Thursday, November 03, 2011

"Tall Trees, Spanish Point plein air study" 12x16, oil on board by Maryanne Jacobsen, plein air, alla prima, Florida art, Tall trees, Florida arbor

"Tall Trees, Spanish Point plein air study" 12x16, oil on board

I painted this morning with the Sun Coast plein air group again. It was a gorgeous day but the mosquitoes were very nasty. I think I have about 25 bites on me! I was not as pleased with this one as I was with last week's plein air attempt, but practice makes perfect and I am going to keep at it while the weather in Florida is beautiful and the temperature is bearable enough to paint outside.

This was the tree mass that I was painting:
I loved the contrast of light and shadow masses, but as the painting progressed, I'm afraid I lost some of the original intent. I may need to add something darker to my palette other than ultramarine blue and violet. It just doesn't seem to do the job on a painting with this much contrast. Would love to hear anyone else's suggestions on this one. I have indigo in my paint box, but I'm afraid to use it! So dark!

Historic Spanish Point is a very lovely place. It is a horticulturist's amd environmentalist's delight, and has a very long history. The grounds border Sarasota Bay, and include a sunken garden, a butterfly garden, old boats and a boat house, a few historic cottages, a shell museum, a chapel, and an Indian burial mound. I wanted to paint at the chapel, but the bugs were too nasty. Next time I'll bring Deet! I hope we get to paint there again soon! Thank-you Lord for such a lovely day!

This painting will be included in the upcoming show of the Venice Plein air painters in January.


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1 comment:

Dottie T Leatherwood said...

love your colors and palette knife work in your landscapes...great sense of light in your paintings!