Days Gone By


4/7/05 Update:

Here's Rita's comments about this painting:

While visiting my parents, we drove by this scene as we have hundreds,
if not thousands of times before. Yet the light was shining just right
and suddenly something mundane and ordinary becomes worthy of a painting.
Funny, how many things we take for granted until we see it see it in a
different light.

Here's the rest of the story:

Actually, the conversation went more like this: I'm driving and Rita
asks, "Wow! Do you have your camera?" I nod. "Back up! I saw something!
I'm doing 60+, so it takes a minute or so to finally stop. I know the drill.
We back up (because it's a country road and no other cars are coming). Then
we drive by very very slowly. Rita has the window down and is stretching
her neck to look the scene over very carefully. We stop again and back up
again. Rita stetches her hand out for the camera. I pass it to her. I hear
the shutter clicking. I stop and inch forward and stop again. More clicks.
Then she asks, "Do you think we can get closer (meaning enter their driveway)?"
I nod and say, "I don't see why not, i.e. there are no BIG dogs!" So I back
up and we enter their driveway. I put the car in Park. I was waiting for her
to jump out of the car and click a few off. But no, she hands the camera to
me with detailed instructions like "Be sure to get close enough." and "Get the
whole shed." So I get out of the car and click a few off. When I get back in
the car, I'm asked various questions such as "Did you get ...." I just nod
affirmatively and back the car out of the driveway and keep going. I chuckle
inwardly, realizing that it's a part of the creative process. And some day
it may become a future painting!

So if you see a car suddenly stop and back-up... Be sure to say "Hi!"

Here's the original photograph taken that day, not so long ago!

Original Reference Photo:


4/15/05 Update:

Here's the sketch on a half sheet of watercolor paper, Arches 140 lb cold
press. Yes, it's light and therefore hard to see. But once Rita begins to
apply the watercolor paint, you will no longer be able to see the pencil
lines.



4/22/05 Update:



Actually, this piece is more complex to paint than Change of Season. Today
we'll cover four areas of work:

1. She applies a mask to the trees that will be painted over. As we've
discussed in previous pieces, this is a blocking agent and protects the
paper from all watercolor paint. Once Rita is done in painting an area,
she will rub off the mask and the paper will be pristine white. So look for
the mask to come off in a subsequent week. And then look for the detail
she will paint in the masked off area. Note the trees in the center by
the shed.

2. The next step is to apply the sky wash. Rita likes to use Cobalt Blue
for her skies. She will soak the paper with a spray bottle of water. And
then dip her brush in the paint and begin stroking the sky area and lets
the blue run through all of the pre-soaked parts of the paper. In many
of her pieces, she will leave white paper for clouds, but with this piece,
it was unnecessary, given that the background trees consume most of the
the visible sky.

3. While the paper is still damp from the sky wash, Rita began to apply
various shades of green to the upper left portion of the sky. This creates
a blurred effect for these trees and makes them look further away. It's a
little early in the process, but you should be able to begin to see the
effect. The tree branches in this area were also masked off.

4. After the sky wash has completely dried (Rita will use a hair dryer to
speed it up!), she begins to work the leaves in for the upper right side
trees. She applies a blue-green for the leaves in the shadows and re-wets
the paper to let the paint bleed. This softens the shadows. She then
applies a yellow-green to represent the leaves that are highlighted by the
sun. The paper is dry and the paint does not bleed. This provides more
texture and brings them forward in the painting, i.e. closer to the viewer.

We're still looking for your asisstance to identify the year/make of the
truck in the shed. So if you have some insight on this, please don't
hesitate to shoot Rita an email.

4/29/05 Update:

If you've read through Change of Season, then you may recall our discussion
about layers. In this week's photo, you can see two primary changes, the
first is the addition of a new layer. And the second is an addition to an
existing layer. Compare the two photo's. Can you identify the changes?

To the left of the shed, Rita added a new layer of smaller trees/bushes.
You can see some white in this area where she masked off the trunks of some
small trees. These will be painted in later once the mask has been removed.
Also note the various combination of colors; yellows, greens, blues, and reds.
The yellows will represent where the sun is shining and the blues will
represent where the shadows are. Red and green will add texture and interest
to that area of the composition. Please note that the colors have been laid
down stronger, more intense to reflect that this layer is closer than the
trees behind the peak of the house.

When Rita applies one color to a given layer, often she will need to let it
dry before adding the next color. So, while she is waiting, she'll move to
another area and begin painting that in. So if you look at the tree to the
right of the shed, you can see that she painted in one large branch of the
tree. We still have a lot of free hanging leaves, so more branches will be
forthcoming.

Here's this week's photo:


5/7/05 Update:



Rita removed the mask on the trees to the left of the shed and began painting
in the trees. She also continued adding branches to the large to the right of
the shed. One could say that she is really 'branching out' (pun intended)
with her painting this week! She also intensified the colors on the layer
of smaller trees/bushes to the left of the shed. Notice that she still has
mask applied to some of those smaller trees.

5/14/05 Update:



This week, Rita has completed the trees just to the left of the shed. And
she has removed the mask from the smaller trees further left of the shed.
And painted those in as well. Next week, we will see much larger changes,
as she inserts a new layer into the piece.

5/22/05 Update:



Do you see the new layer? Look to the far left side and compare to last
week's pic. Rita has painted in the shed, the tree trunks and some brush.
Since a lot of this is in shade, you'll notice that the colors are more
muted, with the exception of the tree trunks. Ah, the tree trunks. Rita
has done several things to make them look closer in the image to you, the
viewer. Any ideas? While the base of the trunk is covered by the shrubs
the bottom of the trunk is lower on the paper. This, by default will make
it look closer to you. But there are other things as well. Compare the
size of the tree trunks to the ones in the middle of the image. Hopefully
they look a little larger to you than the ones in the center. And there's
one more. Notice how the colors are more intense with more texture than
the tree trunks in the middle. So even though this has been painted on a
2D piece of paper, it has tricked your eye into seeing it in 3D. This is
called perspective. Now, go to a window or step outside and compare these
ideas to what you see. You should see the same dynamics occuring. In
fact, if you can see the horizon (which we can't), but the farther you
can see, the bluer become the colors, the less detail and obviously, the
smaller it becomes.

There is also one other change, but it's not a new layer. Rita added a
shrub at the base of the tree on the far right. This was done while she
was letting the left side dry.

Three more weeks and we're done with this piece. If you were painting, what
would you paint in next? Check back next week to see.

6/3/05 Update:



Well, this week you should see a dramatic change in the foreground. Actually,
this is a departure for Rita, because she normally paints the layers back to
front. By painting the foreground next, she left the focal point, i.e. the shed
and truck last. She also painted in the rather large tree shadows and added more
shadows to the left side of the foreground. If you compare this back to the
original reference photo, you will see that none of this was captured by the
camera. Rita calls this 'artistic license' and I don't believe she originated
this phrase. The additional shadows at the left were done to assist the overall
composition. Since your eye moves to the lighter areas of the image, the dark
shadows prevent the eye from stopping there. Just try turning away from your
monitor and then looking again at the image. Notice how your eye will take in
the shadow, but it doesn't want to stop there. Instead it moves to the house
and then to the shed. If you look at the finished image below, your eye should
stop at the truck. Isn't that neat!

Also, you will note that the foreground grass is primarily yellow with some red
in it. The red will help tie the foreground with the shed (next week) and with
shrubs to the left of the shed. Rita used the yellow to help identify what the
sunlight is doing as it reflects off of the grass. There is also a touch of
green and brown to help tie in the trees, but it is difficult to see that on
the monitor. Now, Rita wanted it to look like it had not been mowed for a while
so to get the desired texture, she dipped an old toothbrush in the paint and
then splattered the paint on flipping the bristles with her fingers. I know
this may sound somewhat odd, but if you practice the technique, you can get
really cool textures. She will cover the areas that she doesn't want to touch
with paper towels to protect it.

6/12/05 Update:



As promised, this week you should see a dramatic change to the shed. Actually,
the following was changed:

- The shed building was painted. If you compare with the original photo above,
it has a lot more color than the original building. However, Rita did add
the knots in the wood since it added more texture and interest to the shed.
- The roof of the shed was completed.
- The shadows of the trees to the left of the shed were painted across the roof.
- More shrubs were added on the left side, two layers below the peak of the
white house (or to the right of the left most shed.
- The dark shadows of the truck detail were also filled in.

Please note, that the brush in front of the truck and shed have had a mask applied
to keep those areas white. That will be rubbed off next week.

6/18/05 Final Update!!!



Details, details!! It's all in the details. This week, you'll see the final
steps Rita performed to complete this piece. Before I list them out, compare
this week's image to last week's and see how many you can identify. Granted,
the web images are not the best for critical analysis, but you should be able
to identify several.

Well, how many did you identify?

Here's our list:

- Added the window to the peak of the house plus some batt shadows.
- In the shrubs to the left of the shed with the truck, Rita added some branch
detail.
- The remaining mask was removed and leaves added to the brush in front of the
shed and truck. Some of the leaves were scratched off with an X-acto knife.
- The truck was also completed. Rita left the truck looking like the paint
was faded and where there was no paint, it had rusted.
- There was a small tree added to the left corner of the shed. Rita also added
a corresponding shadow on the shed itself.
- In the foreground, beginning with the shadows on the left and following the two
tree shadows across the front, look for additional detail Rita added. Either dark
detail in the light areas or lighter detail in the darker areas. Rita added this
detail to help tie in the different layers of light and dark within the foreground.
- And last, Rita signed the original. Do you see it?

Hopefully, you found this helpful and enjoyable. If you have any questions, please
shoot Rita an email. Practice practice practice!