Munday - stage 1

Munday is a small town in Texas where I came across this scene for another in my Roadside America series. It will be based on a green/blue - red/orange complementary axis with a lot of warm yellow substituting for white on the foreground and buildings with some green too in the yellows. Basically it will be the buildings lit by a low sun against a stormy sky. Because I am interested in colour in these paintings I am having the light fall on everything instead of being contre-jour (my normal way of working) which tends to bleach out the colour. First stage was "drawn" up in the morning session with a thin bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and Lukas Number 5 Medium. This ensured that it was dry by later afternoon for the wash of Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin and turpentine.

Drumright

Another of my Roadside America series, Drumright is a small town in Oklahoma where I was drawn to the funky red trailer (for sale) set against the red brick buildings in the background. I chose to compose (design) it in two blocks of unequally sized colours, orange and blue. The challenge was to keep the two areas quite distinct from each other but still having some variety in colour, particularly in the orange block but also ensuring some colour harmony and integration by introducing some blue into the orange block and having orange sitting under the blue of the sky. Oil on linen 20" x 16". there is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Drumright - stage 4

Didn't seem to get a lot done today; spent some time trying to resolve the foreground and then made a start on the trailer. Still trying to get across the red of the trailer being distinct from the orange around it. To make a red look bright one usually sets it against a very dark colour due to red itself being quite dark tonally so I guess the dark shadow hitting it should help along with some hints of green next to it.

Drumright - stage 3

Spent the day going over quite a few areas as this is a quite difficult one to do. I am trying to keep it in two distinct colour areas with everything on the land based around orange but somehow need to get across that the trailer is red within the orange colour scheme. I am however getting in some blue on the windows to integrate the two areas (there is orange sitting under the blue in the sky as well).

Drumright - stages 1 and 2

Apologies for a lack of posts recently but have not been able to work due to a health problem. Drumright is a small town in Oklahoma and I was drawn to this scene by the funky trailer in the foreground that was for sale set against the red brick buildings in the background. I resolved to try out another painting based on two unequally sized blocks of colour, in this case orange and blue. The first stage was "drawn" up with a thin bristle brush using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin. On the next morning I gave it a wash of Permanent Orange thinned with Lukas Number 5 Medium and turpentine so that it was dry enough for an initial colour block-in on the afternoon.

Idalou

Idalou is way out in the boonies of the Texas Panhandle and in this picture I wanted to get across the isolation of the lonely farmhouse in the featureless landscape. I chose to set it against a big sky with a huge thunderstorm in the distance and is following on from the last painting where I have made the sky the dominant focus of the picture. This is of course another in my Roadside America series of paintings.  Oil on canvas 23 1/2" x 23 1/2". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Idalou - stage 3

Worked on the sky today. I think I need to look at the top darker cloud tomorrow and change the shapes a bit, maybe simplify it a bit to make it look nearer....

Idalou - stage 2

Put down the colour underpainting using mixes of mostly transparent paint as this may help with the colours in the sky later on - the shapes of the design of the sky are quite simple so I need to make sure that they are subtly broken up otherwise the sense of scale is lost in relation to the landscape. I have just realised the the cloud suggests a distant nuclear explosion which ties in with an underlying subtext of The Cold War that runs through this series of Roadside America paintings.

Idalou - stage 1

Idalou is way out in the boonies of the Texas Panhandle and is a follow-on from the previous painting "Sun Prairie" whereby I am going to make the sky the dominant theme of the painting to try and get across the isolation of the farmhouse in the surrounding landscape. The first stage was to "draw" it up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and Lukas Number 5 Medium so that it would be dry for the afternoon painting session. Stage 2 was to put down a tonal underpainting with a rag and brush using some yellow and orange mixes thinned with Liquin and turpentine.

Sun Prairie

I was drawn to painting these buildings in a little town called Sun Prairie in Wisconsin as they were painted the three primary colours of red, yellow and blue and thought that it would be interesting to set them lit by a low afternoon sun against a dark stormy sky. This is another in my Roadside America series of paintings of urban and rural landscapes that when I have enough that I am happy with will be shown to some US galleries for possible representation. Oil on canvas 23 1/2" x 23 1/2". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Sun Prairie - stage 4

Worked over most areas today hopefully painting some yellow and orange glazes tomorrow as all the buildings and road need to be richer-coloured and slightly darker.

Sun Prairie - stage 3

Pretty much finished the sky although I will wait until it is dry and have another look at it, it might be a bit too busy at the moment. Started work on the buildings and foreground; I want the colours warm and rich so Naples Yellow becomes White. This is slightly confusing as I need to work out what the yellow building on the left is going to be. Incidentally I bought the Naples Yellow in Naples after seeing what the colour really looks like - many buildings in Naples are painted this colour. I ended up buying Naples Yellow Deep in the Mussini range by Schmincke.

Sun Prairie - stage 2

Put down the colour underpainting today and now have some idea as to where I go from here to get the  atmosphere I am looking for. The sky is a mix of green and purple with some lighter values of a fairly neutral mix of green/purple and pale orange. All the buildings will be painted as though lit by a low sun so warm oranges, reds, greens and blues.

Sun Prairie - stage 1

Finally able to start another painting after a week away from the studio. I came across this collection of buildings on the outskirts of a small town in Wisconsin called Sun Prairie, the reason why they are interesting is that they are in the primary colours of red, yellow and blue and I think it would be interesting to set them against a dark, stormy sky. I am thinking this time to set these primaries against a more neutral sky colour, not sure yet, it might be that I use a dark purple/blue.....I will decide tomorrow. This was first "drawn up" with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and Lukas Number 5 Medium in the morning which was then dry enough by the afternoon to put down a tonal underpainting with a rag using the same colours thinned with turpentine.