These two photos were taken in December 2009 during a trip home for the holidays. We were walking the farm roads with dad and he needed to go check a patch along the levee between cuts in the crawfish pond. I took these photos with Dad's old Nikromat. I love the color and the atmosphere in the photos and I like the simple story it tells... a farmer never rests, always worries. I thought it would make a great painting. Remember the huge, empty walls of Matthew and I's loft here in Sacramento? I thought this painting project would be a great way to fill some of that empty wall space and get some more practice working with oils.
I couldn't decide which photo to work from... I like the composition of the one above, but I like the colors in the image to the right. As an artist this is mostly about my interpretation of the scene so I gave myself liberty to dabble and grab what I liked best from each scene. You can see influence from both photos in the final composition below. The painting is ok, but not quite what I intended. It's been at this point for a few weeks now (I wanted it done before the baby came!) and I keep thinking about taking it off the wall and fixing all the little things that aren't working like I wanted. At the very least I need to add a crawfish trap in the foreground :). Expect this painted to be edited and reposted with revisions. But for the time being this 30"x40" painting is definitely helping to fill the endless wall space we have in the living room. And it speaks to the people and places that are closest to my heart.
I couldn't decide which photo to work from... I like the composition of the one above, but I like the colors in the image to the right. As an artist this is mostly about my interpretation of the scene so I gave myself liberty to dabble and grab what I liked best from each scene. You can see influence from both photos in the final composition below. The painting is ok, but not quite what I intended. It's been at this point for a few weeks now (I wanted it done before the baby came!) and I keep thinking about taking it off the wall and fixing all the little things that aren't working like I wanted. At the very least I need to add a crawfish trap in the foreground :). Expect this painted to be edited and reposted with revisions. But for the time being this 30"x40" painting is definitely helping to fill the endless wall space we have in the living room. And it speaks to the people and places that are closest to my heart.
it reminds me of Rhea Gary. I love the clouds, and how it feels like a windy day just by looking at it.
ReplyDeleteWow! The ultimate complement! I was looking at and thinking about her work while working on this painting... But didn't quite get there.
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