Late Harvest

I’m told grain prices are so low this year that farmers will make a loss after this year’s harvest. Maybe this explains the lack of enthusiasm to get the corn cut.

This is a ‘soft sky’. The softness is achieved by hatching and cross-hatching with a wide brush. In this painting I used a clean wide filbert (No. 12, short bristle) to do this blending. This brush is only used as a blending tool and not used to apply paint. Check out recent paintings, especially ‘Late August’ (here) to see the difference this process makes.

Here is an example of an ‘Old Master’ Dutch landscape. I was always fascinated by the softness of the skies in this type of painting. I think the sky must have been produced in a similar way to what I used above, i.e. using a blending technique.

SALOMON VAN RUYSDAEL
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF RHENEN FROM THE BANKS OF THE RHINE TO THE WEST OF THE CITY, WITH THE CHURCH OF ST. CUNERA IN THE DISTANCE, AND A HORSE-DRAWN WAGON AND CATTLE IN THE FOREGROUND

My painting uses 3 colours Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber & Cobalt Blue plus black and white. There is no medium used, only solvent. The size is 16.5″ x 12″ and was painted in a single session of about an hour and a half.

Here is the video of the painting process, see you soon.