There's a guy in Germany who has filled his forest with vintage autos, tractors and the like. He considers it an ever changing art installation as the natural world overtakes the creations of men. I'm not great at drawing vehicles. Even though I gridded off the photo and my paper, the unique curves of this poor car eluded me. Maybe it's not as off as I see it, and perhaps, the wobbly construction adds to the sagging feeling of these relics.
The spotlight under painting was similar to the previous one. Aside from some blue peeking through, I don't think it affected the color. My lack of confidence leads to opaque corrections and second thoughts. The result may give my paintings a certain style but I'd like to be better about laying down initial values of shadow and light.
Colors used: Permanent White, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Red Oxide. I did resort to some Leaf Green to bring out some brighter leaves. I also used some pastels, yellow and blue to add texture and adjust the background trees.
I only took one Work In Progress shot which shows that the light coming through the trees was originally cooler. I still can't achieve the kind of backlit, soft focus, tree effect that's in my head. I should try a piece which has the effect as the point of the painting.
Online, a former art teacher said my style is coming together. My style? I'm not sure what it is. As I said, I'm convinced that part of it is the way I overwork areas, searching for the right color. Because the colors often interact with lower layers of paint, it adds more color variation than I might put down intentionally.
Curiously, aside from James Gurney, most of the artists I put into my Pinterest "Plein Air Inspiration" folder are much more impressionistic oriented than my paintings. Maybe the piece above is a blending of that: An impressionistic frame around an object rendered in detail.
I don't know. The frustration level of this one was lower and the enjoyment of it's creation was higher. If that trend continues, I'll be in great shape. --Tad
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