6-24-07: Remembering Summer

I worked on the shading for the dead tree and on the trunk of the evergreen tree on the right.  I highlighted the water in places with light blue.  In addition I added another layer of highlight to the foliage on the large evergreen tree on the right.  I signed the painting.  I think I'm done.  I'll have to check it in the morning to be sure.
Checked: Yep, I'm done.

6-23-07: Remembering Summer

I can't figure out how to make sand look like sand.  My sandy banks looked like mud, so I turned them into grass with a few flowers.  I need to give the flowers a second layer tomorrow.  Making realistic grass, not impressionistic grass is going to take a while to figure out.  Anyway, now I have grass with a few flowers.  I'll see how I like it tomorrow.  I also added another small boulder to the lower left corner.

6-21-07: Remembering Summer

I highlighted the water and redid the left bank grasses.  I did this by painting in the background color and while it was still wet, I pulled up grasses using a lighter color.  I used a scriptliner brush for those grasses.  With the background still wet, the grasses flowed on more easily, instead of skipping over the canvas.  I also dimensionalized the dead tree and went over some of the distant tree trunks with the dark color, using the liner brush.

6-20-07: Remembering Summer

I worked on the water, trying to better create the foam and swirling from the waterfall.  I darkened some of the edges and added reflections of the boulders.  I put the second layer on the large tree on the right - the beginnings of bark - and added layers to the leaves on some of the other trees.  I also added the undercoat for an old dead tree in the foreground on the left.  It was basically a day of experimenting with various brushes to see what worked best.  I also experimented with colors to see what created the effects I wanted.  I'll see how I like it tomorrow.

6-17-07: Remembering Summer

When I started the painting today it looked hopeless, however, by the time I was halfway through, hope was reborn.  I reshaped the boulders entirely.  I painted in a sandy beach, at least at this point I plan for it to be sand.  I wiped out parts of the waterfalls.  They need redone.  On the right side I underpainted the trunk of a fir tree right on the edge of the canvas.  On the left side I painted in a dirt bank.  Over that I added grass, the furthest away being the lightest, using a #10 bristle brush.  I ended the grass underpainting using a scriptliner brush and a lighter paint for individual pieces of grass.  I underpainted the leaves on the trees in the middle ground.  Time to quit for the night before I mess it up.

6-16-07: Remembering Summer

I worked on the water and the rocks today.  It ended in frustration.  Putting on the stuff for the rocks left bumps.  To fix it, I scraped some off and painted over the area with the water's color.  I felt like abandoning it and starting over.  But I like the background stuff, so I'll try again tomorrow.

6-15-07: Remembering Summer

Today I used a number 10 bristle brush for the water, grasses and rocks and the larger scriptliner brush for the tree trunks.  At this point all the first layer underpainting is done.  The painting is looking Bob Ross-ish.  The rocks are a combination of dioxazine purple, burnt sienna, Payne's gray, white and a touch of cadmium red.  The water is Hooker's green, ultra marine blue, and white.  For white I always use gesso, since it opaques the paint.  Acrylics are mostly transparent which is one reason it takes so many layers.  I'm looking for a picture of a person, mammal or bird to put in the painting.  Thus far I can't find anything that satisfies me.

6-14-07: Remembering Summer

I started my painting today following Jerry Yarnell's instructions for his painting, Time of Rebirth.  It's a scene of a stream tumbling over rocks.  Along the edge are deciduous trees.  I will either add a person or an animal in the painting.  I used the Hake brush for the sky using gesso, ultra marine blue and dioxazine purple.  Underpainting the distant trees I used a light mixture of the purple, blue, burnt sienna and white.  I added Hooker's green to the mix for the transition trees.  In the foreground the tree underpainting was a dark army green, created by using the Hooker's green, half as much dioxazine purple and a large pea size amount of cadmium red.  Using a scriptliner brush, I painted in wispy tree trunks in the distance.  I smushed in some foliage using varying light shades of thalo yellow green.  I underpainted the stream banks with the dark tree background color.  For that I used a #10 bristle brush.