Day's End (Flintstone Barns, step 14)

The final painting

As planned, I took this painting to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters Annual Award Banquet last Sunday. Several members offered some comments which I have implemented. First, I moved the hedge row that lined up with the front sidewalk...moved it back, and then, of course I had to move the fence.

Another comment was that there was someone home...the lights were on, but there was no truck or car! So now there's a driveway with a truck just peeking out from the far side of the house.

Another comment was the cows need warmer and lighter highlights on their backs.

And lastly, smoke coming out of the chimney would be another indication that someone was home on this slightly chilly day.

So at last, the painting is done and hanging at the Mansion at Strathmore, Bethesda, Maryland. I am pleased with it and learned a lot, since so much of it was imagined. You saw the original photos...this painting represents what I wanted to see and mood that I wanted to express. This was definitely not an easy painting. It is so much easier when you are painting what is in front of you.

I'm not sure what I will be my next painting. I have lots of ideas but nothing firm at this point.

Flintstone Barns, Step 13

The Painted Version


In this step, you can see where I have changed the foreground hill to approximately what I had designed in Photoshop. I added boulders and darkened the grasses. I also made them a bit greener so that the hill would blend in better as it sloped into the middle ground meadow.

Afterward, standing back from the painting, I noticed that I had two quite parallel lines...the line of the foreground hill was essentially parallel to the back hill, which was quite bothersome. I couldn't really change either one of those, so I added a hedge row behind the house and right-hand shed as a counter point. It works pretty well...it's the best I can do.

Some other things that I did: I darkened the right shed and its roof. I darkened the little back porch. I added the fence posts and removed the stupid little tree behind the left-hand shed. From a distance, it really looked dumb.

As of now, I don't like the shape of the boulders...the one silhouetted against the green meadow should be steeper and craggier. It's also quite symmetrical.

About all that's left to do is to change the boulders, add some fences, add some utility poles and the animals. I think I'll change the cows to sheep, I haven't done any for a while. I will also change the lights in the windows to make them different. Right now they are too much the same.

I keep remembering I am taking this painting to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters' banquet on Sunday!

Flintstone Barns, Step 12

Back to Painting in Photoshop

I took another photo of the painting and went to work on it on the computer. The painting needed more drama and interest in that foreground hill. You can see I darkened it and added boulders in shadow with just the tips of them highlighted by the setting sun. I am really liking this approach...I can paint with all sorts of different colors and have NO brushes or hands to wash!

Flintstone Barns, Step 11

Using the Photoshop sketch


Here I have followed the photoshop sketch in the previous step and painted out the pond, which gives me some breathing room. I have also developed the foreground hill and added grasses and leaves, as per the original photograph. I'm not sure I like this part...I'll have to see. If I get away from it for a day or two, perhaps I will figure out what to do with it.

Flintstone Barns, Step 10

Fiddling with Photoshop

After my diversions, I have played around with the painting aspect of Adobe Photoshop. It's not really as hard as I thought it would be. I would much rather do this at my computer than on the painting itself. If I put something in that I don't like, it's easy to take it out.

The top version shows where I "painted" out the pond. No great loss. I am much happier now. The shape and the color of it were so distracting! Without it, the viewer can now concentrate on the buildings.

The second version shows where I have included a fence and some cows. This gives me a better idea of where I want to go. I am not sure of their exact positions...doing those skinny little legs with a very narrow "paintbrush" was tricky. The "paintbrush" followed the pixels and didn't always go where I wanted it to go.

The next thing I want to learn how to do is to "select" a certain portion of the painting and adjust the color to it. In this case, I want to "select" the sky and make it a bit redder.

Another Recent Diversion

Painting at Patuxent Wildlife Refuge

The plein air sketch:

The actual scene:


This past Sunday the Washington Society of Landscape Painters painted at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge in Laurel, MD. The fall colors were at their peak surrounding these enormous ponds where the wildlife find sanctuary. Canadian Geese honked as they flew into the water to land. Lily pads graced the ponds as well.

I was particularly taken with the scene above. This is about two-hour plein air piece, but it can use some tweaking. Fortunately the composition works well. But it needs refining...this is quite rough. The hard edge of the back trees on the left is distracting and the leafless trees need more branches. Some lively darks and lights will help as well.

I need to return to my other painting, which I now have entitled Day's End. It is due at the Mansion at Strathmore on November 16!

Recent Diversion

A Trip to Gallery of CNY


Last week my husband and I drove through the rolling countryside of Pennsylvania and New York to Cazenovia, the town where the Gallery of CNY is located. It's about 20 miles southeast of Syracuse. While I was there, I painted on location with one of the gallery principles on a country road about 5 minutes outside of town. I finished the above painting today and the plan is that it will appear in Gallery of CNY's ad in the December issue of American Art Collector. Below are pictures of the actual scene.