Demo at GSAA

On Thursday I did a demo for GSAA. I explained that my paintings proceed in three steps.  The first is planning and design and involves taking my own reference photos, creating thumbnails using three values. I use a golden section grid and rearrange objects to suit my composition, I then transfer the idea to a mounted pastel paper limiting my design to five basic shapes.  All of this was done before the demo. Next I chose hard pastels for my under painting paying attention to values with cools in the background and warmer in the foreground. This was quickly washed with alcohol to create a toned surface. I love having some of the deep red violets peek through the green. I then quickly added layers of pastel to suggest the scene without being too literal. When I start to feel the tendency to overwork I stop and take a break to observe and make some decisions. This is how the painting looked at the end of my demo.

Back on my easel I put the reference photo away and made some observations:
                                 

• Add some bright golds to the foreground field to invite the eye in. Some of these should overlap the next layer to create depth.
•  Soften the back layer of trees to break the barrier to the mountain and add variety to this edge.
• Make the right hand distance tree more dominant and minimize the left so they don't compete for attention.
• Adjust the brush to allow access to the field.
• Reshape the front and center bush and adjust the other two so they do not mimic the first.
•  Add wild flowers in the field to pull the eye in. Add blue violets in the foreground just for fun.

This is how the painting looks after this step:

Just a few more corrections needed:

• Soften the ridge line to the left of the left tree
• Break up the rows on the left
• Make the large tree even more dominant