some on, letting it dry completely, deciding if more needs to be added, etc. It’s really a bit of a difficult process because the thinning of it makes it easy to ‘pick it back up’ with a wet brush, so I have to be careful with subsequent layers. But it really does the job, and I’ve gotten used to laying it down with minimal screw ups. heh It’s just taken a bit of practice to get there.

I’m excited to get past that part and get to the foreground!

Finish of the far field.

An emergency trip to NY and then getting ill when I got back stopped me on working on this for a bit, but I’m feeling better and feeling creative. This is where I’m at so far, and I’m not done for the day by a long shot!

I’ve gotten the trees done, and am VERY pleased with them. I did these a little different than I have in the past and quite like the technique. I will have to play a little more with it on the next landscape I do with pine trees. The grass in the field is starting to come along as well, but there’s still much to be done. When I’m finished, it will actually be quite a bit lighter than it is now, but getting the darks in there first is a good reference point for me. Being able to work dark to light is probably the thing I like most about acrylic paints.

I hope to get at least most of the far field finished tonight, and maybe start on the near field as well. That will be a harder task. The whole field is covered in purple and yellow flowers, and, of course, the foreground will need to have a little more detail. But I look forward to the challenge.

Enjoy the current view and I hope to have a new one up either tonight or tomorrow!

Finished trees and start of the far field.