Saturday, June 07, 2014

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board, impressionism, red maple tree, colorist art, Pennsylvania art, Chester County art, Chester Springs


"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board

I have been loving the weather in Pennsylvania this week and using it as an opportunity to get back into painting outdoors, (en plein air).

Painting everyday on location gives an artist the opportunity to really hone their skill sets. The light changes constantly and one must be on their toes in order to turn out a decent plain air painting.

In this painting, I was attracted to the long dark shadows on the ground and the beautiful light on the red maple in the early morning hours.

I did a quick thumbnail sketch to zone in on the darks and lights in the scene, before attempting to transfer my concept to canvas. 

The lights atop the maple were a beautiful reddish orange color in the morning light and served as  the focal point for the composition. Here's the photo that I took before beginning the painting...

In the end, the only problem were the gnats that started attacking the painting as I finished it up after about an hour and a half. I plucked them out gingerly. Here's the finished painting:


I painted this one with a palette knife exclusively. I hope you enjoyed  seeing my concept from start to finish.

To see more of my paintings, please visit my website at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

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