After working up a number of color sketches, I believe I’ve come
up with one that looks good.
When
I looked at the photo something about the sky caught my attention. It was very
subtle, but it was there. The lightness of the sky just above the background
trees suggested a very light yellow color – as if the sun was off in the western sky, not real low, maybe
late afternoon. Maybe that was just my mind working, but I decided to include it
in the painting – and I think the effect is nice. I put in the sky first – a
light wash of new gamboge wet into wet. Then, I did a graded wash of Windsor
blue wet into wet, down into the new gamboge.
I wanted to keep the colors on the
cool side, and then play them against the warm highlights on the snow and the
sky. With cool on my mind, I mixed a cool gray with windsor blue, new gamboge
and permanent rose, tilting toward the violet, to wash in the background trees.
I washed in a darker combination down behind the bridge and the Mill.
The color
of the snow was not an easy choice. Many artists have used cobalt blue or
ultramarine blue. My first attempt included cobalt blue but I wasn’t happy with
that blue, so I switched to windsor blue. For me, the cobalt blue was a bit too
grainy and strong. I wanted the blue to be smooth and uniform and the cobalt
blue didn’t seem to work that way for me. I’ve always been partial to windsor
blue, especially for sky color, so I decided to use it for the snow as well.
Since I had already used it for the sky, I wanted to be consistent. Keep the
palette limited and use the same colors for all the mixes.
For the entire area of snow I first
washed in very light tints of new gamboge and permanent rose. I did these
washes separately, wet into wet, making sure the paper was dry in between. Then
I went in with a final light tint of windsor blue, mostly in the areas where
there would be shadows. I left the sunlit areas devoid of any blue.
After the under washes I started
back over the shadowed areas with a combination of windsor blue and burnt
sienna I built up washes of this same combination to strengthen the shadows.
The trees and shrubs were hookers
green, yellow ochre and windsor blue in various combinations. The tree trunks were
windsor blue and burnt sienna.
I mentioned in the Value discussion
how much the Mill stands out because of the light roof against the darker
background of the trees. Now that I’ve added color it stands out also because
of the warm browns against the cool blues of the background trees. The Mill
colors are burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw umber, yellow ochre and windsor blue.
When I do the final painting I may change the look of the Mill a bit from that
shown here. I want a bit more gray in it, to give a more weathered look.
I still have a problem doing color
sketches. My nature is to make detailed paintings. Even when I’m rendering
color sketches there’s a part of me that’s looking critically at the detail in
the painting. I have to keep telling myself that the purpose of the color
sketch is not detail or final composition, but the relationships of color
within the painting. How well I’ve rendered objects in the color sketch is
irrelevant. The focus is color. Details are for the final composition. Whenever
I become too focused on detail in a sketch I stop, get up and walk back away
from the paining, viewing it from a distance. I also turn the light off and
look at the painting in subdued lighting. Sort of like squinting. That way, I
look at the overall arrangement of colors, not at how well I’ve rendered the
Mill. Color sketches are meant to be quick and loose, so if I’m not happy with
the relationships, I can go on to the next, without having invested a lot of
time in details.Yes, color sketches is an area I continue to work on.
Now that I’ve done my color and
value sketches I’m going to work up the final composition – put in the detail!
For this I’ll work up some pencil sketches based on the original idea sketch
and the photos. I may want to add more trees, grasses, branches, shrubs. I’ll
add more detail to the snow. Ideas and changes are a constant. Even when I’ve
started painting I’ll think of something else to add – or something to remove.
It’s an evolving, changing process from beginning to end. After the final
compositional drawing, I’ll start painting – at last!
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