It's been more than a month since I've tried painting. Just lots of paperwork and organization going on, mundane stuff that just gets in the way. But you learn to paint by painting and I felt the stagnation setting in.
These are just small paintings in my sketchbook. The little shack is only three inches across, the bridge just four. Both were painted from images pulled off the internet.
It's not that the end results are striking, but both taught me lots about planning. The hut was an attempt to think through the composition of shadows. The dark colors of the greenery start at the lower left, snake across to the right then curve up to the cabin. They move up the wall, and under the eaves to encircle the window. At least that was the plan. There was an optical illusion to the stand of trees on the left that I failed to capture. They look like thick, dark trees, but actually, they are light trees with deep shadows between them.
Light hit the house right above the window. If I revisited this at a larger size, I could do a better job with the light patterns both on the cabin and the trees in the distance. It could actually be quite striking, especially if I added a shadowy figure in the window... or maybe just two glowing eyes!
The bridge went more smoothly. There is a mountain on the left that can't be seen because I got carried away with the trees in front of it. But the light on the bridge works fairly well. Again, if this was a thumbnail for a bigger painting, I'd be in great shape.
The bridge is limited palette of Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White gouache. The Hermit's House is the same with the addition of Sap Green and a bit of black.
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