Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Apple Tree 10" x 12" O/P

This has to be my favourite season of the year. A beautiful day that seemed to show a golden overcast, a chill in the air, the mixed aroma of fallen leaves and apples in the orchard. This mixture has a personal warmth that is totally different than the airy summer greens and heat of a few short weeks ago.
The palette for painting has not changed from my regular limited palette. In some cases in the past I have altered the palette colours to help capture the ' impression' of autumn.
The panel for this piece was not prestained with the orange -red of my previous panels. I left this one with two coats of gesso.
After setting up my easel , I proceeded to lay in washes of different colours determend by how I felt the colours of the scene dictated them. When finished, my panel looked like a water colour wash with soft lost edges. I left the panel to "air dry" for a short time. With this method, I was able to wipe out areas of ground colour with a rag or paper towel , leaving a white gesso base to work on if needed.
After this stage of preparation, I was able to lay in my darkest darks and painting my way to the lightest lights. Then lastly, the free strokes, slashes and nuances that make up the finished ' look ' were added.


Comparing this original view of the scene and the painting, my interpretation and editing of the scene is readily seen.



'til next..




















8 comments:

Keith Tilley said...

Hi Frank. If I lived where you do I think this would be my favourite time of year as well - actually it's my favourite here too, ha ha.

The white ground seems to have made the painting cooler, but those colours really glow.

All the best,
Keith

Frank A. said...

Hi Keith.. Great to hear from you. I hope that you had a fruitful summer. You have been busy anyway, I see !
I did not have to do much "rubbing out" as it seemed all I did was pile the paint on.
I think that it will be at least a week or two before everything is in full colour.
I assume by your reply, that your autumn is not unlike ours ?
Good luck with the fall paintings !

Cheers !
Frank

Unknown said...

Hi Frank,
your interpretation of the scene is fantastic, and i like the immediacy of your painting, smartly executed with nice colors. Here in Atlanta we still have 95 degrees!

Frank A. said...

Mariano..Great to read the comments from your sharp eye. Also thanks for the lovely compliments. They are appreciated, Mariano.
It seems to be warming up as I write this, but hang on to your Atlanta heat for awhile. I may ask you to email some of it up later in the year .. :)

Best of painting to yo ..

Stephanie Berry said...

Just discovered your blog. Beautiful, lively paintings. I love the this one especially.

Frank A. said...

Stephanie.. Thank you for the kind comments. I am happy that you found me.
I enjoyed looking at your blog and your smaller paintings. I especially enjoyed the decriptions of your "paint-ins". Very informative!
Smiles...

jesusest@gmail.com said...

Good work Frank, dynamic and with movement, I also like the colors, as Keith said, cooler and also softer.

Frank A. said...

Jesus, thank you very much for the reinforcement of thought and your insight.. Much appreciated !

Cheers ! :)