Revisiting...

Baughman Barn  oil/canvas board   12 x 12

a dry work has both advantages and disadvantages.  Rhythms and brushwork, often determined by the current mood of the artist, will be invariably different.  I have to feel that my time will be well-spent in returning to the work.  These are not studio paintings.  These are plein-air works that were "finished" (but often not to my satisfaction) on the spot.  I am gradually learning how to paint in one session which requires a maximum amount of thought and a minimum amount of paint.  Otherwise, the colors all become murky, in a mid-value range.  Revisiting allows for corrections in color temperature and in value...reestablishing the darkest darks and the lightest lights.  If the draftsmanship is off, I won't even bother.  "Baughman Barn" was revisited yesterday to my satisfaction.  Although the yellow-golden quality is gone and the color temperature has shifted to cool, I believe that the work has been improved.

Making Hay while the Sun Shines

Baughman Barn   oil/canvas board   12 x 12

The Friday morning of the paint-out poured! So.........I spent the morning on the covered porch of Hudson Fine Art fine-tuning paintings from the previous day. I hope that some day I will be satisfied with my impressions from just one session. The afternoon turned hot and sunny so I spent it at the Baughman property, a renovated arts and crafts house that drew quite a crowd! Although the house was amazing and the gardens quirky and creative, I decided to focus on the barn.....that is so funny, in that 20 years ago, I swore never to paint a barn, as I felt that they had reached a point of redundancy-plus in terms of paintings. I guess it was because I was dying to use my square canvas and the barn was perfect for that. Plus, my goal was to improve upon my ability to use purer color and harder edges earlier on in the process. I usually put those things off until later in the process, after some time for consideration. Alla prima requires more immediate decision-making. We are always learning..............that's why the whole thing is so stimulating! "Baughman Barn" is the result. Although it has a nice mystical quality, I think that, in considering it this week, that it would benefit from a few harder edges and, perhaps, the addition of another color.