After the Rain

Rain, rain and more rain. I’m not complaining. The recent drought took its toll on all manner of vegetation, from grass to the mighty oaks. There was even a mini-fall with autumnal colours, in July, very strange. Now there is new growth and the rich greens of spring are here again, in July.

Viridian and Cadmium Yellow are added to the colours to convey this lush landscape. Also in there are Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine. Just 4 colours to produce this nice harmonious landscape. Green is a difficult colour to keep ‘natural’ in a painting. As I said I used Viridian and such a strong ‘unnatural’ colour has to be moderated to produce what could be called ‘natural’. I find there needs to be a little red added. In this case the red was Burnt Sienna. I also placed pure blue, initially as an underpainting layer which was not completely covered over, and also pure raw dabs in areas where the green would be overpowering, as in the foreground here.

The composition is fairly straightforward. The centre of interest about one third in from the edge with balance restored by a smaller version of the trees on the far river bank. The effect produces a restful, non challenging layout in keeping with this rustic scene.

I videoed the painting process, as usual, and will post in a few days, See you then.