Today is our lucky day, the first bluebonnet of the season appeared in the garden! A second one will soon follow. This definitely means spring is on the way, YIPPEE!
This time of year it becomes increasingly harder to come in from the garden and get to painting. I could stay out all day long with my hands in the dirt! But duty calls, I’ll just do my gardening on canvas. The first task this morning was to paint the large trees in the middle ground. Since the reference photo was taken in the winter I have to grow the foliage. Next is the pond in the background. The reflections of the trees are pulled straight down. Then the light sky reflecting into the front part of the water is added, making it glisten.
The meadow, sprinkled with wildflowers, is blocked in. The blooms are painted with Magenta, straight out of the tube, mixed with White. The grass is cooler in the distance, making it visually recede, and becomes warmer in front of the barn.
Now for the barn, I just love painting old weathered buildings. And what would an old barn be without a horseshoe for luck? Just remember, if you are going to hang one make sure the open end is up so your luck doesn’t run out.
The vines actually bloom white but I’m going to take artistic license and change them to soft pink climbing roses. Not only is this more romantic, soft pink is one of Nancy’s favorite colors. Also the pink is accented by all the green, the complimentary color, surrounding it. The rose color is mixed with Alizarin Crimson + White.
The barn makes a pretty cool painting just by itself. The squiggly trunks of the roses were especially fun to draw in. Thanks for visiting today, please come back tomorrow and see how this progresses. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik
Mikki Senkarik 
February 23, 2012 at 7:01 PM |
You call them bluebonnets, up here we call them lupines, are they the same flower? don’t know the answer to that, love the flowers, thanks for spreading spring cheer, it is greatly needed up here in the northland, MJ